Cucumbers in the open ground: why and how to properly tie

Cucumbers belong to the annual creeper pumpkin crops. Their juicy long stems, growing more than two meters in length, extend along the surface of the earth and climb up the supports, clinging to everything with a mustache. This important physiological feature must be considered when growing vegetables.

Cucumber garter: why is this procedure needed

Cucumbers can be left to grow freely and not tied. They can spread along the ground, spreading their whips in different directions.

Cucumbers can grow on the ground without garter.

But growing on a support has several advantages:

• a plant fixed on a support is better illuminated by the sun and blown by air, flowers are better pollinated and more fruits are formed;
• with proper garter, the risk of damage to various diseases that occur when stems, leaves and fruits come in contact with moist soil is reduced;
• plantings become compact, since each plant takes up less space;
• productivity increases, because the lashes growing upward are longer and form a larger amount of ovary;
• care for such a bed is greatly facilitated (it is easier to weed, water, loosen, etc.);
• the fruits hang in the air, and do not lie on the ground, so they are more visible and easier to collect.

When tying, the yield of cucumbers increases significantly

When performing work, it is recommended to adhere to the following rules:

• supporting devices are installed in advance so as not to damage the root system;
• shoots begin to tie up when they reach a length of 0.2-0.3 m (under 4-5 leaf);
• it is not necessary to tighten the stem too tightly to the support, because the rope can transmit or cut it;
• when the shoots grow to the upper edge of the support (more than 2 m), they need to be pinched;
• lateral shoots that have grown and sticking out to the sides are removed, leaving the main shoot and several strong branches.

The support structure for cucumbers is better to mount in advance so as not to damage the plants

The support should be strong enough to withstand the entire mass of stems, foliage and growing fruits.

At the very beginning of my gardening activity, when I did not have enough experience, I simply planted cucumbers in the holes on the ground. Their lashes then spread around the meter by two meters and it was difficult to approach the plant. I had to rake a bunch of leaves to go up to the bush. Otherwise, it was impossible to water it. The search for fruits turned into an exciting quest. It’s rare when it was possible to collect small neat cucumbers, but then it was not known where the huge yolks came from.

Video: why do cucumbers need a garter

The main methods of garter cucumber lashes

There are a lot of ways in which you can pick up cucumber lashes from the ground and direct their growth up. Each of them has pros and cons. When choosing a method of garter cucumbers should take into account the characteristics of the site, the level of illumination, soil moisture and other factors.

There are many different ways to garter cucumbers.

The most commonly used options for fixing cucumber shoots to the support:

• the garter is vertical;
• the garter is horizontal.

It is better not to tie the stems with thin ropes or twine, because they can damage the shoot during sharp gusts of wind. When growing in open ground, it is recommended to use wide fabric strips (2-3 cm).

Experienced vegetable growers recommend tying cucumbers in the open ground with a wide cloth tape so that the stems are not damaged by gusts of wind.

Cucumber Garter

Most often, gardeners use vertical fixation of cucumber lashes.

Vertical garter is more often used for varieties with weak lateral branching.

The essence of the method is as follows:

1. Install a U-shaped support. You can drive two columns from the ends of the beds, pull a thick, strong rope or wire on top. But more reliable will be a rigid structure (in the form of a horizontal bar) with a cross-member from a pipe or bar.
2. The required number of ropes (strips of fabric) equal to the number of cucumber bushes is tied to the horizontal guide.
3. The hanging ends are tied to the stems with a slight tightness so that the plant does not hang freely in the air.
4. As the shoot grows, you need to point up and wind the crown around the rope.

Video: we build a trellis for the vertical garter of cucumber lashes

There are several modifications to this method:

• single-row garter - for each of the rows located at a distance of 30-35 cm from each other, an individual supporting structure is made;
  

  With a single-row garter, each row of cucumbers has its own support

• double-row garter - supports are installed for two adjacent rows, ropes for lashes are placed at an angle, and not strictly vertically;
  

  With a double-row garter (V-shaped), one support is installed on two rows

• individual garter - each lash is sent on a separate support (column, rod, etc.), as for tomatoes or peppers.
  

  Sometimes for each bush of a cucumber set a separate peg

The vertical scheme of growing cucumbers allows you to place a large number of bushes on a small area. Vertical tying is convenient for varieties with a not very pronounced ability to branch laterally or when forming a culture in one stem.

Cucumber Garter

If bush varieties of cucumbers, varieties with numerous branches are cultivated, then it is more advisable to use horizontal garter lashes.

Horizontal garter is more convenient for heavily scrubbing varieties of cucumbers

Such a construction is constructed very simply:

1. They dig in two columns of wooden blocks or metal pipes at the ends of the cucumber beds.
2. Between the installed supports stretch a strong twine or rope in several rows at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other.
3. The stems are first fixed to the lower string (they are tied or special brackets are used), then, as the lashes grow, they move to higher levels. In this case, the shoot can freely wrap around a rope.
4. Usually long central shoots are woven around the upper strings, and the lateral branches occupy the lower tiers.
5. Too long lashes are shortened so that they do not hang down and do not obscure other plants.

Between the vertical supports several rows of ropes are pulled

A variation of this method is trellis, when bushes are planted between two rows of ropes and grow in the middle of the support system.

Cucumbers grow in a trellis between two rows of ropes

The clinging tendrils need to be periodically corrected and the escape to grow in the right direction, because he cannot choose the right path on his own.

With the help of the antennae, the cucumber clings to the support, but it must be constantly directed

Video: vertical and horizontal garter of cucumber lashes

Grid for garter and other methods

In the stern of the two main ways, some vegetable growers practice the use of other original and sometimes unusual options for tying cucumber lashes.

Grid use

In specialized horticultural stores, you can find on sale coarse-grained plastic durable mesh, which is designed for growing climbing and weaving plants.

Grid for garter cucumbers can be bought at the store

It is stretched between two vertical posts. So that the material does not sag under the weight of the green vegetative mass, it is additionally attached to the intermediate supports after 1-1.5 m. Clinging to the cells with antennae, cucumbers will freely wander along the grid. You can build a similar structure of thin wooden battens or shtaketin, as well as metal wire or rods.

Cucumbers with the help of antennae cling to the net and rise above

You can’t take a mesh with a fine mesh, the plant will not be able to climb up it.

Video: cucumbers on a grid

Pyramid

Planting in the form of a pyramid implies the following actions:

1. Cucumbers plant in a circle with a diameter of about 1.5-1.8 m, in the center of which a tall pole of metal or wood is installed.
2. A small peg is stuck near each bush.
3. Then the stems are tied with ropes to the central column at an angle of about 65-70 °, forming a pyramid.

Ropes with cucumber weaves are tied to a central support

As an option of this method, you can use several long sticks or rods stuck around the perimeter between plants and connected at a central point by the upper ends. Ropes in several tiers stretch between the intermediate supports. As a result, the whole structure is somewhat reminiscent of a hut. The construction looks quite unusual.

Video: cucumber pyramid

Barrels

In areas with a small area, to save space when planting cucumbers, you can use barrels filled with nutritious soil mixture. At the same time, cucumber lashes hang down along the edges, thereby decorating the container.

When growing cucumbers in a barrel, the lashes can be left hanging down freely

For small-fruited cucumbers, a hanging planter can be used as a landing tank, the whips from which will freely fall.

Small-fruited cucumbers can be grown in decorative hanging planters

My good friend has been growing cucumbers in barrels for several years, which are about a meter from the hozblok. Part of the stems is in free flight and hangs, covering the metal sides of the barrels. Another part of the ropes weaves on the roof of the building. It turns out a green veranda, beyond which you can’t even see the buildings closer to the fall.

When growing cucumbers in a barrel, the lashes can be tied to a support

Video: cucumbers in a barrel

Arc Garter

Between plastic or metal arches (for hotbeds), support ropes or wire are stretched horizontally in several tiers, along which cucumber vines will then curl.

With an arc garter of cucumbers between the arches, the ropes stretch

Natural trellis

Cucumber bushes can simply be planted along fences and fences, which act as trellises. The lashes tied with twine or twine are attached to them.

Some vegetable growers prefer to plant cucumbers along the fences

Some ingenious summer residents are wrapping cucumbers around all kinds of ladders, arches, walls and other structures used in landscape design. Climbing plant can be let go on the finished support or frame purchased in the store.

Photo Gallery: Unusual Cucumber Garter Methods

How to grow cucumbers in open ground without a garter

In principle, cucumber lashes can not be tied, this pumpkin plant successfully grows on the ground. When growing sprouts, they try to evenly spread the stems in the garden so that they do not block each other and do not cling to the mustache. Bee pollinated varieties, which give a large number of fruitful lateral shoots, necessarily pinch:

• the main stem is shortened after 4-5 leaves;
• the appeared sidewalls pinch already over the second leaf.

When growing cucumbers on the ground, they need to be pinched

The pinching procedure will cause increased formation of female inflorescences with an ovary. New varietal hybrids do not need to be shortened shoots.

If you do not prune the stems, then the bush will grow uncontrollably, increasing green mass. Productivity will be extremely weak, and the plant will be depleted ahead of time.

When growing cucumbers without garter, the risk of fungal diseases increases

When my cucumbers grew on an earthen bed, I periodically shifted branches so that there were small spots of free land that could be used to approach plants for irrigation or top dressing. Sometimes she just picked up scissors and cut the thickest sections of the landings.

Tying cucumbers is the most important agricultural technique, which allows you to get a rich harvest. There are so many methods that every gardener is free to choose the most suitable for him. Support for cucumber lashes can be an architectural work of landscape design.