How to grow cucumbers at home in the winter on the windowsill

How to grow cucumbers in the winter in an apartment on the windowsill is of interest to many. Growing plants is an exciting activity. In the case of cucumbers is also useful. It’s nice to eat fragrant, crisp, self-grown cucumber. Growing cucumbers on a windowsill in the winter has its secrets.

Optimum sowing dates

It is best sown in January, February, March. The duration of daylight increases, this has a good effect on the growth rate, fruiting intensity. If there is a backlight, cucumbers can be sown in December.

The ripening period of cucumbers on the window depends on the variety and planting time. In winter, it takes no more time to grow them than in summer. At an air temperature of 25-27 ° C, seedlings appear after 5-7 days.

How to sow cucumber seeds in an apartment

Anyone can grow cucumbers in an apartment. There is not much money needed for this. The consumable part consists of the costs of seed, fertilizer, soil, if purchased, and electricity, which is needed for artificial lighting. You can save on landing tanks - use a 5 liter bottle of drinking water.

Choosing the right place

For home growing cucumbers, a south or southwest window, an insulated loggia are suitable. Natural lighting will not be enough for plants. In winter, daylight is short, so you have to arrange the backlight. Use LED bulbs for her.

In cloudy weather, they can be included from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. On sunny days, plants should be illuminated in the morning (7-00 to 11-00) and in the afternoon (16-00 to 20-00). The temperature must be maintained certain:

• in the afternoon from 20 to 23 ° C;
• at night 16 ° C.

Capacity for landing

The amount of land should be sufficient for the development of roots, bush nutrition. At home, cucumbers can be grown in plastic buckets, flower pots, black trash bags. The transplant does not tolerate culture well, therefore, cucumbers are sown in individual containers. At the bottom of the pot (container), several through holes are made so that excess water does not stagnate.

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Suitable soil

It is useful for novice gardeners to know that soil with a pH level of 5.5-6.5 is suitable for cucumbers. On packages with store soil, the acidity indicator is always indicated. In the fall, you can prepare the soil mixture yourself. Must mix:

• 1 part of sand (river);
• 3 parts of peat;
• 3 parts of humus.

A good substitute for sand is coconut. In stores, they sell it in briquettes of different sizes. Advantages of chips:

• retains moisture for a long time;
• make the soil loose, breathable.

Before mixing with peat and humus, it is soaked in water.The soil mixture is frozen in winter. Do this in several steps. Take out for a week in the cold, bring it into the room, where the mixture completely thaws. Again send her to the street. The procedure is repeated 3-4 times.

To increase fertility, mineral fertilizers are introduced into the soil.

A week before planting, the soil is watered with a solution of Fitosporin or potassium permanganate.

Seed preparation

Seed material is sorted, damaged specimens are rejected. Before sowing, the seeds are soaked. Keep in a wet towel of day 2. To improve germination, add to water:

• Zircon;
• Gibberelin;
• Gibbersib.

These drugs stimulate the growth of cucumber, accelerate the emergence of seedlings. Finish the preparation by soaking the planting material in a pale solution of manganese. This treatment is prophylactic, helps from a black leg. The seed material is not germinated, it is slightly dried before sowing.

Direct landing

The landing container is thoroughly washed. Expanded clay or large pieces of eggshells are poured at the bottom. Pour soil. Water it on the eve of planting. 2-3 seeds are planted in one container. Close up to a depth of 2-3 cm.

Sunflower seeds are covered with humus. Before emergence, the pot is covered with glass or film. Shoots at 25 ° C appear after 7 days. The film is removed, the pot is rearranged in a well-lit place. Leave one seedling, pinch the rest. Window sills are cold in winter, so a foam base is placed under the bottom of the pot.

Cucumber care on the windowsill or balcony

Particular attention is paid to lighting. The required daylight hours for cucumbers are 12-14 hours. In the cold months (from December to the end of February), plants from 16-00 to 20-00 organize artificial lighting.

Watering

Pour cucumbers with water at room temperature. In seedlings, the roots die due to hypothermia. The volume of soil in the pots is small, so it dries quickly. Cucumbers have a great need for moisture. Do not allow the soil to dry out.

Watered under the root in the morning with settled water. This is not worth doing in the evening. Condensation may appear on the leaves at night. Excess moisture at night can cause fungal infections.

Top dressing

The first top dressing is carried out when the second true leaf is formed. Throughout the growing season, home cucumbers fertilize once every 7 days. Use:

• ash;
• humates;
• complex fertilizers.

An infusion is prepared from ash (per 1 liter of 100 g), the earth is dusted with it. During flowering, the leaves and stems of a cucumber are sprayed with boron water (2 g of boric acid in 2 l of water) or yeast. They can be alternated.

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Insist in the water peel from bananas. The resulting infusion is watered with cucumbers during fruiting. From store fertilizers, liquid preparations are suitable:

• ROST;
• Cucumber from Kimira;
• Florgumat for cucumbers and zucchini;
• Health
• Good power for cucumbers.

Shaping and Garter

Cucumbers on the windowsill form in different ways. The scheme depends on the variety. If the plant is strongly braided, then it will lead to 1 stalk. All stepsons appearing in the sinuses are plucked. Weedy cucumbers can be grown in 2 stems:

• pinch the central shoot over 4 leaves;
• leave 2 shoots of the second order;
• lashes are tied to different supports.

Air humidity

In winter, the air in the apartment is dry, it contains no more than 50% moisture. Cucumbers develop better when the percentage is higher (80%). If the microclimate is not suitable, yellow leaves appear on the plant. They fall over time, the stem is partially exposed.

Bushes are sprayed every 2 days with water at room temperature. They put a humidifier next to cucumbers. If there is no device, place a container of water on or under the battery.

Pollination

Artificial pollination necessary if bee-pollinated varieties of cucumbers grow at home. Spend it in the morning. They tear off the male flower, bend the petals, touch its central part to the stamens of the female buds that have opened.

Diseases and Pests

Aphids and house flies (mushroom mosquitoes) pose a threat to indoor cucumbers. Aphids can be brought home with flowers. Larvae and larvae are more likely to wind in October and March. Roots suffer from larvae living in the soil. Destroy them with insecticides:

• Bazudin;
• Fly-eater;
• Actara.

From aphids, the leaves are washed with soap and water several times a week. Of the diseases, the black leg threatens indoor cucumbers. This is a fungal disease. It affects more often young plants. The reason is the soil, which was poorly disinfected, seed material not prepared according to all the rules, waterlogging, low temperatures.

How to harvest

The first cucumbers appear after 1.5 months. At this time, the plants have not yet gained strength, so the greenhouses are removed when they are very small. While the bushes bear fruit, the fruits are harvested every other day.

You need to clean the greenbacks a little smaller than what is stated in the description of the variety. It shows the sizes for plants growing in a greenhouse or open ground.

The best varieties of winter cucumbers

There are no pollinators (bees, wasps, bumblebees) in the apartment, therefore it is better to plant self-pollinated and pollinating (parthenocarpic) varieties and hybrids. The latter option is considered the best choice for greenhouses, balconies, window sills.

Advantages of parthenocarpic cucumbers:

• no barren flower;
• bitterness in the fruit is absent;
• high productivity;
• Zelentsy one-dimensional.

You can sow a variety for open ground. Then the flowers will have to be hand-pollinated so that cucumbers grow on the windowsill. Below are descriptions of the best varieties of cucumber for winter cultivation on the windowsill.

Hybrid Farm

Super-precocious (30 days), a fruitful hybrid with a female type of flowering, a small amount of side lashes. Productivity of one plant is 5.5 kg. The purpose of the fruit is universal. Zelentsy are cylindrical, black-thorned, grow up to 12 cm in length, maximum weight 120 g.

Cucumbers Shchedryk

A bush of medium weaving. Type of flowering female. The formation of Zelentsy takes 50 days. About 5 kg of fruits are removed from one plant:

• bedridden;
• with crispy, delicious flesh;
• without bitterness;
• skin without thorns, tuberous;
• dimensions of 3 x 10 cm;
• weighing 95-100 g.

Hybrid Crystal

The height of the central shoot is 1.2 m, the type of flowering is female, the ripening time is 35-40 days. In the node, 3 to 4 ovaries are formed. Fruit size 3 x 10 cm, weight 80 g, dark green color, white stripes, spikes. In a greenhouse, up to 10 kg of cucumbers are collected from one bush.

Onega F1

Hybrid early (38 days), self-pollinated. It is characterized by extended fruiting. Onega F1 is resistant to root rot and fungal infections. Fruits are short (8 cm), coarse-humped, pickled.

Hybrid Buyan F1

A hybrid of the beam type, 6-7 fruits are formed in one node. The first greenbacks are removed after 45 days. Their characteristics: length 14 cm, weight 100 g, the skin is dark green, light green at the ends, the spikes are white. The main part of the fruit is formed on the central stem.

Grade Emelya F1

Parthenocarpic type plant. The fruits are large, weighing up to 150 g, length up to 15 cm, diameter about 4 cm. The skin is delicate, bright green with a slight pubescence, without bitterness, covered with white spikes. The surface is covered with short light stripes.

Hybrid Ant F1

This is an ultra-early hybrid. The first cucumbers are removed after 37 days. This is parthenocarpic type of plant with female flowers. It’s easy to take care of the bush in the apartment. Side lashes formed a little.Characteristics of Zelentsy

• length 8-11 cm;
• diameter about 3 cm;
• weight 100 g;
• spikes are white;
• the peel is dark green with light longitudinal stripes;
• pulp of medium density.

Babylon F1

The length of greenery is 10-12 cm. Weight 90-110 g. The bush is vigorous with a female type of flowering, it takes 57 days to mature. The shape of the fruit is conical, ribbed. The pulp is fragrant, crispy. The peel is dark green covered with a small amount of white spikes.

Early hybrid Masha F1

The first time cucumbers of this variety can be removed after 1.5 months. Productivity is high. The fruits are cylindrical up to 11 cm long, weighing about 100 g. The peel is dark green with spikes, longitudinal light green stripes are visible on it. The hybrid is self-pollinated, the percentage of empty flowers is low.

Variety with the talking name Miracle on the F1 window

Ultra-early hybrid parthenocarpic type. Zelentsy greenery, maximum length 8 cm. The fruits do not outgrow, there is no bitterness in taste. Collect them after 40 days.

Mistakes in the winter cultivation of cucumbers

Errors in agricultural technology lead to the fact that cucumber ovaries turn yellow. Productivity of Zelentsy is low for the following reasons:

• soil structure and fertility are not suitable for culture;
• the duration and intensity of lighting are not sufficient for the normal development of plants;
• poor indoor climate (temperature, humidity);
• drafts;
• lack of regularity of irrigation, their redundancy or insufficiency;
• unbalanced feeding or lack thereof.

To grow a huge crop of cucumbers at home will not work. But a salad for a family of 2-3 people is quite real. Zelentsy taste not inferior to greenhouse. They are much more aromatic and tastier than store ones. Success largely depends on the variety.