Recently, growing cucumbers in a barrel has become popular among summer residents. And not only cucumbers: sometimes tomatoes and weaving plants like beans are planted in such "high beds". The benefit from such plantings is obvious: in this small area you can "stick" more seeds than on a regular garden bed, and even install the barrel where the garden beds cannot be - for example, directly under the house. Space saving is available! And also, it is convenient to take care of such plantings: for watering, you do not need to bend to the ground itself, because the surface of the barrel bed is noticeably raised above the level of the site. But in order to get such a barrel crop, you need to know some tricks!
Cucumbers in a barrel - preparation, cultivation and care
We already told how to grow cucumbers in a barrel (according to Ganichkin). Today we supplement the article with new information.
When to cook a barrel for cucumbers?
Usually, gardeners begin to prepare beds in the autumn: they dig the soil, fertilize it and level it. In general, they are doing everything in order to arrive at all ready in the spring. They do almost the same with barrel beds, with only one addition: you don’t have to dig land into them. Nevertheless, it is necessary to install barrels precisely in the fall, so that during the winter the fertilizers in it rumble, and the ground level is rammed.
How to install a barrel for growing vegetables?
Let's start with the barrel itself. She must be:
1. The metal. This is a "breathing" material, which, unlike modern plastic, will not bloom and infect the ground with garden sores. You can use the old iron barrel: usually such "remnants of the past" and used for mobile beds.
2. Without a bottom. In order for moisture to escape from the ground, it is very important that there are at least a few holes in the bottom of the barrel (everything here is very similar to the principle of “working” flower pots, but the dimensions are much larger). The best option is a barrel without a bottom. Then it will not be possible to transfer it from place to place, but the land in it will not decay, and the plants will yield a good harvest.
3. Relatively light. Digging in a barrel is not an easy task, and in itself will not be suitable for the role of “women's work”. But the fact is, it is difficult for men to move a volumetric metal barrel around the site. So, if you have something to choose from, take a small barrel without a bottom for cucumbers - it will be easier.
How to make a bed in a barrel for growing cucumbers?
- First, in a selected place, dig a hole with such a diameter so that the barrel fits freely there. Choose the depth of the hole yourself, based on the height of the barrel and the desired height of the beds itself. We dug the barrel to half the height, although you can dig it up just a little bit - literally 10 cm.
- Place the barrel in the dug hole and sprinkle its sides with earth (from the outside to strengthen the barrel in a new place).
- Pour some earth into the barrel. You can use inferior earth for the bottom layer, if you have one. Or even sand: it will not affect the fertility of the garden.
- Next, put the weeds in the barrel, from which you rid your beds. There can even be a lot of weeds: over time, they will decrease in volume and fall. To speed up this process, occasionally water the grass in the barrel with water.
- The third layer can be either good soil or compost. If you are preparing a barrel bed in the fall, do not hesitate to throw organic garbage into it over the grass (vegetable peelings, worm fruits, and especially egg shells, which miraculously enrich the soil with alkali).During the winter, all this "treasure" will decay and make the bed in a barrel the most useful for cucumbers!
- Place the fourth layer in the barrel in the spring, immediately before sowing the seeds of cucumbers. The top layer should be the most fertile - black soil or the best soil that you have. Pour it not to the top, but so that 15-20 cm remains to the upper edge of the barrel. The sides of the barrel will help protect young bushes of cucumbers from the wind and preserve the moisture of the freshly watered earth.
Growing cucumbers in a barrel: planting and care
So, the barrel is filled with earth, the newly made bed is watered and ready to go. Along the perimeter of the bed, make small holes in the ground (at pieces 10), dip the seeds of weaving cucumbers in them and sprinkle with earth. Watering the first time is not necessary so as not to wash the seeds from the ground. In a couple of weeks, you will see in the barrel already “starting” bushes of cucumbers.
Water the plants sparingly - every other day. At the same time, remember that cucumbers are quite “painful” cultures, therefore it is better to water them with settled water at room or even warm temperature. They really do not like cold watering.
When you see that the bushes are already starting to weave (getting too tall and about to fall), establish a support for the cucumbers. In the barrel there will be enough just one tall stick, dug in the middle, and four ropes leading from the "foot" of the bushes up to the stick. This is a kind of "ladder" for plants, which will help to climb a wooden support.
After a couple of days, the cucumbers will grab the ropes with their antennae and begin to trudge up. Well, you, meanwhile, do not forget about warm watering and fertilizing. You need to feed cucumbers infrequently - once every 3 weeks. For this, a herbal infusion (nettle, celandine and other weeds + water, infused before the appearance of bubbles on the surface of the liquid) is suitable. Water the cucumbers (both water and top dressing) must be strictly under the root so that the leaves are not damaged.
Find out, how to properly feed cucumbers with yeast.
Clutching the ropes and stick tightly with their antennae, the cucumbers will begin to bloom. Well, then in place of the flowers will appear the ovaries of small cucumbers.
If you take care of the cucumbers correctly, they do not freeze and grow not in the wind, the bushes can grow even higher than the established support. For example, here, after cradle, cucumbers in a barrel “switched” to a neighboring tree, so we had to look twice as carefully at the thickets to see the fruits of cucumbers there.
In general, growing cucumbers in a barrel near a tree is a very good idea: first, the young bushes cover the sides of the barrel from the sun, then the foliage of the tree, and then the plants migrate to the tree to present you with fresh fruits from such a height. Let your cucumbers in a barrel turn out just as successful and tasty!
Just look how to grow cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse.
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