How to tie cucumbers in open ground and in a polycarbonate greenhouse?

Cucumber is a vegetable from the genus of herbaceous annual plants belonging to the Pumpkin family. The picky vegetable crop is a frequent guest in gardens, greenhouses and even balconies, due to the ease of cultivation. The multi-seeded fruit of the plant can be consumed raw, salted or pickled, and it is also a popular ingredient in various cold snacks and salads.

However, when growing a bush, it is worth considering that its long creeping stem needs to be garter, otherwise it is unlikely to achieve a high fertility of the crop. Knowing how to properly tie cucumbers growing in open ground or a greenhouse will facilitate the process of growing a plant and positively affect its yield.

How to properly tie cucumbers in the open ground and how to do it right

Garter of cucumbers plays an important role in the process of growing them, so it is recommended to familiarize yourself with all its nuances before the procedure. When growing cucumbers for the first time, gardeners quite often ask themselves whether they need to be tied up or not.

Unconnected bushes grow quite actively and bear fruit, however, the quantity and quality of these fruits are not very good. This is due to the fact that the shoots creeping on the ground simply do not have enough light, which plays an important role in the fruit setting and their further growth.

But despite this, quite often gardeners do not tie up the shoots of the plant, arguing their choice so that in this way cucumbers can receive additional moisture and nutrition directly from the soil. But this opinion is erroneous, since the creeping stems of the plant themselves seek to find support, drying out and breaking during the search. In addition, quite often growing plants can become a support for the bush, which can lead to their pain and even death.

You may be interested in:

The use of saltpeter for cucumbers: how and when to feedSpraying cucumbers with a solution of milk and iodine: how to waterHow to pinch cucumbers in a greenhouse: instructions, photo

Benefits of the procedure:

1. It is easier to weed the soil under the plant.
2. Stems and leaves receive enough light and heat.
3. It is easier for bees to access the flowers of cucumbers.
4. With tied shoots it is easier to harvest.
5. The tied cucumbers are easy to water and feed.
6. The probability of the appearance of fungal diseases is reduced.

There are several ways to fix the stems, due to which each gardener can choose the most convenient option for himself.

Horizontal garter

Even a novice grower can handle the horizontal version of fixing the shoots of a plant.

Procedure Algorithm:

1. First you need to drive into the ground 2 pipes or rounded sticks at the edges of the beds, parallel to each other.
2. Between the supports pull a strong rope or tight fabric strips, retreating 30 cm from the ground.
3. To retreat from the rope by 25-30 cm and repeat the tensioning procedure again. This way you can create several rows with the same distance between each other.

With this method of garter, it is necessary to periodically adjust the antennae of the shoots so that the stems that have reached the upper tier do not obscure the lower part of the plant.

Vertical option

A fairly convenient way to fix cucumbers, which are used by many vegetable growers. For a vertical garter, it is necessary to install two strong supports made of wood or metal along the edges of the beds, and tie a similar support to their tops or pull the twine. Next, ropes or pieces of fabric are tied to the upper crossbar, at a distance of 25 cm from each other and descend to the shoots.

The number of ropes should correspond to the number of bushes. The free end of the rope is tied to the base of the stem, so that the bush can further entwine the rope. Garter can also be carried out in 2 rows, however, in this case, a distance of more than 30 cm should be maintained between the ropes.

Grid

Using a grid to fix the shoots of a plant allows you to combine horizontal and vertical support option. As a material for support, you can use a fence or any durable lattices with large cells.

You can also purchase a grid for vegetables in a specialized store, and pull it between 2 or more supports (depending on the size of the beds). The more space a cucumber bed takes, the more support will be needed for a more reliable fastening of the structure.

In the form of a hut

To garter the bush, you can use not only a trellis of a U-shaped shape, but also a triangular design. To do this, a wooden support is installed in the center of the rounded bed, about 3 meters long, and hooks are attached to its top. Next, near each bush, you need to drive a peg, and tie a rope to one of them.

After the rope is fixed, its free edge must be pulled through the hook and wrapped around the next peg, repeating the steps until all the fasteners are involved. When the cucumbers move in height, the support will resemble a bright green hut or lodge.

Methods for suspending cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse

Cucumbers growing in a polycarbonate greenhouse, need a garter no less than their relatives, who grow in the open ground. Greenhouse cucumbers can be tied in either standard or combined ways, which are ideal for greenhouses due to their compactness. Combined methods of fixation help save space for planting other plants, which is important when growing vegetables in a greenhouse.

You may be interested in:

Cucumbers in a barrel - preparation, cultivation, care
For the last time, I have so much wanted to equip corners for the soul with lawns and flower beds in addition to garden beds. Where…Read more…

V-type garter

This type of garter helps to conditionally divide the bush into two parts, which prevents a strong plexus of its shoots. A bush tied in this way receives a sufficient amount of light and is rarely exposed to fungal diseases.

For a V-type garter, 2 ropes are tied to the upper part of the greenhouse structure, the ends of which should wrap the base of the bush. Further, the main shoot of the bush is launched along one rope, and a large lateral shoot along the other so that the plant can catch on to them.

"Blindness"

This method allows you to control the growth of the plant, not allowing the bush to grow strongly. The “blinding” procedure is performed by tying the main shoot under the second lower sheet to a vertical support. All shoots and mustaches, whose height reaches more than 50 cm, are cut off. After "blinding" the plant spends all its juices exclusively on the formation of fruits on the main stem.In addition, this method helps protect all plants growing near cucumbers from dimming.

"Cucumber tree"

The procedure helps to give a tree shape to the cucumber bush. For this method of garter, it is necessary to tie several trellises of different lengths to the upper base of the greenhouse, and central and side shoots to be selected from the bush.

The main stem is tied to the shortest trellis, and the remaining shoots are bred to the sides and attached to long trellises. After the appearance of female ovaries on the side shoots, they must be carefully attached to the trellis, which is wrapped around the main stem. It is recommended to wrap the main shoot of the main shoot around the lateral, while the rest of the shoots should be cut off.

This option is a relatively new method of garter cucumber bush, which has not yet had time to take root among vegetable growers.

Under the arcs

Cucumbers can be fixed not only to the usual U-shaped supports, but also to metal arcs. To do this, long pieces of fabric or rope are tied, to the lower parts of which cucumbers are tied. The number of ropes should correspond to the number of bushes that need a garter. As a support, you can use the metal rods of the greenhouse, having an arched shape.

This method can also be used for garter cucumbers in open ground or greenhouses.

Twisting the cucumbers in a clockwise garter

As soon as the height of the cucumber bush reaches 30 cm, and at least 4 leaves appear on its stem, you must proceed to the garter procedure. It is not recommended to tie the bush to the trellis or support tightly, as this can stop the further development of shoots and adversely affect the fruit ovary.

Many beginner gardeners are interested in the question, in which direction should the cucumber shoots be twisted around the trellis, clockwise or counterclockwise. Therefore, it is important to know that the top of the stem must be timely twisted around the support exclusively clockwise, if you look at the bush from above.

This procedure will allow the shoots of the bush to always be on the sunny side, which is important for their fruiting. The overgrown shoots must be twisted once every 3 days, since the bush is not able to do this on its own. In case of untimely twisting, the top of the stem under the weight of its weight may fall down and even be damaged.

How to tie cucumbers on the balcony?

Vegetable culture is suitable for growing on the balcony, however, and with this option, do not ignore the garter of the shoots of the plant. The fertility depends on how correctly and in time the bush will be tied.

You may be interested in:

Planting and caring for cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse
If we talk about some special differences when growing cucumbers in a polycarbonate greenhouse, then there will be none ....Read more…

To garter cucumbers growing on the balcony, use the following methods:

1. Mobile trellis. As a trellis, any U-shaped structure is used, the height of which substantially exceeds the height of the plant itself. Fabric strips are attached to the top of the structure, the lower ends of which are wrapped around the stems of the bush. Wooden or metal trellis, depending on its size, can be installed both above a group of plants and directly in a container with a separate bush.

   

2. Tapestry in the form of stairs.For this method, a purchased or home-made mini-ladder is used, which is inserted directly into the container with the cucumber bush. The bush quickly starts to lean on the stairs, rapidly moving in height. As an additional support, a stick can also be inserted into the container with the plant.
3. Garter to clothesline for drying clothes. Strips of cloth attached to clothesline can be an excellent support for cucumber shoots. For this, flowing fabric strips are enough to tie to the shoots of the plant.

Tieing cucumber bushes growing on the balcony is quite easy and fast, and the result of the work done in the form of a good harvest will not be long in coming.

Common questions

Proper garter of cucumber bushes allows you to increase the productivity of vegetable crops and greatly facilitates the care of it in the growing process. Neglecting this procedure, you can significantly reduce the number of fruits, because the plant will not have enough light and heat to set.