Do-it-yourself vertical beds for cucumbers: schemes, photos

24.08.2024 Cucumbers

A vertical bed for cucumbers is a way to distribute the space of a site, a balcony. You can make them yourself from improvised materials. The technology is available to inexperienced gardeners. Plants are easy to care for, as is harvesting. The design is convenient to move around the site, creating the conditions that are required by the culture. The shape of the beds depends on the materials, the size of the plot.

Content

1 The purpose of the vertical beds
2 Advantages and disadvantages of vertical beds
3 Types of vertical beds
4 Cucumber care for vertical cultivation

The purpose of the vertical beds

Cucumbers, like other vegetables, give a good harvest if they get enough light. In small areas, providing adequate lighting is often difficult. As well as place a lot of landings. A vertical method of growing seedlings of cucumbers manages to solve these problems.

The idea of technology is to fix the beds on fences, blank walls. During daylight hours, areas where it is planned to grow a crop should be well lit. Boxes are placed one above the other with a step that is equal to the height of an adult plant. Anchoring by the type of stairs or staggered is available. Using the method, up to 100 kg of vegetables are collected from 1 m².

Advantages and disadvantages of vertical beds

In addition to saving space, achieving the necessary lighting, the technology helps to save time on care. From angled lashes it is more convenient to harvest. Soil for small containers is easy to prepare yourself. This helps protect cucumbers from dangerous diseases. The beds are often made mobile so that their position can be changed.

Fact!

Vertical beds for cucumbers are not available for rodents. The vegetable is protected from rotting due to excessive watering.

The minus of the method is the quick drying of the earth. This problem is solved by installing drip irrigation. Gardeners can add hydrogel to the soil. The substance retains moisture by directing it to the roots.

Due to the small size of the containers, nutrients are washed away quickly. Fertilizing twice a week helps to restore balance under the root and on the plant itself. The concentration and appearance of the substance are carefully selected to avoid leaf burns.

A small amount of soil freezes faster. If frost occurs early, shelter is needed for the crop. Vertical beds are compatible with growing cucumbers in a greenhouse.

Types of vertical beds

To make vertical beds by technical knowledge themselves, skills are not needed. Several types of containers are known.

From tires

A commonly used method of planting cucumbers in open ground. To work, you will need:

wood block;
tires;
chisel.

Square holes are made in the tires. They are dug into the ground to a depth of 12 cm. The prepared soil mixture is poured inside. Seedlings are placed in the slot. Tires can be placed one above the other, increasing the number of plants grown. The radius is placed high metal rods for tying.

Barrels

In small areas, a vertical bed for cucumbers can be made with your own hands from 200 liter metal or wooden containers. They are placed in a row or staggered in increments of 80 cm for weeding, watering.Compost, dry branches and leaves without signs of disease are poured at the bottom. Next - garden land, mixed with decayed manure. Make 1 glass of mineral fertilizers, mix and spill with warm water. For disinfection add potassium permanganate.

Along the edge, make pits up to 2 cm deep. Two seeds are planted in each. Cover with a film. As the soil dries, watered. After germination, weak plants are removed.

Important!

In a barrel, moisture evaporates faster. This affects the frequency of watering.

Barrels can be replaced with five-liter plastic bottles of water. They are cleaned of stickers, disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate. At the bottom, drainage holes are made, which are covered with expanded clay. Bottles are suspended, dug into the ground.

Pipes

An interesting version of the vertical beds for cucumbers. For work, two types of pipes are used:

PVC as for sewage - holes 20x20 are drilled in it;
Irrigation - make cuts with a diameter of 1 cm.

The smaller tube is inserted into the larger one, leaving a small end outside for watering. They fill it with prepared soil and plant seeds. Wrap with a film, which is removed after germination.

Bucket

As can be seen in the photo, a vertical bed for cucumbers with their own hands can be made from a bucket. They can be hung on the walls, lowering the wattle fence down. Distance from the ground - 2 m. When the plant reaches the ground, pinch it. Pasynkovka can be carried out for growing in pipes. Buckets are also installed around the perimeter of the site or in another free place. A crossbar for the trellis is installed above them. As they grow, cucumbers will braid the net.

Plastic bags

Garbage bags are suitable for the vertical cultivation of cucumbers. They are filled with soil with mineral fertilizers, seeds are planted. After sowing, watered with warm water, covered with a film. When the seedlings appear, pegs are inserted into the middle part for tying. As the lashes grow, additional support will be required.

You can plant seeds and seedlings of cucumbers in boxes of old furniture. They are sanded, covered with a layer of paint. Fasten on a rack, as when growing cucumbers in a pipe. Drain holes are made in the bottom.

For capital constructions, brick and other material are suitable. The beds are shaped like steps. There must be a rack for tying. This is a reusable container option. The video shows other ways to implement the technology.

Cucumber care for vertical cultivation

Before planting seeds or seedlings, choose a place protected from drafts. The soil should warm up well. It is saturated with organic fertilizers - 6 kg of manure are taken per 1 m². This ingredient can be replaced with a mixture of 200 g of ash and 1 tbsp. superphosphate. In spring, the soil is additionally disinfected by pouring with a hot solution of potassium permanganate.

To grow healthy plants, manure or bird droppings are added to the hole before planting the seed. This organic fertilizer saturates the soil with nutrients, additionally warms up the substrate.

The formation of the bush is a mandatory procedure. Female peduncles appear on the side shoots, which are responsible for fruiting. Pinching provokes their active development.

Important!

If the gardener planted a hybrid variety, pinch the side shoots. This is due to the fact that the female flowers are located on the main stem.

At each stage of growth, cucumbers require moderate but regular watering. Lack of moisture is the main cause of bitterness of ripened fruits. The taste is positively affected by mulching. Suitable mowed grass, fallen leaves. Such a mulch will protect the soil from drying out, the appearance of weeds. Be sure to make fertilizers - mineral and organic, alternating them every 15 days.

When the fruiting period comes, ripened cucumbers are removed every 2 days.This rule cannot be violated. Even one overgrown fetus is enough to weaken the plant. After harvesting, all the stems, leaves are removed, inspected. If signs of disease are found, the waste is destroyed. Healthy lashes are transferred to a compost pit.

Tanks in which cucumbers grew free from the ground. Wipe with a solution of potassium permanganate and cleaned in the barn. Remains of plants are removed from nets, trellises, wires. Gently fold. Used soil is put into a container, dug with fertilizer. During the winter, the substrate will decay and will be ready for new plantings.