How to tie cucumbers on the balcony beautifully and correctly?

When grown in an apartment, vegetables need the same agrotechnical techniques that are used in the open field and in a greenhouse. It will be necessary to tie up the cucumbers on the windowsill, provide them with regular watering, feeding, loosening. It is also necessary to maintain a certain level of light, humidity and temperature.

With proper care, the culture can bear fruit in an apartment all year round.

Choosing the right variety

Breeders have bred varieties of cucumbers specially designed for growing on a balcony, loggia or window sill of a city apartment. The manufacturer makes a corresponding mark on the packaging of such seeds.

For successful cultivation at home, plants must have special characteristics:

• Self-pollination ability. On a glassed-in balcony or windowsill, cucumbers are inaccessible to bees for pollination, and it is not always convenient to do this artificially.
• Shade tolerance. Plants grown in the garden literally bathe in the sun. At home, cucumbers get much less lighting, so you need to choose varieties that are resistant to a lack of light.
• Small leaves. It is desirable that the bushes form small leaves, otherwise the plants will shade themselves.
• Compactness. Tall varieties are not suitable for growing on a windowsill. Bush cucumbers are planted at home without long lateral shoots and with short internodes.

The characteristics and size of the fruit may vary, you can find out about them by reading the information on the package.

Popular varieties of cucumbers for indoor and balcony cultivation include:

• "Balcony miracle F1";
• "City Cucumber F1";
• "April F1";
• "Machaon F1";
• "Balagan F1";
• "F1 Debut";
• Zozulya F1;
• "Ant F1";
• "Elegant";
• "Garland F1";
• Hummingbird F1;
• "Masha F1".

Cucumbers marked "F1" are first generation hybrids. The seeds obtained from them do not transfer the properties of the mother plant, therefore they are not used for planting.

Growing method, suitable place

You can start growing cucumbers by getting seedlings. In this case, small containers are selected for sowing. These can be cake lids, special cassettes, small pots, plastic bottles. In the summer, it is advisable to use light-colored containers - this will prevent overheating of the roots. There must be drainage holes in the bottom of the planting container.

You can immediately plant the seed in a container with a volume of 4 liters or more. The container for growing adult cucumbers should be spacious, given the size of the root system of the plants. Fruiting is unlikely in small pots. If the apartment has only a northern balcony, it is better to abandon the idea of ​​organizing a home garden.

A good result can be obtained by growing a crop on a loggia or windows with a south and southeast orientation. In summer, in hot weather, it is necessary to organize air exchange on the balcony. This must be done in such a way that the draft does not fall on the cucumbers. Plants need to be shaded from the bright midday sun.

Correct fit

With the seedling method of growing, the seeds are sown in March and the plants are grown on the windowsill. Later, the seedlings dive into large pots, in which further growth of cucumbers will take place. Plants are put on the open balcony not earlier than the beginning of May. At the same time, sowing of cucumbers is carried out, which will initially grow in the open air.

It is necessary to wait for the establishment of stable warm weather. Plants can die from temperature changes. You can grow cucumbers in the room on the windowsill all year round, but in this case you will need additional lighting. For this purpose, fluorescent, LED and fluorescent lamps are used. The backlight is turned on daily in the morning and in the evening for several hours.

As a substrate, you can use ready-made soil for growing vegetables. When compiling a mixture, they independently use garden soil, peat and humus, taken in equal parts. First, the earth must be calcined in the oven for the purpose of disinfection. Suitable soil acidity for cucumbers is 6.3–6.8 pH.

Step by step seeding procedure:

1. The seeds are pre-soaked in warm water for 2-3 hours, this will speed up their germination. You can germinate planting material by wrapping it in a damp cotton cloth.
2. Drainage (expanded clay, brick chips) is poured into the planting container, a hole is made with a finger 2 cm deep, and the soil is poured with settled water at room temperature.
3. A seed is placed on the bottom of the hole, sprinkled with dry earth and lightly sprayed from a spray bottle. When growing seedlings, several seeds are sown in one container, at a distance of 4–5 cm from each other.
4. The crops are covered with plastic wrap on top to create greenhouse conditions. The shelter is removed after germination.

The soil in the hill should always remain slightly moist, its drying out is unacceptable. Excessive watering is also undesirable. It can cause mold and seedling rot.

Garter cucumbers, types of supports

You need to tie up cucumbers correctly. During this procedure, the whips are given the necessary direction, which allows you to achieve several goals at once:

• the bush is more evenly illuminated by the sun and well ventilated;
• the plant looks decorative;
• easier access for care;
• fixed shoots produce more fruit;
• plants are more compactly located on the windowsill, without disturbing neighbors;
• the fruits do not touch the ground, remaining clean and healthy;
• the risk of developing fungal diseases and pests is reduced;

A tied bush is easier to inspect and harvest. For garters, rods, nets, trellises, ropes, cords and similar materials are used. Cucumbers on bushes should be torn off as they ripen, this will speed up the setting of new fruits.

Dates of the procedure

Cucumbers should be tied up after the bush grows to a height of 30 cm. Usually this size is reached after the appearance of the 6th true leaf. At this point, the first antennae appear on the plant, and, if the garter is not carried out, the cucumber will cling to neighboring plants. The whip may just sink to the ground.

It is at this moment that the shoots are given the right direction. If the support requires installation in the ground, this is done at an early stage in the development of the seedling so as not to damage its root system in the future. When grown on a balcony, the support structure must be particularly strong. The plant needs a secure fit so as not to change its position under the influence of wind gusts. When using individual supports, they are installed near each plant. On the grid, shoots are distributed evenly at intervals of 15-20 cm.

It is better to carry out the garter in the first half of the day, while the sun is not yet scorching. It is necessary to fix the stems freely so that they have the opportunity to grow in thickness and not be pinched. The lowest garter should not be below the 3rd true leaf. In the process of growth, the lashes are periodically tied up again, fixing them at intervals of 30 cm. A few hours before and after the procedure, do not water the plant.

Vertical garter options

The vertical garter allows you to compactly arrange the bushes - so that they do not take up much space on the windowsill. In this case, different options for supports are used:

• Bars made of plastic, wood or metal. They are installed immediately after sowing or planting seedlings. Depending on the variety of cucumber, the length of the rod varies from 70 to 100 cm.As the bush grows, the stem is fixed with garters to the support at intervals of 30 cm.
• Trellis. The support is a kind of ladder of two rods with horizontal crossbars located between them. This design can be made by yourself. Pieces of cord can be stretched as crossbars between the vertical supports. During the growth process, the stem is passed between the cords. Additionally, it is not required to tie the whips.
  
• Twine. When sowing, a wooden peg is stuck in a pot at a distance of 5-7 cm from the future plant. A string is tied to the support, the free end of which is fixed in the upper part of the window frame. As it grows, the stem of the cucumber is twisted around a stretched rope. Additionally, you can tie the lash with strips of soft fabric at intervals of 30-40 cm.
• Lattice or mesh. A very convenient support option. The structure is installed on the window; in the process of growth, the side shoots wrap themselves around it. If necessary, you can additionally fix the stems with twine. The structure is made of a chain-link mesh or wooden slats.

When grown on a grid, the lashes can be placed not only vertically, but also obliquely or in a zigzag. If, after reaching the top of the support, the stem does not stop growing, it is given the opposite direction or the crown is cut off.

Horizontal and curly garter

In the horizontal method, a cord is used as a support for the shoots. The rope is pulled in 4–5 tiers with an interval of 20–25 cm. The bottom row should run at a height of 30 cm from the top edge of the pots. In this case, the whips themselves will wrap around the rope. Additionally, the shoots are fixed with strips of soft tissue.

The curly garter is carried out using a bendable metal wire, giving it any shape, be it a ball, a dome or an arch. The opposite ends of the wire are buried in the ground. In the process of growth, the lashes are wrapped around the structure. The number of wire supports is calculated individually; they can be added as needed.

Despite the compact size of the cucumbers grown on the windowsill, they need a garter. Having received support in the form of a support, the plant will develop and bear fruit better, it is easier to care for and observe such a bush.