How often should cucumbers be watered so that the fruits do not taste bitter?

The delicate cucumber vine is native to the tropics and requires warm and humid conditions for its development. Watering the soil under the cucumbers is necessary abundantly and systematically. Only then will this vegetable, which is 95% water, be truly refreshing and crunchy. The presence or absence of a bitter taste also depends on the amount of moisture.

Why does a plant need a lot of water?

In order to properly organize watering for cucumbers, it is worth learning about the features of their growth and development.

• The plant consumes a lot of moisture due to the large leaf area, through which intensive evaporation occurs in dry weather.
• The root system of cucumber plants is shallow. In very dry weather, the roots do not reach the layer of the earth, where moisture has been preserved.
• Cucumber roots have a low water absorption capacity.
• Cucumber whip forms a fairly large crop in a relatively short growing season.

There are some important conditions to follow when watering.

• Watered with warm water, the optimum temperature is 25⁰ C. Usually it is collected in barrels in the morning, it heats up during the day and is ready for watering in the evening. You can simply heat up the water and add hot water to the watering can. This requirement is mandatory, because the roots die off from cold water.
• Hard water is not suitable. The settled water is softened with citric acid or vinegar. Rainwater is also collected.
• It is necessary to observe the norm of the amount of water. Waterlogging is detrimental to cucumbers, as is drought.
• Cucumbers are often watered, taking into account the weather and the phases of plant development.
• It is impossible not to water the soil under the cucumbers for a long time, otherwise it will dry out. Contrasting soil conditions inhibit roots.

There are exceptions to these rules. When grown outdoors, can be watered with cold water in very hot weather, when the temperature above the soil rises to 30⁰C. Careful watering is needed - only at the root, so as not to injure weak, sluggish leaves.

When it gets cold in early summer, the water in the containers does not heat up, and the cucumber roots can absorb moisture no colder than 10⁰ C. Watering with such water will not do any good. In this case, the water is heated to 40 degrees and watered, stepping back from the stem by at least 5 cm.

It is interesting!

Breeders have developed varieties of non-bitter cucumbers. Plants are completely deprived of the ability, even under stress, to produce cucurbitacin, a substance that makes green plants bitter.

When and how to water cucumbers outdoors?

Novice summer residents often think about when it is better to water the plants - in the morning or in the evening. The answer is unambiguous: cucumbers in the garden are watered daily in the evening, when the sun has already lowered to the horizon. At night, the moisture will not evaporate, but will be absorbed by the plants. On the contrary, after the morning watering, there will be intense evaporation, and the cucumbers will not have time to absorb the amount of moisture they need.

But in severe drought, you can water twice, including the water supply early in the morning. During daytime watering, if water drops on the leaves, sunburn may occur. The damaged areas die off, and after them the entire leaf.

A splitter must be attached to a watering can or a hose so that a strong jet of water does not wash out the soil near the delicate roots and does not nail the leaves to the ground. It is also impossible to water close to the roots due to the fact that with strong moisture they can rot.

When the cucumbers are blooming, only the soil should be watered so as not to knock down the delicate ovaries. For this, grooves are made, retreating from the roots by 5-10 cm.Watering is increased during the growth of greens so that they are less bitter and juicy. One plant will consume up to one liter of water.

Advice

In a drought, buckets of water are placed in the area where cucumbers grow to increase moisture. The water evaporates and creates a favorable environment for plants.

How many times to water cucumbers in the greenhouse?

In greenhouse conditions, the soil stays moist longer, the atmosphere is much warmer. But when hot days come, the ground quickly becomes dry, the air hot. Then it is recommended to shade the walls of the greenhouse by spraying them outside with a solution of chalk. In glass greenhouses, cucumbers are not watered during the day.

• Tanks for heating water must also be in the greenhouse - to maintain the same temperature.
• It is necessary to water over the leaves in order to achieve the moisture required for cucumbers and at the same time reduce the air temperature.
• Before the formation of the ovary, watering is carried out every three to four days.
• With the beginning of flowering, planting cucumbers is watered every other day.
• Daily watering is required during the fruiting period.
• For young plants, 2-3 liters of water are consumed per square meter, for those that bear fruit - 5-10 liters.
• If the weather is cloudy and the soil is wet, no watering is carried out.
• Sprinkling is necessary, because the leaves and stems of cucumbers also absorb water. At the same time, the walls of the greenhouse are also washed - for moisture.

For watering cucumbers in polycarbonate greenhouses, where an ideal climate for moisture-loving plants is maintained, warm water is needed. Sprinkle to set the required 80 percent humidity. In very dry weather, this procedure is carried out twice a day. The water evaporates and then settles back on the leaves and stems. In this case, it is necessary to monitor the state of the soil and plants so that increased moisture does not lead to the development of fungal diseases.

They also outline grooves along the rows of plantings where water is poured. Thus, the entire soil is moistened evenly.

It is interesting!

Cucumber beds are usually watered in the evening also because the fruits grow at night.

Watering methods in vegetable gardens

Cucumber beds are usually watered with a watering can or a hose is supplied from a container of water. Grooves are made near the roots and a lot of water is poured into them, which is absorbed into the ground. Efficient drip irrigation has become very popular, which gives the plants enough moisture.

If cucumbers grow on the site where they come once a week, you can also solve the irrigation issue. Craftsmen have come up with a method of watering from plastic bottles. To do this, several small punctures are made in the bottom or in the lid, through which water will slowly ooze. The bottles are tied to a peg near the roots, filled with water and left.

How to improve the taste and yield of vegetables?

Often gardeners are worried that cucumbers are bitter even with regular watering. Perhaps, such varieties were bought in which this property is clearly expressed, since it is genetically determined. Especially predisposed to this factor are those cucumbers that have a dark skin and no thorns.

They will give a bitter taste to vegetables grown in a period of lack of watering and on poor soil. In such conditions, green plants grow slowly, and all this time bitterness accumulates in them. But these vegetables are good for eating. Cucurbitacin is concentrated in the peel, which is peeled. And after heat treatment for pickles, cucumbers lose their bitterness. You can just hold the greens in water for half an hour, they will be almost not bitter.

Experienced vegetable growers have a secret to increasing the yield of cucumbers. As soon as the first buds are noticed, the frequency of watering is reduced to stimulate the abundant production of female flowers, and not the growth of leaves. After the appearance of ovaries, the irrigation regime is resumed.

So, correct and timely watering of cucumbers will reward the summer resident with a good and tasty harvest. You don't need to know any special secrets, the main thing is to pay attention to the weather and the condition of the plants.