Is it feasible to spray cucumbers with a mixture of vinegar and white sugar water?
SummaryEdible vinegar contains acetic acid and has a certain sterilizing effect. Therefore, spraying vinegar mixed with white sugar onto cucumbers can increase the acidity of the cucumber leaf surface, inhibit the growth of pathogens, and also control pests and diseases that are not suited to acidic conditions. Moreover, vinegar and white sugar contain a variety of nutrients, which can not only increase cucumber yield but also improve cucumber quality.
I. The effects of spraying cucumbers with vinegar plus white sugar
1. Pest and disease control
(1) According to experiments, bacterial diseases and viral diseases in cucumbers are suited to reproducing and growing under neutral or alkaline conditions. The main component of edible vinegar is acetic acid, which has a certain sterilizing effect.
(2) After spraying an edible vinegar solution on the cucumber leaf surface, the acidity of the cucumber leaf surface can be increased, thereby inhibiting or killing pests and diseases that are not suited to acidic conditions, thus achieving a control effect.
(3) It not only works on cucumbers; vinegar plus white sugar also has a very good effect on controlling viral diseases of tomatoes and peppers and soft rot of Chinese cabbage.
2. Increasing yield
According to experiments, from after the cucumbers have recovered from transplanting until the flower bud stage, spraying an edible vinegar plus white sugar solution once every 7 days for a total of 3 sprays can increase cucumber yield by 10%-35%.
3. Improving quality
In addition to acetic acid, edible vinegar also contains various nutrients such as amino acids, succinic acid, lactic acid, and glycerol.
After edible vinegar is sprayed on the leaf surfaces of vegetables, these nutrients are absorbed by the plant leaves, which can increase the plant's internal nutrition, accelerate the formation of chlorophyll, and improve the photosynthesis of cucumbers, thereby improving the quality and characteristics of cucumbers.
II. Tips for high cucumber yields
1. Fertilizer amount
(1) If cucumbers are to maintain high yields, the amount of base fertilizer applied is crucial. First, the base fertilizer must be nutritionally complete to meet the nutritional needs of cucumbers throughout the entire growth period.
(2) Ensure that the base fertilizer is both quick-acting and long-lasting. The base fertilizer must not only meet the growth needs of cucumber seedlings but also meet the nutritional needs of cucumbers in the middle and late stages. Only in this way can premature aging of cucumber stems and vines be avoided.
2. Proper watering
(1) There are two key times for watering cucumbers: one is pre-planting water and the other is transplanting water.
(2) Pre-planting water means watering once one week before transplanting the cucumbers, after adjusting the planting row spacing, so that the planting plot absorbs enough water. Only in this way can it be ensured that after the cucumber seedlings are transplanted, there is enough groundwater deep in the soil for the cucumber seedling roots to grow downward.
(3) Transplanting water means first digging the holes, then burying the seedlings, and finally watering with transplanting water. Transplanting water should be applied thoroughly. Only when the transplanting water is applied thoroughly can the seedling root ball and the surrounding soil be tightly combined, avoiding air pockets. This is conducive to guiding the roots to grow downward and also to cultivating strong seedlings.
3. Using drip irrigation
Using drip irrigation can turn cucumbers into an integrated water-and-fertilizer irrigation model, which can save water and fertilizer, stabilize soil temperature, and ensure supply, thereby enabling cucumbers to maintain high yields.