How to Grow Cucumbers with Soilless Cultivation? Key Technical Points Explained

Cucumbers are crisp and refreshing when eaten raw, and soft, smooth and sweet when cooked. They are a vegetable people commonly eat, and they can be grown not only in soil but also without soil. What is soilless cucumber cultivation technology like?

Soilless Cucumber Cultivation Technology

1. Before sowing, blanch the seeds in warm water to kill pathogenic fungi and bacteria carried on the seed surface, and at the same time deactivate viruses inside the seeds. Put the seeds into hot water at 55-60°C, using 4-6 times the volume of the seeds. After 10-15 minutes, add cold water to lower the water temperature to 30°C, then soak for 5-8 hours before removing them. Wrap them in cotton cloth and place them at 25-28°C to promote germination.

2. Place the germinated seeds into soilless plug trays for soilless cultivation to raise seedlings. Just put 1-2 seeds into each cell, then sprinkle on a layer of peat, vermiculite and perlite, or replace the peat with coconut coir. Before use, the substrate needs to be sterilized first. You can add 500 grams of carbendazim per ton and mix it, cover with film and let it sit for a week, then air-dry it for half a month. After sowing, water with clean water to moisten it and control the environmental temperature well. Under suitable temperatures, the cucumber seedlings will all emerge after 3-4 days.

3. Before transplanting, prepare the cultivation bed and mix the nutrient solution well. Try putting the nutrient solution into the cultivation bed to see whether it can normally deliver the nutrient solution. After everything is normal, wait until the seedlings have 3-4 leaves, then lift the seedlings out from the bottom together with their roots and move them into the cultivation bed. After transplanting, remember to water once. The seedlings grow through the nutrient solution flowing past their roots. After about 3-4 days, you can check the survival rate; it is basically 100 percent survival.

4. In seedling-stage management, one relatively important step is to control the concentration of the nutrient solution well. During soilless cultivation, seedlings grow relatively quickly and are relatively prone to aging. After transplanting, generally water with 400-500 milliliters of nutrient solution each day. During the development period, use 2000-2500 milliliters per day. When the cucumber seedlings have finished developing, promptly lower the concentration of the nutrient solution.

5. During the growth period of the cucumber seedlings, keep the temperature at 15-25°C. When the plants grow to 15-20 cm, install supports in the greenhouse or set up lines so they grow along the supports and lines.

6. The main pests and diseases that occur under low-temperature conditions include powdery mildew, gray mold, whiteflies, aphids, and so on. For control, follow the principle of “prevention first, integrated control”: remove dead branches and rotten leaves, promptly prune off frozen branches and leaves, and reduce sources of pathogens. For downy mildew, generally use dimethomorph and propamocarb for control, while for powdery mildew use triadimefon. For insect pests, use the relevant pesticides.

When cucumbers grow to 13-18 cm, harvest them promptly and carry out proper storage and transport measures.