What fertilizer is best to apply during the cucumber growing period, and how much per mu?
Cucumber, also known as hu gua, ci gua, wang gua, qin gua, qing gua, etc., is a vegetable commonly found in most parts of our country, and to grow cucumber well, in addition to basic management work, water and fertilizer management must also be strengthened, so what fertilizer is best to apply during the cucumber growing period? About how much fertilizer per mu?
I. What fertilizer is best to use during the cucumber growing period?
In the early growth stage, cucumber has a relatively small nutrient demand; as the growth period progresses, nutrient uptake increases significantly, reaching a peak at the fruiting stage. Throughout the entire growth period, nitrogen uptake continues to increase, rising sharply once the fruit harvest period begins. Cucumber is a nitrate-nitrogen-loving crop; when only ammonium nitrogen is supplied, the leaves become smaller, growth is slow, calcium and magnesium uptake decreases, and calcium deficiency physiological disorders often occur, reducing yield. Cucumber's phosphorus uptake is low in the early stage and increases during the fruit enlargement and harvest periods; use fruit-setting agent. Cucumber's potassium uptake is the highest, followed by nitrogen.
Cucumber is suitable for cultivation in loose, fertile soil with good aeration; heavy clay soil is not conducive to cucumber root development, while soil with high organic matter content can balance the contradiction that cucumber roots like moisture but cannot tolerate waterlogging, and like fertilizer but cannot tolerate excess fertilizer. The growth cycle of cucumber is roughly divided into the germination stage, seedling stage, vine-running stage, and flowering and fruiting stage.
For cucumber throughout the entire growth period, the fertilizer application rate per mu is 400-450 kg of commercial organic fertilizer, 14-18 kg of nitrogen fertilizer, 6-8 kg of phosphate fertilizer, and 9-11 kg of potassium fertilizer. Organic fertilizer is used as base fertilizer; nitrogen and potassium fertilizers are split between base fertilizer and topdressing, with each topdressing amount distributed evenly; phosphate fertilizer is all used as base fertilizer; chemical fertilizers and organic fertilizers are applied mixed.
II. How to fertilize during the cucumber growing period
1. Base fertilizer: For base fertilizer application of farmyard manure, apply 400-450 kg of commercial organic fertilizer per mu, 4-5 kg of urea, 13-17 kg of diammonium phosphate, and 3-4 kg of potassium sulfate.
2. Topdressing at the first fruit stage: apply 7-8 kg of urea and 5-6 kg of potassium sulfate per mu.
3. Topdressing at the peak fruit stage: the cucumber fruiting period is relatively long; as cucumbers are harvested, nutrients are continuously consumed, so foliar fertilizer must be applied repeatedly to ensure nutrient supply, otherwise cucumbers will prematurely senesce due to fertilizer deficiency, the effective harvest period will be shortened, and yield will decline. Topdress once about every 10 days, or according to the harvest situation, topdress once every 2 harvests. This promotes fruit enlargement and improves yield and quality.
4. Root-outside topdressing: during the peak fruiting stage, a 1% urea aqueous solution can be sprayed on the leaves; to supplement the deficiency of phosphorus and potassium, 0.5% monopotassium phosphate can be sprayed on the leaves; when soil trace elements are insufficient, water-soluble trace element fertilizers should be supplemented in time, and 0.1% borax or multi-element micro-fertilizer can be sprayed on the leaves 2-3 times.
III. How to balance fertilization for cucumber? About how much fertilizer per mu?
Cucumber likes fertilizer; while applying sufficient organic fertilizer, apply nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers in combination. Increasing molybdenum fertilizer application can increase the vitamin content in the fruit and reduce nitrate and nitrite content. Producing 1000 kg of cucumber requires 2.6 kg of pure nitrogen, 1.4 kg of phosphorus pentoxide, and 3.5 kg of potassium oxide, of which the fertilizer requirement during the fruiting period accounts for more than 80% of the total fertilizer requirement.
1. Before planting, apply 5000 kg of organic fertilizer, 250 kg of biological organic compound fertilizer, 15 kg of urea, 30-40 kg of superphosphate, and 50 kg of potassium sulfate per mu.
2. At the early fruiting stage, carry out the first topdressing, applying 3-4 kg of pure nitrogen and 4-6 kg of potassium oxide per mu. At the early peak fruit stage, carry out the second topdressing, applying 3-4 kg of pure nitrogen and 5-6 kg of potassium oxide per mu.
3. At the mid peak fruit stage, carry out the third topdressing, applying 3-4 kg of pure nitrogen and 5-6 kg of potassium oxide per mu. At the peak fruiting stage, spray 0.02%-0.05% ammonium molybdate.