How to grow cucumber seedlings with plastic mulch? Latest seedling-raising techniques and methods tutorial
Cucumbers are grown on a very large area in China. Nowadays, cucumber cultivation methods are mostly based on plastic mulch seedling raising, which can effectively control soil temperature and prevent excessive water evaporation from affecting the growth of cucumber seedlings. It has a very good promoting effect on both the quality and yield of cucumbers. So when we grow cucumbers, how should we use plastic mulch for seedling raising? Below, the editor will give you a brief introduction. Let's take a look together!
1. Seed treatment
First, we should select plump, healthy, high-quality cucumber seeds without wounds. After selecting the seeds, pay attention to disinfecting them. Because we cannot guarantee that the seeds are completely free of pathogens, reducing the incidence of pests and diseases is a necessary measure. First, soak the dry seeds in warm water at about 60 degrees for about 10 minutes. During soaking, stir continuously. When the water temperature drops to about 30 degrees, soak the seeds for about another 5 hours, then remove them for sprouting. Alternatively, you can soak the seeds in a solution such as carbendazim hydrochloride for about 1 hour, then remove and wash them, soak them in water for about 4 hours, and then sprout them.
2. Sprouting method
After the seeds are disinfected, the seeds should be sprouted. After disinfection, first wash the seeds clean, wash off the water on the seeds, then wrap them in a wet cloth and place them in an environment of about 30 degrees for sprouting. During sprouting, pay attention to turning the seeds frequently to ensure they are heated evenly. After about one day, the seeds will begin to sprout. When the root tips of the seeds appear, lower the temperature appropriately and keep it at about 25 degrees. After another two days, the sprouts will be uniform. If the seeds cannot be sown after sprouting due to cloudy and rainy weather, wrap the seeds in a wet towel and place them in a 10-degree environment to control the growth of the young sprouts. Sow when the environment is suitable.
3. Sowing and mulching
Before sowing, do a good job of soil selection. The previous crop in the soil is best beans or leafy vegetables. Keep the soil layer soft, with sufficient fertility and normal drainage and irrigation. Two to three weeks before sowing, deeply plow the soil, then apply sufficient farmyard manure per mu, with the amount kept at about 2500 kg. After leveling and finely harrowing the soil, dig furrows and make beds. Also prepare the sowing holes well, with a hole depth of about 8 cm, and sow about 3 seeds per hole. After sowing, cover with plastic mulch in time. When the seedlings break through the soil, cut the film open appropriately to promote hardening of the seedlings.
4. Water and fertilizer management
When the soil temperature stabilizes at about 15 degrees, thin the seedlings, keeping the strong and removing the weak. Three days after thinning, apply the first topdressing, then after about 10 days apply about 15 kg of urea per mu. After cucumbers pass through the plastic mulch, their demand for water increases, so in the early stage of planting, pay attention to keeping the soil moist. At the early flowering stage, water lightly as appropriate to promote root growth and increase the fruit-setting rate. About 5 days before harvest, appropriately increase the amount of fertilizer and water. Keep watering about once a week. In the rainy season, pay attention to drainage to avoid root rot caused by water accumulation.
The above is a brief introduction to plastic mulch cucumber seedling-raising techniques. Cucumber seedling raising is very important and directly affects yield, so everyone must pay close attention. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you for reading and supporting.