Three effective ways to reduce pesticide use on cucumbers

From the perspective of pest and disease control measures, the reasons why cucumbers sometimes suffer pesticide damage are: first, the wrong pesticide is used that does not target the problem; second, the pesticide is applied at an excessive concentration or the same pesticide is applied repeatedly in succession; third, the pesticide is applied during high temperature or high humidity; fourth, soil application of pesticides is not uniform enough.

From the perspective of the cultivation environment: first, some greenhouses plant cucumbers in continuous cropping, which creates continuous cropping obstacles, with many latent pathogens in the soil or a lack of certain nutrient elements; second, excessive humidity inside the greenhouse and insufficient timely moisture removal encourage the breeding of pests and diseases, thereby weakening the cucumber's ability to resist pest and disease infection and causing an increase in the number of pesticide applications; third, excessive application of nitrogen fertilizer makes cucumbers grow too vigorously, and the severe shading inside the greenhouse also easily induces pests and diseases, leading to frequent pesticide use; fourth, from the perspective of the cucumber's own habits, it is a shallow-rooted crop with an underdeveloped root system, a relatively shallow depth of penetration into the soil, and a small root volume that is prone to lignification. Among cucurbit crops, cucumber is the least drought-tolerant and has a relatively weak ability to absorb nutrients, so its immunity to pests and diseases is also relatively weak.

In order to reduce or alleviate the losses caused by pesticide application in cucumbers cultivated in greenhouses, the following work should be done well in terms of control measures.

First, a good cultivation environment must be created. First, according to the growth habits of cucumbers, the soil should be finely prepared so that they can develop roots and strong seedlings; second, ditches should be opened properly to facilitate irrigation and drainage; third, film should be laid in layers to facilitate temperature regulation and humidity control; fourth, fertilization should be balanced to promote steady growth; fifth, continuous cropping should be avoided and crop rotation should be implemented. After the cultivation environment is changed, the probability of pest and disease occurrence is relatively reduced, and the number of pesticide applications is correspondingly reduced as well.

Second, pesticide application and pesticide damage remedy should be handled according to different situations. Except for severe pesticide damage to cucumbers, which is difficult to remedy, moderate or mild pesticide damage can generally be alleviated by fertilization and pesticide application. First, if the leaf edges become scorched or shrunken after pesticide application, Huimanfeng or Zhuangfuxing active liquid fertilizer can be sprayed at a concentration of 1:500-800; because this liquid fertilizer contains the activating substance "KOM", it can eliminate pesticide residues and help cucumbers recover growth quickly. Second, if cucumber growth is inhibited because a slow-release plant growth regulator was applied at too high a concentration, gibberellin at 30-50 ml/kg or the plant growth promoter "802" at 2000 times can be sprayed; third, if the plants show mild wilting, brassinolide at 0.01%-0.02% can be sprayed 2 times. Fourth, when the leaves twist and droop, a 1:100 white sugar water solution can be sprayed, which can quickly alleviate the pesticide damage.

Third, prevention should be started to enhance cucumber resistance. In order to improve the cucumber's resistance to diseases, pests, weeds and pesticide damage, several basic tasks must be done well. First, increase the application of decomposed farmyard manure or plant-based commercial organic fertilizer, or bio-organic compound fertilizer as base fertilizer, vigorously optimize the soil environment, improve the cucumber's capacity for fertilizer and water supply, inhibit pathogens, repel pests, and reduce pesticide damage; second, choose the plant growth regulator Bihu at 8000-10000 times and spray it 2-3 times before and after flowering; third, apply the microbial agent Hongliang at 600-800 times and spray it before flowering and during the young fruit stage, which can prevent pathogen invasion, strengthen the plant's constitution, alleviate pesticide damage, and promote recovery growth.