Spring cucumber planting is all about management: master the key technical points to boost yields
Cucumber is one of people's favorite vegetables. It contains various sugars, free amino acids, vitamins, cucurbitacin, and calcium, phosphorus, iron, and more. Among these, cucurbitacin has anti-tumor effects. Cucumber also has the effects of clearing heat and promoting diuresis, detoxifying, and relieving sore throat and heat-related abdominal pain. Cucumbers are generally planted at 3500 plants per mu, with a yield of 5000-8000 kg per mu...
Cucumber is one of people's favorite vegetables. It contains various sugars, free amino acids, vitamins, cucurbitacin, and calcium, phosphorus, iron, and more. Among these, cucurbitacin has anti-tumor effects. Cucumber also has the effects of clearing heat and promoting diuresis, detoxifying, and relieving sore throat and heat-related abdominal pain. Cucumbers are generally planted at 3500 plants per mu, with a yield of 5000-8000 kg per mu and an income of about 3000 yuan per mu.
The cucumber cultivation process mainly consists of these stages: "seed selection - seedling raising - land preparation - fertilization - transplanting - trellising and vine training - fertilizer and water management - pest and disease control."
1. Variety selection. For spring protected seedling raising and open-field cultivation, suitable varieties include Jinchun No. 4 and No. 5, Jinyou No. 4 and No. 6, Jinlv No. 4 and No. 6, and Zhongnong No. 6 and No. 8; or Xiangyuan No. 3 and No. 1, Xiangchun No. 3 and No. 4, and other varieties. For spring protected forcing cultivation, suitable varieties include Zhongnong No. 9, No. 12, and No. 7, Jinchun No. 1 and No. 2, Jinza No. 2 and No. 4; or Xiangyuan No. 3 and No. 1, Xiangchun No. 3, Chunyuan No. 4, and other varieties.
2. Sowing and seedling raising. For open-field cultivation, sow from mid-March to late April, raising seedlings in electric-heated or cold beds. For protected forcing cultivation, sow from mid-January to mid-February, raising seedlings with electric heat. The seeding rate is 150 grams per mu.
Before sowing, soak the seeds in warm water for 15 minutes, wash and air-dry them, then sprout them or sow directly. Maintain the soil temperature at around 28°C, and seedlings will emerge in 4-5 days. Using nutrient pots for seedling raising is recommended; for those raised in seedbeds and then transplanted, after the cotyledons unfold, transplant them into the seedbed at a spacing of 10×10 cm. The seedbed temperature should be 18-28°C during the day and not lower than 12°C at night. When the seedlings have 1 true leaf and 1 heart leaf, apply once a 10% concentration of strained manure water; at the 2-leaf-1-heart stage, spray once a 0.1-0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution and apply once a 20% concentration of strained manure water. Within 6-7 days before transplanting, pay attention to hardening off the seedlings.
3. Soil preparation and fertilization. Do not grow cucumbers in continuous cropping; choose loamy plots with convenient transportation and good drainage and irrigation conditions. When plowing, apply 100 kg of lime per mu; when preparing the soil, apply 2000-3000 kg of human manure and 60 kg of compound fertilizer per mu. Spray the bed surface with 600-fold Dexon solution to reduce disease occurrence. The bed surface can be covered with film to increase temperature.
4. Transplanting. For ground-covered and open-field cultivation, transplant from early April to late April; for protected forcing cultivation, transplant before mid-March. About 3500 plants per mu; after transplanting, water well to settle the roots.
5. Cultivation management.
(1) Facility regulation. In March, temperatures are extremely unstable, with occasional hail. When regulating facilities, pay attention to heat preservation and protecting seedlings, and control moisture to prevent disease and freezing. In April, temperatures rise rapidly, with occasional cold air drops and hail; stay alert. For protected cultivation, open early and close late on sunny days to keep seedlings robust. Once the local temperature stably passes above 10°C, the shed can be removed and the film taken off.
(2) Trellising and vine training. When the vines are 0.3 m long, begin inserting stakes, setting up posts, and tying vines. After trellising, tie the vines and train them promptly, tying every 2-3 days, in the afternoon on sunny days, and let them climb freely on the horizontal bars. To increase the early fruit-setting rate of cucumbers, in the early stage you can use a 1:50 dilution of cucumber fruit-setting agent to spray the flower stigma or fruit stalk.
(3) Fertilizer and water management. Spring cucumbers grow and develop quickly and bear many fruits, so fertilizer and water must be supplied evenly and continuously. During the vegetative growth period, apply 20% concentration manure water 3 times as seedling-promoting fertilizer. During the harvest period, for every 2 harvests, apply once a 30% concentration fruit-strengthening fertilizer. Use 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate as a foliar fertilizer 1-2 times to delay the aging of functional leaves.
(4) Pest and disease control. Before the five-leaf stage, use 1000-fold 80% trichlorfon solution to control damage by the yellow squash beetle; after transplanting and establishment, drench the roots once with 600-fold watermelon continuous-cropping agent to prevent soil-borne diseases such as Fusarium wilt; during the flowering period, spray the leaves 3-4 times with 400-fold 40% dimethomorph wettable powder, which can effectively suppress downy mildew damage.
(5) Harvesting. For protected forcing cultivation, harvest generally begins from late April to early May; for ground-covered and open-field cultivation, harvest begins in early to mid-May. Harvest intervals: once every 2-3 days in the early stage, and once every 1-2 days in the middle and late stages.