Picking Fresh Cucumbers Until Frost

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

How I pick fresh and crispy cucumbers right down to the frost

At my dacha, I prefer to grow cucumbers in vertical beds - on a trellis or in an open greenhouse. So the whips are better ventilated and illuminated. The bushes that are planted in the courtyard, where they are protected from the wind, give the greatest yield. But even when the harvest was quite decent, already in mid-August I walked along my tired cucumbers to bear fruit, and, like the hero of a famous cartoon, I would say: "It will not be enough."

It turns out that with a decrease in air temperature, nutrients from the soil are absorbed worse, and the whips at the end of the season have already grown by two or even three meters. So they do not have enough "food". But you want to delight your homemade fresh vegetables as long as possible.

The first way

I decided on an experiment: I cut off the top of a strong, well-fruiting cucumber vine. I removed all the leaves, ovaries and fruits from the young cutting, only left a couple of leaves on top. I put it in a solution with Kornevin for half an hour. After that, I planted it in a new garden bed and covered it with a jar to create the effect of a mini-greenhouse and protect it from nighttime temperature changes.

A week later, the shoot gave roots and began to grow actively. After another five days, flowers appeared, and the whole cycle began to work with renewed vigor.

Second way

Another method that allowed me to pick cucumbers until late autumn, I tested on the vine, pinching the growth point. I collected the remaining fruits from all the liana, cut off the inflorescences and leaves, leaving only stumps of 0.5-1 cm.

I did not remove the top leaf so that the process of photosynthesis continued. I put the resulting bare lash in a spiral around the base. The vine should be in contact with the ground as much as possible, then in those places where the leaves were, new roots will appear.

But the old lash by the end of the season is often deformed, so for better contact with the soil in the knots where the leaves were, I "pin" it to the ground with a thick wire. I sprinkle the whole circle of vines from above with loose earth and cover with mulch.

After a few days, the vine clings to the ground with new roots, and fresh shoots appear at the points of growth. Of all the young shoots, you need to choose one, the strongest. Break the rest, leaving 1 cm stumps. So the bush rejuvenates, receiving active nutrition from several sources at once, and throws all its strength into the development of a single shoot.

The root system of cucumbers is very close to the soil surface, so the root circle must be covered with straw, peat or other breathable material. Mulch keeps young roots moist and nutritious and keeps them warm on the first cold nights.

Third way

I will share another trick to make the cucumbers crispy and sweet. Back in June, as soon as the fruits begin to knit, I take a pound of fish heads and fill it with a bucket of water. I insist for 3 days, and then I water the cucumbers with this dressing, somewhere one liter under a bush. I repeat this procedure every 2-3 weeks.

In August, with a decrease in temperature, the ability of the roots to assimilate fertilizers also decreases, but foliar dressing, on a green leaf, will just be useful to the plant and support its growth. You can use Epin, Zircon, or another stimulant.

To cheat the weather a little, it is better to cover the cucumbers with foil or white agrofibre, then you can keep the temperature a few degrees higher. On fine autumn days, you can remove the shelter and let the cucumbers soak up the sun a little more.