It is difficult today to imagine a vegetable garden in which there is no such culture as a cucumber. Green fruits with or without pimples are found in almost every home on every table. They are consumed in slices with salt, sugar or honey, canned, and simply in salads every day, those who want to lose weight - in diets, and they always have a place of honor on the festive table. And at every dacha, every vegetable garden, cucumbers rightfully take their best place in the beds and in greenhouses, the lightest and warmest.

And so, what is an ordinary cucumber or sowing cucumber? This is an annual herb, of the genus Cucumber, of the Pumpkin family, originally from the distant mysterious India, where it still grows in the wild in the foothills of the Himalayas. So its homeland is tropics and subtropics, hot and humid climate.

Cucumbers also have some medicinal properties - diuretic and choleretic, and can also be used as a laxative. And masks made from fresh cucumbers are in the arsenal of any fashionista, they very effectively whiten the skin and give it elasticity.

Where cucumbers are grown

Cucumber lovers grow them everywhere: in greenhouses and greenhouses made of glass or polycarbonate, in open beds, balconies and even window sills. Wherever there are three necessary, vital conditions for a cucumber - water, light and heat. Amateurs and professionals have bred many varieties suitable for growing in a wide variety of conditions and varying in size, shape and color.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are divided into two groups – bee-pollinated and self-fertile hybrids. Depending on this, the formation of a cucumber bush is carried out in two completely different ways. In addition, hybrids have already been developed that do not require practically any formation.

Of course, the highest yields are obtained in protected ground - a greenhouse. But even a cucumber grown on the windowsill by the caring hand of the owner will bring him incomparable pleasure.

In order to grow cucumbers with your own hand, you need to try a little, create suitable growing conditions for it. The place should be warm and very sunny. Planting is carried out by seedling or sowing directly into place.

Radish, turnip, or cabbage are excellent precursors for cucumbers. The cucumber loves the earth nutritious, but not too oily. Timely watering with warm water and the cucumber begins to quickly build up the green mass, driving out lash after lash.

But few people think that there is also such an important thing as pinching cucumbers. What is it for? This simple agrotechnical technique allows you to increase the yield of the crop several times, under completely equal growing conditions. But at the same time, you need to know how to pinch cucumbers correctly so as not to cause irreparable damage to the future harvest. An awkward and inexperienced hand can completely ruin the whole future harvest.

Dazzling cucumbers

Pinching cucumbers, the correct name is cucumber blinding or pincer (German origin word). To dazzle means to pinch the main stem and get rid of the shoots bearing barren (male) flowers, in common parlance - barren flowers, and also get rid of the whiskers in the axils of the leaves growing at the bottom of the stem to a height of 30-40 cm.

Dazzling cucumbers

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The blinding of cucumbers according to the rules is carried out as the bush grows, gradually in several stages and has as its goal to achieve the following results:

  • increase the number of female flowers and stimulate the plant to actively form them in order to eliminate bitterness in fresh cucumbers;
  • get a higher yield of cucumbers as a result;
  • improve the quality of the fruits themselves, avoid getting various "hooks" and "crooks".

The male flowers on these plants are easy to distinguish from the female ones: the male flowers simply sit on a leg and have an absolutely even bottom, while the female flowers have a fruit ovary in their structure, a clearly visible small cucumber.

The lianas of cucumbers are fragile and delicate, they break very easily even under their own weight, so the best way out is to tie them up on a trellis for further convenience in pinching cucumbers in the greenhouse, forming bushes and facilitating processing, spraying and harvesting.

You need to tie it up very carefully, without pulling it, since the lash is easy to damage and it will be impossible to restore it. And the root of the cucumber is not deep enough, practically located under the surface layer of the earth. You can easily uproot a plant if handled carelessly.

Pinching of bee-pollinated varieties of cucumbers

In simple varieties of cucumbers, the main stem bears almost only male flowers, popularly called barren flowers. They do not form ovaries and therefore there is practically no harvest on the main stem. The main load in such varieties of cucumbers is given by the side lashes, shoots growing from the axils of the leaves of the main stem. Here they are just covered with female flowers, which, after pollination, will turn into greens.

Pinching of bee-pollinated varieties of cucumbers

How to pinch watermelons and melons - diagram

It is necessary to remove empty male flowers, weak and unnecessary lashes, drawing on precious nutrients and wasting them, so that the plant feels comfortable and pleases with a large harvest.

This agronomic process is called blinding. First of all, it helps to correctly distribute nutrients from the soil and direct them to the fruit setting. Blinding of this kind of cucumber is carried out according to the following step-by-step scheme:

  • pinch the main stem after the fifth or sixth true leaf, cotyledon leaves do not count, this will significantly reduce the cost of the plant for production and the growth of unnecessary empty male flowers;
  • remove the weak and the lowest side shoots, and withered leaves as needed, forming a plant in three to four stems. In no case can you remove healthy leaves - this will weaken the plant, because nutrients from the soil are processed in the leaves, and then they are laid in the juicy fruits;
  • as the left strong shoots elongate, do not forget to tie them to a trellis and pinch each lash after the seventh or eighth leaf after lateral shoots also begin to grow on it.

Important! Do not forget that dazzling cucumbers is only one of the agricultural operations aimed at increasing the yield. Cucumbers need constant watering with warm water and regular fertilization, proper planting, and the fight against pests, diseases and weeds.

It is better to pinch with pruning shears, scissors or a garden knife, carefully cutting off the shoots. Hands and tools must be clean so as not to infect the wounds, it is advisable to pollinate the sections with charcoal powder or ash.

Cucumbers growing simply in a garden without a trellis also require blinding, although not to the same extent. Pinching cucumbers outdoors is less drastic. Here it is also necessary to pinch the main stem after 5 leaves and systematically shorten the lashes after the eighth to tenth leaf, remove diseased and fading leaves.

Blinding parthenocarpic hybrids

For those who are not very experienced, let us explain that "parthenocopics" are self-fertile and self-pollinated cucumbers. They do not need pollination by bees and flies, they are native. And there are practically no male flowers on them, and therefore it is better to grow them in a greenhouse, as well as on a window where there is no one to pollinate them.Their main stem is dotted with female flowers, each of which will tie a cucumber, and it will ripen in the presence of good watering, nourishment and light.

Blinding parthenocarpic hybrids

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Therefore, the formation of such a bush is carried out on a completely different principle:

  • the main vine is tied to the trellis without pinching until it reaches a height of about two meters. Then they are thrown over the trellis and allowed to grow, as it were, down another 50-60 centimeters, after which they pinch the crown, removing the growth point;
  • from below, five nodes from the ground, as the plant grows, remove all stepchildren and flowers as soon as they appear. Leaves are left, since without them the plant will bear fruit worse;
  • if the plant is frail, then it is blinded by another three or four knots;
  • after the blinding zone, the side shoots following from two to four leaf axils, in the harvest, are left, pinching them after the first two knots with an ovary, leaving about twenty centimeters long and tied to a trellis;
  • five to six lateral shoots are left even higher in length - about forty centimeters, not forgetting to tie them to the trellis in a timely manner;
  • the uppermost lateral shoots can be left to grow up to sixty centimeters, and then pinch too.

Note! When carrying out such work, it is important and necessary to observe cleanliness and sterility so as not to bring any disease onto the open wound surface. And do not forget to powder the sections with charcoal powder or ash.

Such actions allow you to preserve the maximum number of female flowers, create the best conditions for lighting and comfortable care for cucumbers, and get the largest possible yield with appropriate feeding.

Additional Information! It should be borne in mind that there are modern cucumber hybrids that do not require shaping at all, since they practically do not give side shoots and form the entire crop on the main stem. But there are still very few such varieties, so you need to be careful and select varieties for yourself, having thoroughly studied the annotation and description of the variety.

So, you can and should form cucumbers to get a rich harvest. It is important to do this correctly, depending on the variety that is growing. Subject to the entire complex of agrotechnical measures, this will give a tangible increase in the yield.