Cucumber: pinching and shaping shoots

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Cucumber is a climbing vine that needs support. Usually in the open field, cucumbers can be grown without a trellis, but in a greenhouse this device is necessary. A trellis is, simply put, an ordinary wire that is pulled along the garden bed. A plant is tied to it with the help of twine (twine) in a certain way. Shaping and pinching cucumbers in the open field has not been often practiced until today. Usually this process was carried out in plants grown in greenhouse conditions. But at the moment, gardeners and gardeners prefer to use this technology for cucumbers planted in the ground. The trellis makes harvesting more convenient, and pinching allows you to increase the fruiting period.

Cucumber pinching scheme

There is a special procedure for pinching. The further life of the plant and the duration of its fruiting depend on how correctly you perform it. On the lateral shoot, the growth point should be removed. This will stop the cucumber from growing. Zelentsy will begin to form faster and pour juice. This is the whole point of pinching. By the time the plant begins to bear fruit, it should be formed like this: one longstem and short shoots on the sides. If you do not pinch the side shoots in time, this will lead to the fact that the main stem will become short, side shoots will begin to grow indefinitely and fruiting will be delayed. Usually, in the summer, shoots are completely plucked in the lower sinuses. The stepchildren that appear in the knots of the leaves are removed. It is also recommended to remove small ovaries in the first 3-4 leaves. This is done so that the first cucumbers do not slow down the growth of the plant. You can collect a few early fruits, and then wait a whole week for the next cucumber to appear. Pinching the first ovaries in the lower sinuses helps protect plants from exhaustion. In the future, you will have a bountiful harvest.

Cucumber: pinching greenhouse varieties

Winter varieties of cucumbers, such as the "relay", planted in January, have a lack of light. About 6-7 ovaries are formed on the main stem of the plant. Often this is due to the sex of the plant. In the winter variety "relay race" in some nodes there are male empty flowers, of course, there will be no fruits in them. Lateral shoots begin to appear from 8-9 nodes on the main stem, that is, in the axils of 8-9 leaves. It is necessary to leave all the lateral processes, which should be pinched on 2-3 sheets. When the plant reaches the wire, its top should be carefully bent and wrapped around it several times, then the stem should be lowered down the twine. As the plant grows, pinch it at about a meter and a half from the ground.

Cucumber: pinching for long-term fruiting

Greenhouse cucumbers can bear fruit within six months. To do this, they should be shaped a little differently. The horizontal (upper) part of the stem, located on the wire, needs to be pinched from above, and two side shoots should be lowered down. They are harvested. They can leave side shoots of the first order of branching. More shoots will appear from them, they are not removed and also left for fruiting. With proper formation, you can quickly grow a cucumber. Pinching, done correctly, allows for a bountiful harvest for a long time.