Soil for cucumbers on the windowsill. How to grow cucumbers on a windowsill in winter. Growing cucumbers on the windowsill at home all year round: where to start

in winter and in early spring so lacking in delicious and healthy vegetables and fruits. Of course, you can buy greenhouse vegetables in the market or in stores, but a more original way out is to plant cucumbers in containers on the windowsill in the apartment or on the balcony (loggia). However, before you start sowing seeds, you should learn the technology of growing cucumbers at home.

Sowing seeds of cucumbers on the windowsill and further cultivation a vegetable does not require special training or special knowledge of care (everything is the same and), so even novice amateur gardeners can handle growing at home.

Another thing is that you will have to create certain conditions for the growth of cucumbers in an apartment in order to get a decent harvest.

When can I grow cucumbers in an apartment: optimal sowing dates

Naturally, it is most convenient to sow and grow cucumbers on the windowsill with the onset of spring, in other words, when daylight hours begin to grow.

However, if you can create artificial conditions (by supplementary lighting), then homemade cucumbers can be grown. all year round, including in winter.

But still, it is better to start sowing at least from February-March, maximum from January (to please loved ones for the holidays - February 23 and March 8).

What varieties are suitable for growing in an apartment

For planting and growing on a windowsill (window) in an apartment or on a balcony, they are suitable as the most common (but only early ones) parthenocarpic(in other words, not requiring pollination) varieties, and special indoor or balcony varieties(they either have a name that hints at the growing conditions, or the instructions clearly state this).

How to sow cucumber seeds in an apartment: basic rules for growing andstep-by-step instructions for direct sowing

Before you start sowing, you need to choose the right place for growing, as well as create optimal conditions(temperature and light).

Important is the choice of capacity, soil and pre-sowing preparation of cucumber seeds for direct planting.

Location: lighting and temperature conditions

Growing cucumbers in winter time quite common. For these purposes, various greenhouses are used. But if the apartment has a free window sill, and even better, an insulated balcony or a glazed loggia where you can equip a cucumber farm, then why not grow them at home.

Idea! Place the cucumber pot away from the door, in the very corner of the balcony, be sure to place at least 12-15 cm thick foam under it (the roots should be warm). Glue or place a piece of cardboard with reflective foil on the walls.

A place to place containers or pots with cucumbers needs to be selected preferably on the south side(but not at all necessary, you still have to light up the lamps) , because the plant is sensitive not only to sunlight, but also to heat. If the window is cold, for example, you have old frames, then by all means seal all the cracks.

With very good illumination, of course, cucumbers can also be grown on the north window (balcony), especially on the west or east (you still don’t have to shade them from direct sunlight).

The winter sun is not long, and sunlight is important for cucumbers. Therefore, in a mandatory manner (especially in late autumn, winter and early spring), it is recommended to highlight seedlings special phytolamps, providing 12-16 hour daylight hours. You can also illuminate with conventional (or better full-spectrum) LED lamps.

Advice! The lamps should be turned on in the morning and in the evening (for example, the light should be from 7-00 to 23-00) and kept at a distance of 5-15 cm from the plant.

The best temperature for fast and active growth of cucumbers at home - +20 .. + 25 degrees (but not higher than 30). Note that at temperatures below +17 degrees, growth stops.

Important! The most important thing when growing cucumbers on the windowsill is lack of drafts and sudden changes in temperature (including night and day).

planting container

Naturally, for growing homemade cucumbers, you will need suitable containers. Suitable as wide containers (balcony boxes) for several plants, and single large pots.

Important! You should not grow too many plants in one container, as they will crowd each other out - they will begin to compete for food, and this will not allow them to actively develop and build mass.

Note! The roots of cucumbers do not spread deep into, but along the surface of the earth. Therefore, the wider the area around the cucumber stem, the better!

Naturally, the container must have drainage holes to release excess moisture. You also need to remember that a cucumber is a plant with a developed root system, which means that in order for the plant to be comfortable, the container must be large enough (at least 5 liters per plant).

Interesting! in an unusual way growing cucumbers at home is to sow them in bags. From above and below you make holes for sowing, watering and draining excess fluid (drainage), and put the bag with the earth on a tray where excess water will flow out.

Note! How to grow cucumbers in an apartment with a pick, and immediately in a large container. If you want to transplant, then first plant in small containers (for example, cassettes or 100 ml cups). Then, when the first true leaf appears, dive into a slightly larger container (500 ml), and after that (when 2-3 true leaves appear) into a pot - on permanent place(1 plant per 5 liters).

Suitable soil

For high-quality growth of cucumbers, it is required that the soil be fertile and loose, well-permeable to moisture and air. Such properties are purchased soil for indoor flowers or special substrate for growing cucurbits.

But most the best soil for growing indoor cucumbers there will be a soil substrate made independently. For cooking, you will need the following components: peat, river sand or vermiculite, humus and.

Attention! After mixing, the resulting fertile substrate needs more disinfect. And purchased soil It is also better to pickle just in case. It should be calcined in the oven for 20-30 minutes, and then shed with a solution of potassium permanganate, or even better -.

Seed preparation

Before sowing cucumber seeds into the soil, it is advisable to carry out their pre-sowing preparation.

Direct fit

Step-by-step instructions for sowing cucumber seeds at home (everything is similar to standard sowing vegetable crop for seedlings):

Fill a small drainage layer using expanded clay or other moisture-retaining material.
Fill the planting container with soil, but not to the top (about 2/3).

This is done so that in the future it will be possible to add soil, which in turn will allow the cucumbers to additionally build up the root system and will have a very positive effect on the strength of the growth of the bush.

Before sowing, pour the soil abundantly with water.

The procedure is necessary for subsidence of the earth. If you plant the seeds in dry and too airy soil, then when watering the seeds will go deeper than required.

Pre-prepared cucumber seeds are placed to a depth of 1.5-2 cm.

Note! It is better to sow several seeds at once, and then remove the weakest sprouts. Or grow with a pick, but remember that 1 plant should have 5 liters of land. Or sow so that the seeds are at a distance of 30-35 centimeters from each other (for example, only 2 plants in one medium balcony box 60-70 cm long).

Fall asleep with soil.
Watering again.
The container is covered with glass or covered with a film.

This is necessary to create greenhouse (greenhouse) conditions for rapid germination and the emergence of young shoots.

The container is placed in a dark and warm place (the temperature for germination is at least +25 degrees, and even +27 is better).
After the first sprouts appear, the film should be immediately removed and the container should be moved to a bright, slightly less warm place, i.e. the temperature drops to + 20 ... + 23 degrees.

Video: technology for growing cucumbers on a balcony at home

How to care for cucumbers on a windowsill or balcony

Caring for indoor cucumbers is similar to what you do when caring for plants in the open field or greenhouse.

Watering

Water only in the morning so that the soil can dry out a little by evening. Remember that wet soil cools more.

Undoubtedly, watering should be carried out as the soil dries.

Cucumbers are very fond of moisture, which means that they should be sprayed periodically (only in the morning). Moreover, it is important to do this in an apartment, especially in winter, when the air is dry due to batteries.

By the way! When the plants are still small (after germination), it is better to moisten them through a syringe so as not to provoke washing out of the roots.

Watering itself is carried out only with settled water at room temperature (in no case cold, only slightly warm).

top dressing

As a rule, it is worth feeding "apartment" cucumbers a little more often than street cucumbers, because. at home, they are more malnourished.

The feeding scheme is standard (as well as):

for a set of green mass (before flowering) - nitrogen fertilizers;
during flowering - nitrogen-potassium-phosphorus (more potassium);

During the flowering period is very good to give foliar top dressing (spray) with boron for better fruit set.

fruiting - potassium-phosphorus (more potassium).

In general, you can use any suitable fertilizer, and both water under the root (more often), and spray on the leaf, doing foliar top dressing (less often).

So for feeding cucumbers on the windowsill, you can use complex mineral fertilizer, for example, Fertik or Agricola.

If you are a supporter organic dressings, then you can use chicken manure(prepare the solution according to the instructions).

Or you can apply Biohumus, which is created on the basis of the vital activity of earthworms (sold both in bottles and in bags). Again, you need to prepare a liquid top dressing (according to the instructions).

Shaping (stepping) and garter

Common varieties of cucumbers (not parthenocarpic) pinch along the main stem, in the region of 5-6 leaves, thus forming a lush bush.

But this cannot be done with parthenocarpic varieties, since they have flower ovaries along the main stem. As a rule, it is better to form them into 1 stem, and when it grows to the ceiling, then pinch the top.

Don't forget as you grow quickly cut off the mustache. They have the ability to draw a large amount nutrients(they take all the juice), preventing the plant from fully developing and pouring fruits.

Yes, it is convenient for cucumbers to cling to their mustaches, but it will be much more effective if you tie them up manually.

It is imperative to carry out garter of lashes (so that the plant does not collapse). Each whip must be carefully directed and tied to a trellis or stretched rope.

By the way! If you want to get an earlier harvest, then it follows remove upper ovaries, leaving only the lowest ones. Wherein the less there are, the earlier the fruits will ripen.

In addition, it should be taken into account that all lower ovaries up to 5 leaves also need to be removed.

However, it is worth considering that when you let all the very first cucumbers start and ripen, it often turns out that all subsequent ovaries turn yellow and fall off. This is because, due to early fruiting, the growth of the root system has stopped and the plant simply does not have enough nutrition. Therefore, if you want to get good and long harvests, then all the first flowers must be cut off, preventing the cucumbers from tying. And when your bushes develop a powerful root system, as well as the above-ground mass (the lashes stretch high), then the ovaries will go along the entire length of the vines.

Pollination

Since for growing in an apartment it is recommended to sow exactly parthenocarpic varieties that do not require pollination, then, as a rule, there should be no problems. If the ovary falls off without being pollinated, then you can simply do it manually: you need to take an empty flower (male flower), cut off the petals from it, take out the stamen and touch (pollinate) it to the female flower (it has a small cucumber on the back).

Problems that arise when growing cucumbers at home

If seedlings stretched out, it means that she lacks light, and you may need to sprinkle a little soil mixture. It is recommended to pour 2-3 times a month.
If you have dry bottom leaves, then this is probably due to too high a temperature and low humidity in the room.
If lower leaves turn yellow, then cucumber seedlings need top dressing with a complete complex fertilizer .
If wound up mite, then to combat it it is better to use biological products (fitoverm, bitoxibacillin). Spray generously on both sides of the leaf, and remove the oldest and most affected leaves.

If you notice the appearance powdery mildew- spill the ground and spray the leaves.
If cucumbers began to bitter, this means that a lot of cucurbitacin has been produced in the fruits, which occurs with unfavorable growing factors: sudden changes in temperature, extreme cold or, conversely, heat, lack of watering.

Advice! Plant those varieties of cucumbers that have the phrase "genetically without bitterness" in the description. Such cucumbers will never (under any circumstances) be bitter.

Terms of germination and harvesting of domestic cucumbers

The timing of seedlings depends on each variety separately. In most cases, seedlings appear within 3-5 days after sowing (if the seeds were previously germinated, then earlier, if they were sown dry, then later).

The duration of ripening is already determined by a specific variety (its ripening time). Some are able to give the first full-fledged harvest in 40-55 days (early).

Attention! For harvesting, you need to focus on the volume of cucumbers. If the size of the fruit reaches 8-10 cm, then it can already be plucked. Promptly harvesting and preventing it from overgrowing, you can get another (repeated) harvest.

Many varieties grown during the winter months are suitable not only for eating live, but also for pickling. But, of course, you should not count on harvests from the windowsill to make seams during the winter 🙂

Advice! Be sure to watch the next video, in which the author shows photos of all stages of cucumber growth in the apartment.

Video: cucumbers for 50 days on the windowsill

Thus, do not miss the opportunity to sow cucumbers in your window and get fresh vegetables in your apartment. Of course, for successful cultivation, you will have to work hard to provide an abundance of light and the required care. But if you try (set a goal and go towards it), then even novice home amateur gardeners will be able to grow cucumbers at home.

Video: cucumbers on the windowsill - from sowing to harvest

In contact with

No, which will allow you to harvest vegetables even in winter. However, in order to harvest a full-fledged crop, seeds of varieties bred for cultivation in an apartment should be preferred. .

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Features of growing cucumbers on the windowsill

Cucumbers, when grown at home, will not have those natural conditions that affect the rapid germination and ripening of fruits.

Factors affecting sowing and seedlings:

Lighting. In winter, you will have to abandon the idea of \u200b\u200bplanting cucumbers if there are problems with installing fluorescent or helium lighting. Favorable days for planting seeds are the first days of March. At this time, there is more light, which will favorably affect the seedlings.
Temperature. It is necessary to have young sprouts as far as possible from drafts. Drafts adversely affect the efficiency of seedlings. In this regard, constant monitoring of the temperature regime is necessary. The best option- 17-18 degrees.
Watering. Should be carried out as the earth dries up. The plant does not like excessively moist soil. If this rule is neglected, soil infection with diseases can occur, which will lead to the death of sprouts.
Top dressing and introduction of fertilizers into the soil. At each stage of growth, growth stimulation is necessary for a rich harvest.
Timely pinching and garter.
seed preference. To obtain a full-fledged crop of this vegetable in an apartment, a careful choice of variety is needed.

When forming strong bushes of grown cucumbers, the necessary moment is the maximum free space. This is necessary for the organization of high-quality lighting. A good location will be remoteness from other plants.

On the video filmed by the HitSadTV channel, the expert gives a very helpful tips how to grow cucumbers on a windowsill.

The best varieties for growing at home

Before planting cucumbers on the windowsill, it is recommended to study the characteristics of cucumber varieties. Breeders have specially identified varieties with the possibility of breeding indoors. Most of them are hybrids. The peculiarity of these species lies in the ability to form fruits, regardless of environment. Given the limited space in which they will grow, they were created with the possibility of self-pollination. In scientific terminology, hybrid types of cucumbers were called parthenocarpic.

To plant cucumbers in winter, most often they use such varieties bred for cultivation in an apartment:

Balcony. The first hybrid was bred in 2007. Excellent for growing in room conditions. Planted in closed and open ground. Undemanding to the habitat, variety with early ripening, the average period is considered 39–41 days from the first shoots. High yield. The length of the lashes is small, the branching is normal. The variety is self-pollinating.
Buyan. This hydride needs an abundant supply of light and is demanding on temperature conditions. It is distinguished by its duration of fruiting, the compact size of the branches. Has an average of 5 ovaries per node. How better conditions content, themes large quantity fruits will be obtained from the bush.
Ant. Differs in precocity. Bred for sowing in open ground. Suitable for canning. With the right care technology, the yield will be 10-12 kg. He will not need help in pollination.
Marathon. This variety of hybrids needs third-party pollination. Thanks to this process, it has a high fruiting of more than 25 kg with square meter. Harvest begins to appear on the 85th day from the first shoots. Popular among gardeners due to disease resistance.
Olympics. Commercial yield in winter greenhouse 23.2 and 32.8 kg / sq. m. Resistant to cucumber mosaic microbe. Advantages of the hybrid: the highest yield and marketability of products, good taste properties of greens.

Sowing cucumbers on the windowsill

At the first sowing, it is necessary to adhere to proven technology. It is necessary to take into account all the factors affecting the yield and the time of full ripening of the fruit.

Preparing seeds for sowing

To quickly pass the stage of preparing seeds for sowing, purchase ready-made seeds in a specialized store. They can immediately be taken to work, without any additional manipulations. If ordinary seeds or self-harvested seeds were chosen, they must undergo the necessary procedures for germination.

Germination procedures consist of the following steps:

Disinfection. It is carried out using potassium permanganate or hydrogen peroxide. If there is no time to create a solution on your own, a ready-made solution is sold in specialized stores. Using them according to the instructions, it is easy to replace your solution. After soaking, the seeds are washed with water.
Growth stimulation. There are two options here. Buy Now ready composition, or you can cook at home from aloe juice. The solution recipe is simple, 20 ml of juice is diluted in 100 ml of water and the seeds are left in it for 4 hours. It makes it possible to identify strong specimens at an early stage of germination.

Sowing dates

In winter, we grow cucumbers in 3 stages:

December sowing. Sprouts make their way to the first of February.
Sowing in January. Harvesting is possible by the end of February, beginning of March.
February. When sowing seeds in this winter month, the first shoots of cucumbers will appear by the end of March.

If we plant cucumbers at a certain time of the year, then we can regulate the appearance of the crop on the table. To have fresh cucumbers by May 1, seeds for seedlings must be sown in the second half of February. But in practice most favorable time January and February are considered for sowing. When sowing in December, there is no necessary amount of lighting for the healthy development of cucumbers. They will need additional light during this period. You can also plant in September-October, but it is almost impossible to achieve a strong harvest.

Choosing a place to grow cucumbers at home

The locations of the seed containers should be correctly placed on the southern windows in order to get maximum light. Early shoots are equally susceptible to both light and heat. You also need to consider the possibility of installing additional lighting, since daylight hours do not last long in winter.

Soil selection

Beginners can take the easy route and buy ready-made cucumber growing mix. For this purpose, lands with high fertility, loose, with good water and air permeability are suitable. Slightly acidic soils may be suitable, but yields will decrease. The ideal option would be peat soil mixture. Such material has low level acidity and already contains many additives.

You can prepare the earth mixture with your own hands.

It is prepared from:

peat;
humus;
fine-grained river sand.

Proportions 3:3:1 are respected. Sand, if necessary, is replaced with coconut flakes. It is characterized by a neutral pH of 7.0, and also promotes moisture retention, increases breathability. To prepare the soil mixture, coconut flakes are poured with water according to the instructions. Coconut flakes can be replaced with overripe hardwood sawdust. The prepared soil mixture is recommended to be disinfected.

Disinfection is usually carried out in several ways:

In the oven. This is done by calcination. The oven heats up to +120°C and warms up within 30 minutes.
using liquid solutions. A weak solution of potassium permanganate or a special chemical agent. Many gardeners advise pouring boiling water on the ground, but do not give a full guarantee of complete cleansing of pests.
Freezing. Feel over effective way disinfection rather than calcination. Since the high temperature of the procedure kills not only harmful organisms, but also beneficial features fertilizers. The prepared soil is placed in the cold for about a week, then returned to the house. After the earth warms up, it must again be placed in the cold. And so repeat 3 times.

Capacity selection

You need to choose a container for growing cucumbers in winter, taking into account their needs at this time. The vessel should contain a volume of soil from 5 to 7 liters. It should also be high for easy growth and root formation. Accordingly, the more convenient the container, the stronger the whip of plants. Under the container it is useful that there are small boxes and plastic buckets at hand. The main thing is with a depth of at least 15 cm.

Basically, it is recommended to place each cucumber in a separate container. A regular plastic cup will do. plastic bottle with a volume of about 1 litre. On initial stage a peat cup is suitable for growing cucumbers, when the plant increases in size, it can be immediately planted in a larger container.

Seeding rules

Let's analyze the sequence of sowing seeds that gave sprouts:

Small indentations are made in the ground by 2-3 centimeters. Seeds are located root down.
Sprinkle with a small layer of earth.
We cover the vessel with a film and send it to a warm place.

You can sow from a pack, without pre-soaking, in the same way. The difference is in the number of seeds suitable for sowing. Several seeds are planted in a container at a time. After the first leaves appear, be sure to add two centimeters to the ground. For less injury to seedlings, cucumbers are sown in the container in which they are planned to be grown. You can sow cucumbers already germinated or dry.

Growing cucumbers at home

Cucumbers planted on the windowsill in winter are more demanding to care than ground cucumbers.

These activities are carried out on an ongoing basis:

quality watering;
fertilization;
garter;
pinching bushes.

Watering cucumbers

Each stage of cucumber ripening on the windowsill has its own level of watering. In the early period, while the seedlings are green and in the stage of intensive growth, watering should be carried out systematically, without stagnant water. At the time of the formation of flowers and the ripening of fruits, the bush requires more moisture; at this time, watering should not be skipped. This is where intensity matters. By constantly spraying the leaves with a spray bottle, you can increase the humidity level. In this case, green plants will be provided with additional nutrition from the outside. Watering cucumbers is only in the pan.

Fertilization

If fertilizers were originally applied to the soil, then the best period for new dressings will be the manifestation of the first leaves. To increase the duration of the growth of the bush and achieve a rich harvest, it is worth feeding cucumbers every 2-3 weeks.

The following options are possible:

once a month, renew the old biohumus in the container;
apply watering with a solution of the "Growth" agent - 1 cap per 2 liters of water;
a little bit of "Agrolife" on upper layer, 1 tsp is enough;
as the buds are tied, feed the plant with wood ash, dissolve 1 cup in 10 liters of water.

Top dressing should be different, otherwise there will be no benefit from it. It is recommended to apply organic fertilizers after mineral fertilizers.

In winter, it may be the remains of indoor plants:

dry twigs;
leaves;
potato peel.

They are suitable for herbal decoction. An infusion of ash is also suitable. You can buy it in flower shops. Brew the infusion according to the instructions on the pack. The concentrated solution is diluted with water.

The optimal temperature for growing cucumbers at home

The following rules must be observed:

initially, the plants are under a temperature of 20 ° C;
for more intensive growth use 23–25°C;
when the first sprouts appear, the temperature is not sharply lowered;
lowering the temperature is done after the germination of the leaves.

In winter it is much cooler than in summer or spring. To protect plants from the cold, auxiliary lighting and heating are installed. Otherwise, the harvest is not worth waiting for. In order to avoid hypothermia of the earth in the boxes, the boxes are installed for a while to warm up in a warm place, for example, on a battery. To insulate the container, you can wrap it with a material that retains heat.

Illumination of cucumbers

Illumination of cucumbers is carried out as follows:

On cloudy days and in spring, you need to compensate for the lack of lighting with a daylight device. Organized with the help of mirrors, foil.
In winter, the plants must be supported by an additional source of heat.

Cucumbers need at least 13-15 hours of daylight to grow. If the harvest fell in December, then at least 16 hours of additional light is required. In January-February, 12 hours of heat is required for the proper development of plant buds.

Diseases of cucumbers in the apartment

Cucumbers on the windowsill in winter are the least susceptible to disease. In apartments, the air is quite dry, so a pathogenic atmosphere does not develop. There is in this cold time the only threat in the form of a black leg. It can infect cucumbers at every stage of growth. But in most cases, seedlings and young bushes are exposed to the disease.

There are several environmental factors that can cause diseases of cucumbers on the windowsill:

non-observance of air humidity and temperature regimes;
watering with very cold water;
lack of nutrition of cucumbers.

Cucumber pests

Indoors, sciarids are activated in spring and during late autumn. These flies appear when vegetables are stored in the house. As insects, they pose no threat. Their larvae are dangerous, which destroy plants by eating the roots. Their actions are in October and mid-spring. Flies appear with an increase in humidity, which is inevitable when growing cucumbers on a windowsill, since the saturation of watering cannot be reduced.

When pests appear, it is worth using drugs:

fly-eater;
Zemlin;
Aktar;
Bazudin.

Aktara - 45 rubles Bazudin - 28 rubles

Not everyone is happy owner summer cottage, but at the same time many want to try themselves as a gardener. It is quite possible to do this if you start growing vegetables on the windowsill of a city apartment, especially if the windows face the sunny side.

The experience of thousands of vegetable growers has already proven this. To pick a juicy pimply cucumber at home, you need varieties suitable for cultivation in such conditions with certain characteristics. It is also necessary to carefully observe agricultural technology.

You can grow cucumbers in an apartment on the windows of the southern, eastern and southeastern orientation, where direct sunlight enters at certain hours.

Window sills of the northern and western windows are not suitable for this purpose. In this case, fruiting will not be possible even with the use of illumination.

There should be no drafts in the room, keep this in mind if you are used to regularly opening windows for ventilation. You can grow cucumbers on a glazed and insulated loggia.

Since the culture loves heat, the temperature should be maintained at 18 degrees and above during the day and at least 15 degrees at night.

On cloudy days, cucumbers need additional lighting. For this, a fluorescent lamp, LEDs or a phytolamp with a special radiation spectrum favorable for plants can be used.

On days when it is cold on the window (due to severe frost outside), preference should be given to halogen lamps, which heat the air near them and will serve as an additional source of heat.

For home growing not all varieties of cucumbers are suitable. It is best to choose first-generation parthenocarpic hybrids. These plants do not need additional pollination and form on the bushes only female flowers.

The variety must meet the following requirements:

be early or mid-season;
have higher yields;
form short fruits (up to 25 cm);
differ in shade tolerance and resistance to temperature extremes.

Some try to plant bee-pollinated varieties, but in this case, additional efforts will be required to obtain a crop.

The following varieties of cucumbers are popular among lovers of home vegetable growing:

April F1. Parthenocarpic hybrid with early dates maturation. The variety is resistant to bad weather and diseases, pleases with friendly fruiting, easy to care for. The first cucumbers appear 1.5 months after the seeds sprout. Fruit size - 15-25 cm. The skin is tuberous, with slight pubescence.
Benefit F1. Mid-early hybrid, from germination to fruiting takes a little more than 1.5 months. Does not require pollination. The yield is high. The plant gives a lot of side shoots, it needs to be formed. The fruit size is 10-13 cm. The peel is small-tuberous, bright green. The pulp of greens is juicy, sweet, does not contain bitterness. Benefis is disease resistant. Requires a rare landing, as he loves space.
Zozulya F1. A hybrid characterized by early maturation. The bush does not need to be formed. Fruiting on 42-48 days from the moment of emergence of shoots. Characterized by a high yield. The length of the fruit is up to 24 cm. Pimples and spikes are located on the soft thin skin. The taste of greens is sweet, with a pleasant aroma. The pulp contains few seeds.
Goosebump F1. Hybrid with early fruiting. It will be possible to harvest after 35-40 days from the moment of germination. Fruit size - 11-13 cm. The plant is resistant to diseases, at home it can bear fruit all year round. Harvest friendly, plentiful. The thin skin of the fruit is covered with tubercles of medium size.
Sail F1. hybrid plant producing fruit High Quality. It has a female type of flowering. Zelentsy tuberculate, with sparse pubescence. Cucumbers of this variety come into fruition for 46-50 days from the moment all the seeds sprout. Differs in amicable return of a crop. Fruits have a universal purpose.
Regina. Mid-season high-yielding variety of parthenocarpic type. Disease resistant. The size of the greens is 10-12 cm. The fruits have a tuberculous surface. The pulp is tasty, without bitterness.
Crunch F1. High-yielding hybrid with a long fruiting period. Fruits are 8-10 cm in size. The pulp is unusually juicy, crispy, without a bitter aftertaste. The plant is characterized by high disease resistance.

On a note! Late-ripening cucumber hybrids for growing at home are not suitable.

In principle, cucumbers can be grown at home all year round. If you want to get a crop by a specific date, you need to take into account the growing season of the variety. This information can be found on the seed packaging.

To get fresh cucumbers for the New Year, they will need to be sown at the end of October.
Sowing done in January will produce a harvest in March.
It will be possible to grow cucumbers for the May holidays by planting in mid-February.

Of course, for timely harvesting, it will be necessary to ensure the correct light and temperature conditions, regular watering of plants.

Preparatory work before sowing

After the variety is selected and the seeds are purchased, it will be necessary to prepare everything necessary for sowing. Along with the seed material in the garden center, you can also buy land at the same time. If there are no suitable containers at home, they will also need to be purchased.

Soil selection

For planting cucumbers, a universal soil or substrate for growing pumpkin crops is quite suitable. The land bought in the store goes through the whole production necessary training and ready to land.

You can make the soil yourself according to the following recipes:

Mix an equal amount of peat and humus. Add a glass of wood ash to 1 bucket of soil.
Take 1 part garden soil, turf and compost. Add a little river sand, rotted sawdust, ash to the mixture.

Self-prepared soil needs to be disinfected. For this purpose, you can use calcination in the oven, treatment with boiling water and a solution of potassium permanganate, freezing.

These procedures rid the soil of pathogenic microflora and pest larvae. Processing is carried out a few days before planting. It takes some time to allow beneficial soil bacteria to regenerate.

Initially, seedlings have to be grown, which are later swooped down in a container of a suitable size.

For seedlings use wooden boxes, plastic containers, large peat tablets or cups with a volume of 200-300 ml.Before using the container or box, they are washed with a brush and laundry soap, scalded with boiling water.

Peat tablets are placed in a common container and poured with warm water to swell. As soon as they increase in size several times, it will be possible to land.

Growing cucumbers in a bag on the window - video

Sowing seeds of cucumbers

When preparing for sowing, try to guess so that the planting date falls on auspicious days according to the lunar calendar.

Pre-seeds are pickled in a solution of potassium permanganate, then washed and wrapped in a damp cloth to swell. These seeds will germinate faster.

Planting is carried out in rows with an interval of 2-3 cm to a depth of 1 cm. If sowing is carried out in individual containers, 2 seeds are immediately planted in the hole for safety net.The weaker seedling is later removed.

After sowing, the soil is moistened with a spray gun and covered with a film to create greenhouse conditions. Now the seedlings need to be put in the brightest place and kept at room temperature until shoots appear.

The optimal age of seedlings for picking is when it forms 2-3 true leaves and a compact, unstretched stem.

A feature of varieties for home cultivation is the presence small leaves and a strong main shoot, so the plants will not fall down even at the stage of appearance of 6-8 leaves.

Such bushes can be transplanted to a permanent place without worrying that they will take root poorly.

For growing vegetables at home suitable conditions any container.

It can be a clay or plastic pot, a bucket, a wooden tub. The main thing is that the volume of the container should be at least 5 liters, because cucumbers have a powerful root system.
Some have adapted to use for this purpose 5-liter plastic bottles with a cut neck. A drainage hole must be made in the bottom to drain excess water after watering.

As the bottom layer, drainage is certainly laid. The soil should be taken the same as for seedlings. The container is filled with earth not to the edge, but below this level by 4-5 cm.

In the future, when the roots begin to become exposed during growth, it will be possible to fill the soil without any problems. The substrate for planting seedlings must also be disinfected.

Features of caring for cucumbers on the windowsill

In order for your cucumbers to bear fruit, they need the right move, taking into account all the needs of the culture. You should pay attention to the following points.

Cucumbers are very fond of moisture, but at the same time they do not tolerate stagnant water in a pot, a sufficient amount of oxygen must be supplied to the roots. Water them regularly, making sure the soil doesn't dry out.

For large bushes in dry air conditions, daily watering is necessary, with high humidity, you can do this 2-3 times a week.

When the plants grow powerful roots, they will be able to drink water poured into the pan. Sometimes you can apply this method of watering. To increase the humidity of the air, install a humidifier in the room, or place containers with expanded clay on the windowsill, into which you will regularly add water.In the evenings, cucumber leaves can be sprayed from a spray bottle.

On a note! Water for irrigation should be settled and at room temperature.

So that the harvest is not meager, cucumbers must be regularly fed with fertilizers. Feeding during the fruiting period is especially important.

Adult plants are fed every 7-10 days with industrial mineral fertilizers.

A mixture of mullein infusion (at a concentration of 1:10), superphosphate (20 g) and potassium sulfate (15 g) is well suited.

Like cucumbers and top dressing folk remedies: infusion of tea, wood ash, yeast, eggshell, iodine.

The first dressing is applied under plants at the age of 2 weeks. The composition is prepared from the following components:

10 liters of water;
15 g potassium;
5 g of ammonium nitrate;
5 g magnesium;
3 g superphosphate.

Fertilizers are carefully dissolved in water and watered under the root, trying not to fall on the leaves of the seedlings.

According to the type of growth, cucumbers are vines, their lashes at home can grow up to 2 m in length. In each container, it will be necessary to fix a vertical rigid support, along which the growing shoots will curl.

Most indoor hybrids do not grow very tall, but they do branch heavily.

Some pinch the main shoot when the height of the window no longer allows the vine to grow up. Lateral shoots are removed, leaving 1-2 leaves.

On a note! If the bush is not formed, it will build up an excessive amount of leaf mass to the detriment of fruiting and, moreover, will take up a lot of space.

Without tying, the bushes are poorly ventilated and shade each other. Tie the whips with a nylon cord or twine to vertical support located in a pot.

You can build a trellis by screwing a metal ring to the slope of the window, to which the cord is tied, the second end of the twine is fixed on a wooden peg stuck in the pot. As the whips grow, they are tied up, or attached to the cord with special plastic clips.

On a note! Some vegetable growers fix in window opening plastic mesh. Varieties with a mustache will be able to cling to the cells themselves, beardless varieties will need to be tied up.

Parthenocarpic cucumbers do not need artificial pollination. If you planted a bee-pollinated variety, you will have to participate in the transfer of pollen from male flowers to female specimens. It is necessary to do the procedure during the entire flowering period. For this purpose, you can use a soft brush for drawing or a cotton swab.

Male flowers form at the base of the stem. Most often they form an inflorescence of 5-7 buds. It is their experts who call them empty flowers. Female flowers grow singly, at the place of their attachment to the pedicel, you can see a small tubercle, from which the fruit is subsequently formed.

When transferring pollen, you should make sure that it has settled on the brush. In this case, a yellow coating will be noticeable on the villi. It is better to transfer pollen from 2-3 male flowers to one female flower. This increases the chances of successful pollination.

On a note! It is best to pollinate the flower on the second day after it has opened.

After 35-40 days from the moment the shoots appeared, it will be possible to feast on the first, personally collected, cucumbers. While the bush is growing, you are harvesting the fruits that have formed in the axils of the main stem.

If the bush is not formed, after the crown rests against the slope of the window and pinch it, second-order shoots will begin to develop on the plant.

Now cucumbers can be harvested from these lashes. The main thing is to do this as soon as the next greens ripen. The faster you remove ripened fruits from the bush, the more willingly new ovaries will begin to develop and the yield will be higher.

Possible problems when growing cucumbers on the windowsill

For inexperienced vegetable growers, the process of growing cucumbers in an apartment does not always go smoothly. Then the leaves suddenly turn yellow, then the ovaries fall off, then for some reason there is no flowering. Yes, there are problems in the early stages.

Most often, the cause is not quite suitable conditions and errors in care:

When growing seedlings in winter, there is often not enough light, and the stems are stretched, and the foliage turns yellow. Light plants additionally from 8 am to 4 pm. Starting from March, the backlight can be turned on for only 4 hours a day. In low light, plants may also refuse to bear fruit.
If the ovaries form, but do not grow, it may be due to a lack of iodine. Prepare a top dressing of 1.5 liters of water and 5 drops of iodine tincture and water the plant along the edge of the pot. Feeding close to the stem can cause root burns. The second reason for the fall of the ovaries may be a lack of moisture.
Sometimes, when grown in an apartment, cucumbers are attacked by whiteflies and spider mites. At the first sign of pests, spray the plants with a solution laundry soap. Repeat if necessary. Chemical preparations should not be used in the house - it is dangerous to health.
So that the bush does not grow ugly and crooked, it must be turned 180 degrees daily, then the plant will receive light evenly.
If the leaves turn yellow and partially die off, then the cucumbers lack nutrients. The reason may be in the insufficient volume of soil, its poor quality, irregular top dressing. Try to correct the situation by urgent application of mineral fertilizer.

Growing cucumbers on the windowsill in winter: video

Growing cucumbers on a windowsill in winter has its own characteristics that must be reckoned with. In conditions of a limited planting area, dry air and insufficient lighting in the room, all stages of planting and care must be strictly observed, otherwise the plants will irrevocably lag behind in growth or even die. If you do everything right, all that remains is to enjoy the freshness of juicy crispy cucumbers that have grown thanks to your diligence and care.

cucumbers on summer cottages grown by many - this vegetable has been very popular for decades. Caring for him is not too difficult, and with a good greenhouse, you can reap excellent crops. But few people know that cucumbers can be grown at home on the windowsill. All you need to do is choose suitable variety, plant seeds in tubs and create good conditions for the growth and fruiting of cucumber bushes.

The crop can be harvested 2-2.5 months after planting the plant: for example, if you want to see fresh cucumbers on the New Year's table, they should be planted in late September - early October.

There are many varieties suitable for home use. Cucumber varieties that do not require pollination are called parthenocarpic hybrids.

Parthenocarpic hybrids are modern varieties that have been obtained as a result of the work of breeders. They have only female flowers and are self-pollinating. Inside the fruits that grow on bushes of parthenocarpic varieties, there are no seeds. These varieties of cucumber are good not only because they do not require pollination - they grow well and give rich harvests.

For growing at home, you can also choose one of the varieties that usually grow in the garden and are pollinated by bees. Shade-tolerant cucumbers are best suited for planting in winter.

Light-loving ones are more advisable to plant in the summer, although if you organize good lighting, they will give good harvests in the winter months.

Qualities	Variety	Photo
Shade-tolerant hybrids producing medium-sized fruits	Claudia, Legend, Tatiana, Seryozha
Large-fruited shade-tolerant hybrids	Zozulya, Ragtime, Babylon
Light-loving varieties of cucumber	Stella, Mazay, Thumb boy

This is far from full list- There are a great many varieties that are suitable for sprouting at home.

Detailed advice can be obtained from a competent seller in a seed store. Let him know that you need cucumbers for winter growing on the windowsill, and he will select suitable options for you.

Soil preparation

Can be used ready soils for plants or prepare the soil yourself. In the first case, you can take universal soil or soil for pumpkin plants. If you prepare the soil yourself, you can make a mixture of peat and sand in a ratio of 1: 1, it is well suited for growing cucumbers.

Another option is to mix the top layer of garden soil, peat and humus in equal proportions.

The soil must be sterile. To disinfect, it must be heated in the oven. If this is not done, young shoots can eat different flies and insects present in the ground. They can thaw in the warmth, even if the earth was brought from the frost.

In order for cucumbers to grow better, it is better to add top dressing to the soil. For one bush you will need:

You will also need some fine gravel to lay on the bottom of the containers in which you will grow cucumbers. Gravel can be replaced with brick chips.

Preparation of containers for growing

It is better to plant cucumbers in several separate containers with drainage holes - one for each bush. Another option is to use one common large tub. In this case, the distance between the bushes should be about 3 cm. One bush will need 5 liters of soil. It is necessary to stick wooden pegs into the ground, to which the stems of plants will subsequently be tied.

At the bottom of the tub, you need to lay gravel with a layer of 1-3 cm, and then fill in the soil. It is better to put them on a window that faces south so that the plants get more sunlight. Although it is still impossible to do without additional illumination with a fluorescent lamp or an incandescent lamp in winter.

Backlight

In order for the bush to grow well, it needs at least twelve to fourteen hours of light per day. Therefore, in winter, when the days are short, it is necessary to use a lamp for illumination. Ideally, it should be located 30-40 cm above the plant. It's best if you can change the height of the lamp over time as the bush grows. In order to provide the maximum amount of light, some mount foil or mirrors above the lamp or on the sides of the pots.

Landing

The seeds should first be disinfected, a saturated solution of potassium permanganate is well suited for this, it should not be either dark red or pale pink.

Seeds must be kept in it for two hours. Those that have surfaced should be thrown away immediately - they sprout poorly. The rest should be dried a little on a cloth or napkin, and then sown.

If you bought already disinfected seeds, you do not need to soak them - they are planted immediately dry. After the seeds germinate, the extra seedlings will need to be removed so that one bush remains in each of the tubs.

With a pick

For growing seedlings, plastic cups with a capacity of about 100 ml are perfect. They need to be filled with prepared soil, lightly tamping it down and leaving 2-3 cm to the edges. After that, seeds are poured on top, 5 pieces in each glass, they are sprinkled with a layer of earth, which is again slightly crushed so that 1 cm remains to the edge.

After one to two weeks, the sprouts are thinned out, leaving the two strongest. After another week, a second thinning should be done, after which only one seedling will remain.

Without a pick

If you use separate containers and plant seeds in them immediately, without first planting seedlings in cups, the soil level should be 5 cm below the top edge of the pot. Plant 2-3 seeds in each pot. You can plant more - 4 or 5 pieces. Before planting, moisten the soil, then make furrows or depressions of 1-2 cm in it, place the seeds in them, sprinkle with a 1 cm layer of earth and tamp the soil.

Germination will take from a few days to two weeks - depending on the variety chosen, as well as how favorable the conditions are. The best temperature for germination is 22 degrees, and for the development of a bush after the emergence of a sprout from the ground - 20 degrees.

As the seedlings germinate, they will also need to be thinned out in two stages, so that in the end one strongest remains. After 5 leaves appear on the sprouts, all mustaches should be removed. A month after sowing, it is necessary to add another 3 cm of soil, this procedure will replace the pick.

In order for seedlings to sprout sooner, the seeds can be pre-germinated. To do this, they must be wrapped in a cloth and constantly sprayed, so that it is always wet. At a temperature of 27-30 degrees, the roots will appear in 2 days.

Care

Watering and feeding

Cucumbers should be watered every day, but little by little, so that the soil is moist. If you do not pay due attention to watering, the fruits will be bitter. Another important condition for the good growth of this plant is humidity. You are unlikely to want to turn your apartment into a greenhouse, so spray the bushes every day with a spray bottle.

Another important condition for good growth is proper feeding. It should be started after the appearance of the first leaflet. For it, you need to use mineral fertilizers.

Basic feeding rules:

mineral fertilizer is mixed in water at the rate of 2 teaspoons per 3 liters of water;
for feeding each plant before the appearance of fruits, it is necessary to spend one or two glasses of the resulting solution, and after the start of fruiting - three to four glasses;
Cucumbers need to be fed once a week.

Pollination

If you have chosen more than one of the parthenocarpic varieties, after the start of flowering, pollination must be carried out. The female flower has a pistil and the male flower has stamens. For fertilization to occur, the pollen from the male flower must reach the female. In nature, it is carried by bees, and at home you will have to perform this simple operation yourself.

It is better to do this in the morning - at this time the pollen sticks well. Pick the male flower, cut off the corolla and place it in the female flower so that the pollen gets on the stigma.

When the first greens appear, you need to pinch the top of the stem and all side branches. If roots appear on the surface, add some earth to the tub.

Video - Pollination of cucumbers

You can collect fruits after one and a half to two weeks after pollination. Do it in time so that the bush is not depleted. The more often you harvest from a plant, the better it will bear fruit. At good care from one bush you can get one or two dozen fruits. The bush can live up to two months from the date of receipt of the first harvest. Cucumbers do not propagate by cuttings, so after the old plants die, you will have to sow the seeds again.

Of course, in order to collect good harvest, will have to tinker. But all efforts will pay off - after all, cucumbers from the store cannot be compared with home-grown cucumbers. They grow very well on the windowsill, and if you do everything right, you can count on a great harvest. Try to grow cucumbers at home on your own and please yourself and your loved ones with them.

Video - Garden on the windowsill

In the cold winter season, a salad of fresh, fragrant pimply cucumbers is perceived as real. delicacy. But only for those who have not yet comprehended the science of growing this popular vegetable on the windowsill.

In the presence of a south, southeast or, in extreme cases, a southwest window in an apartment and some patience, this task is quite doable.

Knowledgeable people they say that even a novice vegetable grower can handle growing cucumbers at home.

home the difficulty that will be encountered in this is the strict observance temperature regime(from +21 to +24 degrees during the day and +18+19 at night).

If in your apartment cooler, you will have to organize additional heating and maintain high temperature in the room even when it's minus 20 outside.

In addition, the place on the windowsill for cucumbers should be bright and spacious, so your permanent "residents" - chlorophytums and cacti will have to make room a little.

Lighting

Cucumber- the culture is extremely photophilous, so if you decide to start growing in November or December, when the daylight hours are very short, get ready to illuminate the seedlings for at least 15 hours a day.

Better a little wait until the end of January, when the day begins to arrive and the sun begins to peek through the windows more often.

But even in this case stock up you will have to use a special lamp: after all, in winter there are many cloudy days on which your sprouts will lack light. But they will have to be illuminated much less: only 3-4 hours.

Perfect for this purpose phytolamps(they will also come in handy for highlighting other indoor plants) or simple fluorescent lamps. It is best if the light falls on the container from above. To do this, take 2 LD-20 lamps and fix them horizontally above the plants at a height of 15-20 cm.

Lamps it is better to adapt so as to be able to move them higher or lower (for example, lift up when the cucumbers grow).

For economical When using electricity, cover the lamps with any reflective material, such as foil.

Varieties of cucumbers

Scientists have bred hundreds of species and varieties cucumbers, but not all of them are suitable for growing on the windowsill. It makes sense to try several varieties at once to see where the result is better.

Of course, cucumbers pollinated by bees have a more attractive appearance than self-pollinated hybrids, but they are much more capricious, and besides, these varieties will have to pollinate by hand.

How to pollinate?

Let's find out right away how to do it right artificial pollination. First you need to learn to distinguish between male and female flowers (there is a tiny resemblance of a small cucumber in the center of the female flowers, but not in the male ones).

Pluck off the corolla of a male flower, lightly touch it to the palm of your hand and see if the pollen falls off.

If it's all right, start pollination by methodically touching the pistils with stamens.

Pollination it is convenient to do it in another way: with a soft brush (for example, cosmetic), touching it in turn to the stamens and pistils.

How to grow seedlings?

For best germination, seeds sprout. Wrap them in a soft cloth, put them between several layers of absorbent paper (toilet will do), and spray systematically with a spray bottle. At a temperature of +25 degrees, the seeds will germinate in 2 days.

Take the simple plastic cups and plant one germinated seed in them, deepening 1-2 cm into the ground. While the seeds germinate, prepare larger containers such as large containers with drainage holes.

It is necessary to proceed from the fact that each cucumber bush needs 5 kg for normal growth. substrate. A 2-centimeter layer of brick battle is laid at the bottom, and then the soil of such composition:

fertile land - 1 part;
humus - 1 part;
peat - 1 part;
1 st. l. superphosphate;
1 st. l. ground chalk;
1 cup of ash for every 5 kg of soil.

Can be dispensed with without growing seedlings and plant seeds directly in boxes, cover with foil or glass and place in a warm place. After the emergence of seedlings, remove the film and transfer the boxes to the window, immediately placing it in a tray with moistened pebbles.

Air humidity

If you are growing home flowers, then you probably know how disastrous for many of them are central heating batteries that make the air dry, like in the desert.

For the normal development of cucumbers, you will have to increase humidity not only in the vicinity of the plant containers, but throughout the room.

Trays with wet stones, water containers, a wet cloth draped over the batteries - all these measures will raise the humidity level to the required level. At the same time, the roots of cucumbers must be protected from hypothermia.

If the window sill is cold, place the container with the plant on any warm material- for example, a wooden plank.

Watering and fertilizing

cucumbers water daily, but little by little, spray every other day in the morning. If the roots are exposed on the surface, add a little earth.

After the appearance seedlings you can start applying mineral fertilizers by dissolving them in irrigation water in the following proportion: for 3 liters of water - 2 tsp. fertilizers. Feeding dose - up to 2 cups for each bush (during the fruiting period it doubles - up to 4 cups).

See according to the condition of the plants: if the stem is pale, the leaves are small, and the ovaries are few, then it is necessary to add top dressing. Use the drugs "Bucephalus", "Epin", "Radogor", etc.

Harvesting

Young Zelentsy they are plucked at about the age of 7 days, without waiting for their outgrowth, because the more fruits are removed, the more they will tie and grow in the future.

Sick and twisted need too take away. If you do everything right, you can get up to 30 juicy and fragrant strong cucumbers from each plant right in the middle of a cold winter.

And as soon as the skills of growing cucumbers are polished, move on to at home. And your winter will pass with fresh salads and fragrant teas.

And for the most inquisitive, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the video about growing cucumbers