Growing cucumbers in a barrel - an unconventional way to save space and increase yields

Cultivation of cucumbers in a barrel is very common in China. With this method of cultivation, not only the place is saved, but a decent harvest is also going on. In Russia, this method of growing cucumbers has not yet been widely used, and the reason is that many people simply do not know about it, nevertheless, the cultivation of cucumbers in Siberia in this way, for example, can yield very good results.

However, some truck farmers have already taken this method into service and are very pleased with the results. Still would! After all, three barrels of cucumbers are able to replace the six-meter bed. And almost no troubles!

Cultivation of cucumbers in the barrel does not require much effort and time. In early April, metal barrels are filled to the very top with last year's grass and weeds, food waste, compost, add two buckets of manure, pour hot water, cover with a film and leave for a week.

Barrels wrapped in black film and put on the most sunny place for warming up. During this time, the process of rotting will begin and the barrels will settle. Before planting, the barrels are sprinkled with earth from the garden mixed with chernozem and poured with warm water.

It is better to sow seeds on Egoryev on the sixth of May, 6-8 pieces per barrel. Above, the arcs are set and covered with a nonwoven material that retains heat and passes water. You can stick in the middle of the barrel count, which you need to put on a plastic bottle and cover with a film. If the spring is cold, then the germination of seeds is greatly reduced and the seedlings grow poorly. In this case, some seeds need to be sown at home on seedlings. The hassle will, of course, increase, because you need to make sure that the seedlings do not stretch, they grow strong and healthy.

Plant the seedlings better in separate peat pots and keep on the sunny side, and if necessary, light up the lamp. With the onset of warm days seedlings are tempered and planted in barrels. If the seedlings are not hardened, then the seedlings may die or be ill, and then the harvest can not be expected to be good. You can, of course, buy seedlings in the market, but then you can not say with certainty that this is the sort that you need.

Cultivation of cucumbers in the barrel is associated with the choice of a certain variety. Good show themselves hybrids F1 - Othello and Connie and the most ripening variety of Murom, with a real cucumber spirit. The remaining varieties ripen later, and in fact the purpose of the barrel is to give an early harvest of cucumbers. For salads, small cucumbers with thin skin are torn off, but if the cucumbers have outgrown, then they can be salted with dill, currant leaves and garlic - they are very tasty in lightly salted form.

Cultivation of cucumbers in a barrel is very convenient. Firstly, you can arrange improvised beds almost anywhere, and secondly, cucumbers are convenient to collect and they are always clean. Yes, and looks such an unusual bed-barrel is very impressive - the whips hanging over the edge to the ground and mask the barrel.

For planting, no special care is required: if the soil in the barrels has strongly settled, pour a little fertile soil, the beds themselves should not be weeded, you do not need to pinch the bushes either. Required only regular and abundant watering with the addition of herbal infusion or mullein.

You can add mineral fertilizing to the water, but you need to water only with warm water. But if you do not have time to irrigate, you can just put a five-liter bottle down on the barrel - from such a bottle the water will seep into the soil itself as needed. With such care, cucumbers practically do not get sick, and the harvest ripens in late June.

If desired, you can practice and grow cucumbers in winter - in the sunlit window sill of a city apartment, or in heated greenhouses. Only it is necessary to provide plants with good lighting conditions and to illuminate them with a lamp.