Another way to grow cucumbers is soilless cultivation in gardening, which has good root system and high yield, and is suitable for farmers
It's not easy to plant cucumber in summer, so we should consider diseases and insect pests, high temperature and drought, but the price is not bad. Some farmers said that they missed this opportunity to make money. Cucumbers in greenhouses didn't grow, and their leaves turned yellow and dried up. This is not only a serious disease and insect pests, but also a difficult problem to solve, as soon as the roots are pulled out, they will break.
The root system of cucumber is shallow, the ability of absorbing water and fertilizer is weak, the soil is hardened, and the soil temperature is too high, all these factors will cause the root system not to grow. After pulling out, you can see that cucumber has only one taproot, and its root system grows very poorly. Cucumber and tomato, after continuous planting in many greenhouses, are faced with such problems. It is not realistic to change to a new greenhouse. Generally, it is recommended to change to substrate cultivation in the original greenhouse.
Compared with soil culture, cucumber root system grows much better in substrate culture. Because the substrate itself has the ability to keep water and fertilizer, it provides water and nutrients for cucumber growth, and the internal gap can keep a certain amount of air, so that the root system has sufficient oxygen, which is conducive to the growth of the root system.
Therefore, the basic water, fertilizer and ventilation are very suitable for cucumber cultivation. The growth of cucumber is not restricted by the soil, the root system is strong, and the plants on the ground grow well, which is beneficial to the high yield of long-season cucumber. As for the premature senescence of cucumber root system and serious diseases and insect pests after topping.
In the past, many growers thought that although substrate cultivation had a good effect, the input cost was too high, and they didn't know how many kilograms of cucumbers could be sold to earn back. Nowadays, there are more and more low-cost soilless cultivation, some of which have an acre of land less than 3,000. Planting three consecutive crops may be lower than the cost of soil planting.
For example, there are many kinds of substrates, such as coconut chaff, vermiculite, distiller's grains, sawdust, earthworm cast, slag, etc., which are selected according to local resources and local conditions. The price of earthworm dung here is low, but the price of other substrates is high. Then, we will use earthworm dung as the cultivation substrate, which has stable properties, can fix the root system, retain water and fertilizer, and breathe freely, and use 10-15 cubic meters per mu of land. Compared with the expensive substrate, the cost is much lower.
Planting grooves can be made of PVC, but the cost is high, and ditches can also be dug on the ground as planting grooves, but the cost is low, and plastic films should be laid to prevent infiltration. Or use planting bags instead of planting tanks, and choose black and white sides, which is cost-effective. Cucumber roots have strict requirements for ground temperature, and when the temperature is high, the root growth is poor. The white side of the bag is outside, which can reflect sunlight in summer and prevent the substrate from heating up. Moreover, each bag can prevent the spread of root diseases, but drip irrigation facilities should be done well to prevent a certain bag from dying without water.
Substrate cultivation of cucumber has the advantages of fast growth and high yield, but it requires high planting technology. For example, the control of fertilizer concentration, too small concentration, lack of nutrients, easy to have deformed melons, curved melons. It is also very important to promote and raise roots to prevent premature senescence of cucumber roots. Farmers need to know these management techniques in advance.
