Feeding cucumbers is very important. If you neglect this stage, there will be no harvest. The growth and development of plants will be slow, and the fruits will be tasteless, twisted and not suitable for salting. How and what to properly fertilize cucumbers?

How to understand that cucumbers are missing something

There are several signs by which you can determine that a cucumber is lacking in nutrients:

  • Nitrogen deficiency can be identified by light green leaves and small pointed fruits. Growth slows down, roots begin to die off gradually.
  • If there is not enough potassium in the soil, cucumbers cannot withstand various diseases, the leaves turn bronze, and a brown rim can be seen along the edges.
  • If light green spots began to appear on the lower leaves, which later turn yellow and begin to fall off, then the plant lacks magnesium.
  • If the harvest of cucumbers is small, they ripen with a delay, perhaps they lack manganese. In the presence of this element in the right volume, the fruits breathe intensively and assimilate nutrients.

When to feed cucumbers

Cucumbers need feeding

Eggshell as fertilizer for tomato seedlings

Cucumbers are fed at certain times:

  • the first time this is done 2 weeks after planting in the ground;
  • a second feeding can be done when the cucumbers bloom;
  • the third time the plants are fed when they begin to bear fruit;
  • the fourth feeding is done by those gardeners who are interested in extending the life of the plants.

What you need to feed cucumbers

Cucumber urea

To feed the plants, folk remedies are great. The most effective ones are:

  • Eggshell. It provides cucumbers with a range of essential nutrients. 95% of this fertilizer consists of calcium carbonate, which is perfectly absorbed by the growing plant organism. The shell also enriches magnesium, phosphorus, organic protein, potassium.
  • Wood ash. It is an excellent tool for pest control and plant disease control. Especially effective during cucumber flowering and fruit emergence.
  • Onion hulls also help cucumbers fight off diseases and pests. It has a beneficial effect on the ability to adapt to different environmental conditions. To feed the cucumbers, prepare a decoction of the husks (for 1 liter of hot water, 100 g of onion husks, as it cools down, you can water it).
  • Manure as a fertilizer is essential if you want to grow an excellent crop. The main thing is not to overdo it, since the bushes will begin to grow from an excess of organic fertilizer, and voids will form inside the fruit.
  • Yeast helps to stimulate the growth of the bush and fruit. This happens due to the fact that the composition of yeast contains trace elements important for the nutrition of cucumbers - nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. Of course, you need to feed the yeast solution correctly: when the soil warms up well, starting from mid-May until the end of summer.
  • Potato peelings. They contain useful organic acids, fats, potassium, starch, vitamin C, glucose and salt, which significantly enrich the soil composition. In addition, when decomposing, the purification generates heat, and this is another factor for the favorable development of cucumbers.Also, potato peelings lure pests - slugs and Colorado beetles. Thanks to this "bait", you can find the enemies of your crop and get rid of them.

Feeding cucumbers with folk remedies has many advantages. They cost practically nothing and are always at hand. The same eggshell for tomatoes and cucumbers is several times better than the chemicals that collapse the shelves of garden stores, and is safer to use. Folk feeding has been tested for years and has never failed, which cannot be said about ready-made preparations.

Egg shells for feeding

Eggshells for cucumbers are a storehouse of beneficial trace elements. It contains a huge amount of useful substances and valuable microelements that are not only perfectly absorbed by cucumbers, but also provide them with good growth, and also increase resistance to aggressive environmental influences.

Egg shells for feeding

Soda for spraying cucumbers

Before using the egg shell for feeding, you need to prepare it: wash, dry and chop thoroughly. For the latter, a meat grinder, coffee grinder or mortar is suitable. Some housewives try to crush the shells with their hands, but this is not an easy task. Large pieces of shells are less beneficial than shredded ones. In addition, too large shells can be injured during weeding.

Note!For the purpose of feeding, only shells from raw eggs are suitable, since only it can bring invaluable benefits.

After the eggshell has been processed and ground, it can be assumed that the fertilizer is ready. The resulting powder then just need to be sprinkled under the root of the bush during the next weeding, so that the earth mixes with the shell. That's all!

Onion peels for cucumbers: application and recipes

Onion peels for cucumbers are another great home remedy not only for cucumbers but also tomatoes. A small amount of husk can be added to the soil at the time of planting the seeds. Such feeding of cucumber seedlings with folk remedies will help protect against diseases and pests, as well as grow an excellent harvest.

Onion peels for cucumbers

Second recipe: 2-3 tbsp. dry husks from onions and 1 bucket of water to combine and bring to a boil. After that, the bucket must be removed from the heat and let it brew for 2-3 days. Before use, dilute the infusion with water and pour over the cucumbers as usual.

You can use onion peels if the leaves turn yellow. A special broth will come to the rescue, the recipe for which is very simple. You need to take 3-4 tbsp. dry onion husks and 1 bucket of warm water. Leave to infuse for a day. Next, strain the resulting solution through cheesecloth and sprinkle with cucumber leaves. The method really works, since within 2 days after spraying, the result will be evident.

Other organic fertilizers for cucumbers

Potato peelings as fertilizer for cucumbers

Potatoes are another popular vegetable. After its preparation, there are always purifications in which the most useful substances are concentrated: vitamins, macro- and microelements. They can not be thrown away, but used for the benefit of the soil and plants in the personal plot.

Potato peelings as fertilizer for cucumbers

The easiest way is for residents of private houses. They can choose a special place for organic fertilizers - a compost pit. But if you visit the garden only periodically, potato "skins" can be prepared in advance - dried or frozen. For example, in winter, you can spread out the cleaning on an unheated balcony. They will freeze and can be stored as such until early spring. With the onset of heat, you can take the cleaning to the country. Just do not tighten, otherwise they will start to wither and rot.

You can dry the skins of potatoes on a hot battery, in the oven, on a windowsill on a sunny day, in a vegetable dryer. It is advisable to scroll them afterwards in a meat grinder, and then dry them again. This will facilitate further work with them. Further, the peel will simply need to be poured with boiling water or hot water (1: 1).As a result, you will have a thick layer that can be added when planting seeds in open ground, in a greenhouse or in a greenhouse. The resulting remedy will help kill late blight on cucumbers and get rid of pests.

Mullein feeding

Mullein is an excellent organic fertilizer used to stimulate plant growth. In fact, this is ordinary cow dung, which contains many beneficial trace elements. It is not recommended to use it too often, because an excess of micronutrients is also very harmful.

Mullein feeding

The advantages of this old-fashioned fertilization method:

  • is free;
  • proven over the years the protection of cucumbers from ailments.

To feed cucumbers, manure is used rotted (it crumbles in the hands), since it is safer and does not burn the roots. To do this, it is simply poured under the bush in a small layer (0.5 cm), and plentifully watered with warm water on top. Fresh mullein is most effective in autumn if they properly fertilize the soil and dig up the ground before the onset of cold weather. Next spring, if you plant cucumbers in this place, you can collect an unprecedented harvest of pimples.

Important! You should not "feed" the cucumbers with fresh mullein. There is too much nitrogen in it, and there are also weed seeds that can fill the area.

On this, perhaps, everything. Summing up, one thing can be noted: if you do not feed the cucumbers, then you should not wait for the harvest at all. Moreover, neglecting manure and folk remedies, you can harm the bushes by provoking diseases or luring pests, which is fraught with the death of the crop throughout the entire area, not only of cucumber bushes, but also of tomatoes, peppers and cabbage. The infection spreads with lightning speed throughout the garden. The main thing here is not to overdo it, but to choose one tool. This is the whole secret of competent feeding of vegetables!