Cucumbers are plants demanding heat, light and moisture. That is why good plant care is important: from germination to fruiting. The article contains detailed care for cucumber seedlings, the rules for its cultivation and correction of basic mistakes, as well as whether it is possible to deepen cucumber seedlings.

‌ Healthy seedlings of cucumbers should be low, with a thick stem, the leaves should be even, smooth, bright green. If the stem becomes long and thin, and the leaves become small, then the plant is missing something. But all this can be corrected and the elongated seedlings can be saved.

Cucumber seedlings stretched out: reasons, mistakes, correction

Cucumber seedlings stretched out

Attention! Seedlings are not pulled out due to harmful insects or fungal diseases. All this causes other harm to the plant.

The reason for pulling seedlings is the failure to comply with the correct conditions for the growth and development of the plant. External factors, namely:

  • Lack of light and excessive heat. The plant, sensing an increased temperature and rarely receiving sunlight, begins to reach for it. This is especially true for seedlings that are grown early, when the sun is not yet bright enough and often shines.

    Elevated temperature

  • Improper watering. This is a very common mistake in growing seedlings. Too much watering leads to its stretching. Especially when the air temperature in the room is high, moisture from the surface of the ground quickly evaporates and it seems that the soil is too dry and watering is necessary, but this is not the case. The roots get enough water if watering is done 1-2 times a week.
  • Small containers for seedlings. The roots of cucumbers grow in breadth, and narrow cups severely limit their growth. Young plants become weak, pale, thin, and may fall.
  • Poor soil quality. This reason is less common than the previous ones. Cucumbers grow very poorly in acidic soil. They need neutral soil.

Cucumbers

In addition, improper growing conditions for seedlings can lead not only to stretching, but also to rotting of the roots, and the leaves can turn yellow and curl.

How to fix errors

Depending on the reason for pulling the seedlings, the ways to correct the situation are completely different.

  • If stretching occurs due to lack of light and increased temperature, you need to improve the lighting and, if possible, lower the temperature. Usually, the backlight is done using a table lamp, which is turned on during cloudy weather, in the evening and early in the morning.
  • If the cause is overflowing the plant, you just need to reduce the frequency of watering or the amount of water.

    To avoid this problem, you can install a wick irrigation system, which is often used for seedlings.

    It automates watering, which is convenient for plants whose roots will not rot, and for a person who does not have to worry about the time of watering and the amount of water. Wick irrigation is made using a wide strip of cloth and a container with water. To do this, one end of the strip is buried near the root, and the other is lowered into a container filled with water. The roots will take water on their own when they need it.

  • If the plant cups are too narrow, transplant the seedlings. Each should be in 1 wide and deep glass. It is advisable to plant cucumbers in special peat pots. Cucumbers are not very fond of replanting, and peat pots themselves decompose in the soil.
  • If the soil is acidic, transplant seedlings. Preferably in a special universal soil, which is sold in stores.

Also, effective methods are pinching the top of the seedlings and feeding the plant with complex fertilizers.

Another way to combat seedling pulling is to deepen it.

How to bury seedlings correctly

How to feed cucumber seedlings

Many gardeners are wondering if it is possible to deepen the elongated seedlings of cucumbers during transplantation, whether it will harm the plant. But this procedure has many advantages.

Benefits of burying seedlings

  • Additional roots will appear on the stem that will be lowered into the ground. This means that the root system of the plant will be more branched, and therefore stronger.
  • The yield increases. Just by strengthening the root system.

    Benefits of burying seedlings

  • The plant will become stronger and stronger. Even if it looked weak before burying, after that it will grow at the right pace. Of course, provided that there are no more violations of the correctness of the conditions.

‌If the seedlings are stretched out, but warm weather has already settled and the frosts have passed, you can plant them in open ground or in a greenhouse (greenhouse). It is recommended to deepen the cucumbers when planting in open ground, so it is easier for the plant to take root due to the large area for the growth of the root system.

‌ This is done in late May - early June. Beforehand, the soil is dug up, fertilized (optional) and watered well. Before planting, the pots must also be thoroughly watered. Then the plants are transplanted into the ground, while they must be buried to the cotyledon leaves.

Important! We must not forget about the distance at which it is necessary to plant seedlings, depending on the variety. Otherwise, the plantings will begin to stretch again due to a lack of light, water and minerals.

If the weather is cloudy, the cucumbers are transplanted early in the morning, and if it is sunny - in the evening (especially if the weather is hot and dry). This is important because it is difficult for a culture to survive sudden temperatures and changes in humidity, because in the room the growing conditions were almost ideal.

Seedling picking

Picking is often a necessary procedure for cucumber seedlings. It may be needed at the beginning of their cultivation, and later, when the seedlings grow up.

Pickling cucumber seedlings

Planting cucumbers in peat pots for seedlings

It is very important that when planting seedlings in the ground, so that the plant does not suffer, planting should be done with a lump of earth or with a special peat pot.

  1. Plants are well watered. In this case, watering stops a few days before planting, and then the cups are watered just before planting.
  2. They take large cups or pots, cover them with earth, add sand and fertilizers. In order for the seedling to survive the transplant better, you can add plant growth and development stimulants, for example, Epin, to the pot. Before use, you must carefully read the instructions so as not to harm the cucumbers.
  3. A depression is made in a pot, watered abundantly and a sprout is placed in it until the cotyledon leaves, but without burying them. It is even advisable to leave about 3 cm of cotyledon leaves.

Important! The sprout must be placed in the center of the pot. Moreover, it should be very spacious.

For the correct growth and development of a plant at all periods of its life, it is important to monitor the conditions in which it lives. It is necessary to monitor the temperature, humidity, soil quality.

Thus, pulling cucumber seedlings is not such a big problem if mistakes are noticed in time and corrected. There are a number of effective ways to do this.