Growing flowers in their own apartments is a fairly popular lesson. After all, houseplants not only decorate the interior of housing, but also help maintain optimal humidity in the room. But recently, more and more often, the townspeople begin to grow vegetables, fruits and greens in their balconies. Such a trend has several reasons. First, the greens or vegetables grown on the balcony, always at hand, they can be cut off and immediately submit to the table, while you perfectly understand what it is grown without the use of herbicides and other chemistry. Secondly, everyone does not have the opportunity to have a plot of land where cultural plants can be cultivated. Well, thirdly, it can significantly save a family budget, given the prices in the supermarket. So the garden on the balcony can become a small help for a family budget, providing family fresh vegetables or greens.
Grade cucumbers
One of the most popular plants that are grown in the balconies is a cucumber. This culture gives a wonderful harvest on a small area. Care for cucumbers on the balcony is not too complicated, and its hybrid varieties behave perfectly in urban conditions. Let's get closer with the peculiarities of this culture, as well as how can you grow cucumbers on the balcony.
The most frequently grown cucumbers for the balcony are the grade F1 urban cucumber, F1 balcony, F1 Balagan, F1 Berende, F1 Courage, F1 Manul. When choosing a variety for landing on the balcony, pay attention to its description on the package. The cucumber must be shadowed, with compact fruits and lianas, short interstices, and, most importantly, it should be self-polling cucumbers for the balcony so that you do not have problems and questions.
For the cultivation of these green vegetables, the balcony oriented to the East or Southeast is most suitable. There is a prerequisite for the absence of drafts - the cucumbers will not like them very much. If the balcony is not glazed and is in a windy place, then it is better to refuse this venture.
To grow a good crop of cucumbers on the balcony, you do not need to have any special knowledge and skills, it is enough to perform tips and instructions of specialists.
Preparation for landing
In order to grow cucumbers, we will need:
- Plastic container for flowers in size of 80 x 25 cm with drainage holes, if there are no such, they can be made of a drill. These containers can be found in any flower shop. Recently, the cultivation of cucumbers in plastic bottles on the balcony has quite popular, because such a material can easily find anywhere.
- Drainage. As it, you can use small clayzit, a broken tile is also suitable, the remains of clay pots or red brick fragments.
- Special soil for vegetables (approximately 25 kg), it can also be bought in a flower shop.
- Bottle of liquid fertilizers for indoor plants. One liter will be enough.
- Cut of linen rope or twine and holder for them.
- Seeds of cucumbers.
If there is a problem with the acquisition of soil, you can use an ordinary soil, a fertilized with a compost, with the addition of perlite. The amount of soil for growing cucumbers should be at least 5 liters per plant. An ideal for this culture is the neutral soil acidity at the pH level of 6.3-6.8. When using the untreated soil, it must be displaced, steaming over boiling water, in a microwave or adding a fungicide.
Next, we will look at how to plant cucumbers on the balcony.
How to grow cucumbers on the balcony
Cucumbers on the balcony: photo
After preparing the soil on the bottom of the cucumber cucumbers on the balcony layer 2-3 centimeters, we put drainage. Then we fall asleep soil, not sleeping to the edges of 4-5 centimeters. We abundantly water the soil with water, and after shrinkage, we sleep up to the specified mark.
As a rule, the seeds of cucumbers do not germinate before planting, as the sprouts of this plant are rather fragile and damaged when landing. Almost all seeds that are sold in the store are already processed from pests and diseases, so it is not required for additional processing. Otherwise, it is necessary to carry out this procedure.
Planting seeds to the ground is carried out in early May, when the day day is already long. In this case, the plants do not require additional backlight. Sowing seeds produce in dug holes, with an indent of 15 cm from the edge of the container. The distance between the pits should be at least 40 cm, the depth is no more than 2 cm. In each well put 2-3 seeds of cucumbers and cover with soil.
After planting seeds, we water the soil and cover our "garden" with a polyethylene film. The container put on a light window sill, and we try to maintain the temperature of + 24 ° C. Periodically water the sprouts from the pulverizer in the indulgent water temperature.
If everything is done correctly, the shooters of the plant should appear on 5-6 days after landing. After it happened, the film can be removed. If two or more sprouts rose in one hole, then we leave the strongest of them, the rest gently remove with a knife. You can set the plants on the balcony only when the average daily air temperature rises to + 15⁰s, otherwise they may die. After 2-3 sheets are formed on cucumbers, they can be squeezed with liquid fertilizer once a week.
Care for cucumbers on the balcony
When the plant acquires 5-6 sheets, it must be tested to the support, as the vine is already difficult to withstand the weight of the leaves. For suspension, you can use a small wooden bar, screwed to the wall by self-draws. You can nail a few small carnations to it, which are tied by the suspension ropes. The height of the suspension is approximately 1.9-2.1 meters. The plant must be watering 2-3 times a week, and once a week fertilize liquid feeding.
An exemplary cycle of cucumber life on the balcony in the summer is 90 days. After that, this culture no longer brings fruit. Roma plants are cleaned. Soil and drainage can be folded into bags and use them for the next year. The container and the suspensions wash are dried and left until the next season.
Of course, a sufficient amount of cucumbers on the balcony will grow difficult to grow, but you will always get fresh vegetables on a salad for your family.
Why it is worth growing cucumbers
About the benefits of this culture
The secret of the benefits of cucumbers is that they consist of 95% of water, which provides low energy value. Therefore, one of their positive qualities is that they are well quenched thirst. And the water that is contained in these vegetables is very clean. It contributes to the rejuvenation and purification of the human body from harmful slags and toxins.
The remaining 5% constitutes various substances, including those necessary as potassium and silicon, which are needed by the body to maintain the overall tone and skin health. In addition, they give gloss and strength to hair. It should be noted that this vegetable contains quite a few iodine connections. Moreover, this useful element is more concentrated in them than in any other vegetable. This property of cucumbers is particularly relevant to people with diseases of the vascular and thyroid system.
There are still fiber, organic acids, as well as a whole set of vitamins (A, B, C, E, RR, N). In addition, contains carotene, calcium, chlorophyll, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, iron, chrome, zirconium, chlorine, nickel, manganese, lead, silver. Also in them is folic and coffee acid. By the way, the cucumbers that are grown on the outdoor ground are considered more rich and useful in chemical composition than those that were grown in greenhouse conditions.
Cucumbers due to their composition are very helpful. Therefore, used as the main ingredient as part of various diets, as well as treatment techniques. According to representatives of traditional medicine, they can help with sclerosis. There are also excellent painting, antipyretic, antitumor and antispasmodic agents. Cucumbers also have antitoxic effect. They can be used to treat and prevent swelling. The raw form has a positive impact on the work of the heart muscle and reduce blood pressure. As for the juice of fresh cucumbers, it is very useful for diseases of the gallbladder, liver and prostate gland. Only when it is used to eliminate sugar, meat and starch from the diet. In addition, the juice obtained from this vegetable is known and the fact that it is capable of preventing salt deposits, as well as the transition of carbohydrates into fats.
When bleeding, a decoction of cucumber leaves is often used. As for pickled and salted cucumbers, they have practically no medical properties. It is worth noting that in the fermentation process, lactic acid is produced, making vegetables prepared in such a way useful for the digestive tract. In addition, they, like fresh cucumbers, contain a fiber, which is needed for the proper operation of the digestive system.
This vegetable is also used as an outer therapeutic agent, for example, for treating acne. It is also used in cosmetic masks, as a means that whits and maintains the elasticity of the skin. Cucumber alcohol based tincture is actively used to clean oily skin. With any use of this vegetable for cosmetic purposes, it must necessarily be fresh, sweaturated and solid. Non-letters of cucumbers to use both internally and externally, not worth it.
What is worth knowing about
Cucumbers, like most vegetables, have their own contraindications. So, they are not recommended to include in a diet for ulcerative disease or gastritis. This is due to the fact that they can increase the acidity of gastric juice. In the pickled and salty form, the fruits are strictly contraindicated by people who have liver disease, suffer atherosclerosis, increased arterial pressure, as well as those who have a violated water-salt exchange. In addition, any marinates are harmful in jade, during pregnancy, as well as for people who have a reduced function of the thyroid gland. After all, their use causes a violation of the balance of salt and water in the human body.
In addition, the early cucumbers are not included in the diet, because they often contain quite a lot of nitrates that helped them with growth. These substances, in turn, are very harmful to our body. In order to reduce their amount to the maximum, it is recommended to clean it with a peel before use of the vegetable and cut both ends. After all, it is in these parts a large number of unwanted ingredients accumulate.
How to choose cucumbers
When choosing cucumbers, pay attention to their tail - in fresh fruits he has not helped. They are usually solid and sweaty. There should be no yellowish fields on the surface. Do not excite for beautiful and shiny cucumbers, as they often collect many nitrates in themselves. In addition, it is not worth buying too large fruits that most often overwhelmed and have many large seeds. It is better to take medium-sized vegetables.
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