How to grow cucumbers in winter in an apartment: on a windowsill or balcony

In winter and early spring, there is a lack of tasty and healthy vegetables and fruits. Of course, you can buy greenhouse vegetables in the market or in stores, but a more original way out is to plant cucumbers in containers on the windowsill in the apartment or on the balcony (loggia).

However, before you start sowing seeds, you should know the technology for growing cucumbers at home.

Features of growing cucumbers on the windowsill

Sowing cucumber seeds on the windowsill and further growing the vegetable does not require special training or special knowledge of care (everything is the same sowing seedlings and outdoor cultivation), so even novice amateur gardeners can cope with growing at home.

Another thing is that you have to create certain conditions for the growth of cucumbers in an apartment in order to get a decent harvest.

When can you grow cucumbers in an apartment: the optimal sowing time

Naturally, it is most convenient to sow and grow cucumbers on the windowsill with the onset of spring, in other words, when daylight hours begin to grow.

However, if you can create artificial conditions (by additional lighting), then home cucumbers can be grown all year round, including in winter.

But it is still better to start sowing at least from February-March, maximum from January (to please loved ones on the holidays - February 23 and March 8).

What varieties are suitable for growing in an apartment

For planting and growing on a windowsill (window) in an apartment or on a balcony, they are suitable as the most common (but extremely early) parthenocarpic(in other words, not requiring pollination) varietiesandspecial room or balcony varieties (they either have a name that hints at the growing conditions, or the instructions clearly state this).

Advice! The site has a detailed overview of varieties of cucumbers for growing on the windowsill and balcony (loggia).

How to sow cucumber seeds in an apartment: basic rules for growing and step by step instructions for direct sowing

Before you start sowing, you need to choose the right place for growing, as well as create optimal conditions (temperature and light).

The choice of capacity, soil and pre-sowing preparation of cucumber seeds for direct planting is also important.

Location: lighting and temperature

Growing cucumbers in winter is quite common. For these purposes, use all kinds of greenhouses. But if the apartment has a free window sill, or even better, an insulated balcony or a glazed loggia where you can equip a cucumber farm, then why not grow them at home.

Idea! Place a pot of cucumber away from the door, in the very corner of the balcony, under it, be sure to put at least 12-15 cm thick foam plastic (the roots should be warm). Glue or place cardboard with reflective foil on the walls.

The place for placing containers or pots of cucumbers must be selectedpreferably on the south side (but not at all, you still have to illuminate with lamps), after all, the plant is sensitive not only to sunlight, but also to heat. If the window is cold, for example, you have old frames, then by all means seal all the cracks.

With very good supplementary lighting, of course, cucumbers can also be grown on the northern window (balcony), especially on the western or eastern window (you still don't have to shade them from direct sunlight).

The winter sun is not long, and sunshine is important for cucumbers. Therefore, in order (especially in late autumn, winter and early spring), it is recommended to highlight the seedlings special phytolampsproviding 12-16 hour daylight hours. You can also illuminate with the help conventional (or better full-spectrum) LED lamps.

Advice! Lamps should be turned on in the morning and in the evening (let's say that the light was from 7-00 to 23-00) and kept at a distance of 5-15 cm from the plant.

The best temperature for fast and active growth of cucumbers at home - +20 .. + 25 degrees (but not higher than 30).Note that at temperatures below +17 degrees, growth stops.

Important! The most important thing when growing cucumbers on a windowsill isabsence of drafts and sudden temperature changes (including night and day).

Planting capacity

Naturally, you will need suitable containers for growing home cucumbers. Fit likewide containers (balcony boxes) for several plants and single large pots.

Important! You should not grow too many plants in one container, as they will crowd each other - they will begin to compete for food, and this will not allow them to actively develop and build up mass.

Note! The roots of cucumbers do not spread in depth, but along the surface of the earth. Therefore, the wider the area around the cucumber stem, the better!

Naturally, the container must have drainage holes for excess moisture to escape. You also need to remember that a cucumber is a plant with a developed root system, which means that for the plant to be comfortable, the container must be sufficiently voluminous. (at least 5 liters per plant).

Interesting! An unusual way to grow cucumbers at home is to plant them in bags. From above and below, make holes for sowing, watering and draining excess liquid (drainage), and put the bag with earth on a tray where excess water will flow.

Note! You can grow cucumbers in an apartment as with a pick, and immediately in a large container. If you want to transplant, then first plant in small containers (for example, cassettes or 100 ml cups). Then, when the first true leaf appears, dive into a slightly larger container (500 ml), and after that (when 2-3 true leaves appear) into the pot - to a permanent place (1 plant per 5 liters).

Suitable soil

For high-quality growth of cucumbers, it is required that the soil is fertile and loose, good moisture and air permeability. These properties are possessed by purchased primer for indoor flowers or specialsubstrate for growing pumpkin crops.

But the best soil for growing indoor cucumbers will be a soil substrate you make yourself. For cooking, you will need the following components: peat, river sand or vermiculite, humus and wood ash.

Attention! After mixing, the resulting fertile substrate still needs disinfect. Moreover purchased soil it is also better to pickle just in case. It should be calcined in the oven for 20-30 minutes, and then spilled with a solution of potassium permanganate, or even better - Fitosporin.

Seed preparation

Before sowing cucumber seeds into the soil, it is advisable to carry out pre-sowing preparation.

Advice! The site has a separate detailed article about how and how to process cucumber seeds before sowing.

Direct landing

Step-by-step instructions for sowing cucumber seeds at home (everything is similar to the standard sowing of vegetable crops for seedlings):

• Apply a small drainage layer using expanded clay or other moisture-retaining material.
• Fill the planting container with soil, but not up to the top (about 2/3).

This is done so that in the future it will be possible to add soil, which in turn will allow the cucumbers to additionally build up the root system and will have a very positive effect on the growth strength of the bush.

• Before sowing, spill the soil abundantly with water.

The procedure is necessary for subsidence of the earth. If you plant the seeds in a dry and too airy soil, then when watering the seeds will deepen more than required.

• Pre-prepared cucumber seeds are placedto a depth of 1.5-2 cm.

Note! It is better to sow several seeds at once, and then remove the weakest shoots. Or grow with a pick, but remember that 1 plant should have 5 liters of soil. Or sow so that the seeds are 30-35 centimeters apart (for example, only 2 plants in one middle balcony box 60-70 cm long).

• Fall asleep soil.
• Watering again.
• The container is covered with glass or covered with foil.

This is necessary to create greenhouse (greenhouse) conditions for rapid germination and the emergence of young shoots.

• The container is placed in a dark and warm place (the temperature for germination is at least +25 degrees, and even better +27).
• After the appearance of the first sprouts, the film should be immediately removed and the container should be rearranged to a bright, slightly less warm place, i.e. the temperature drops to + 20 ... + 23 degrees.

Video: technology for growing cucumbers on the balcony at home

How to care for cucumbers on a windowsill or balcony

The activities for caring for cucumbers grown in an apartment are similar to those that you carry out when caring for plants in an open field or a greenhouse.

Watering

Watering is necessary only in the morning, so that by the evening the soil can dry out slightly. Remember that wet soil cools more.

Undoubtedly, watering should be carried out as the soil dries up.

Cucumbers are very fond of moisture, which means that they should be sprayed periodically (only in the morning). It is all the more important to do this in an apartment, especially in winter, when the air is dry due to batteries.

By the way! When the plants are still small (after emergence), it is better to moisten them through a syringe so as not to provoke leaching of the roots.

Watering itself is carried out only with settled water at room temperature (in no case cold, only slightly warm).

Top dressing

As a rule, it is worth feeding "apartment" cucumbers a little more often than street ones. at home, they lack food more.

The feeding scheme is standard (as well as when grown outdoors):

• for a set of green mass (before flowering) - nitrogen fertilizers;
• during flowering - nitrogen-potassium-phosphorus (more potassium);

During the flowering period it is very good to give foliar top dressing (spray) with boron for better fruit setting.

• fruiting - potassium-phosphorus (more potassium).

In general, you can use any suitable fertilizer, and both water at the root (more often), and spray on the leaf, making foliar feeding (less often).

So for feeding cucumbers on the windowsill, you can use complex mineral fertilizers, for example, Fertika or Agricola.

If you are a supporter of organic feeding, then you can use chicken droppings (prepare the solution according to the instructions).

Or you can apply Biohumus, which is created on the basis of the vital activity of earthworms (sold both in bottles and in bags). Again, you need to prepare a liquid top dressing (according to the instructions).

Shaping (pinching) and garter

Common cucumber varieties (not parthenocarpic) pinch along the main stem, in the region of 5-6 leaves, thus forming a lush bush.

But this cannot be done with parthenocarpic varieties, since they have flower ovaries along the main stem. As a rule, it is better to form them into 1 stem, and when it grows to the ceiling, then pinch the top.

Do not forget as you grow quickly trim the mustache. They tend to draw out a large amount of nutrients (they take all the juice), preventing the plant from fully developing and pouring fruits.

Yes, it is convenient for cucumbers to cling to a mustache, but it will be much more effective if you tie them up by hand.

It is imperative to carry out a garter of lashes (so that the plant does not fall over). Each lash must be carefully guided and tied to a trellis or stretched string.

By the way! If you want to get an earlier harvestthen it follows remove upper ovariesleaving only the lowest ones. Wherein the fewer there are, the earlier the fruits will ripen.

In addition, it should be borne in mind that all lower ovaries up to 5 leaves also need to be removed.

However, it is worth considering that when you allow all the very first cucumbers to tie and ripen, it often happens that all subsequent ovaries turn yellow and fall off.This is because, due to early fruiting, the growth of the root system has stopped and the plant simply does not have enough nutrition. Therefore, if you want to get good and long-lasting yields, then all the first flowers must be cut off, not allowing the cucumbers to tie. And when your bushes develop a powerful root system, as well as the aboveground mass (the whips will stretch high), then the ovaries will go along the entire length of the vines.

Pollination

Since for growing in an apartment it is recommended to sow exactlyparthenocarpic varieties that do not require pollination, then, as a rule, there should be no problems.

If the ovary falls off without pollination, then you can simply do it manually: you need to take barren flower (male flower), cut off the petals from him, get the stamen and touch (pollinate) her to the female flower (there is a small cucumber on the back of it).

Problems arising from growing cucumbers at home

• If seedlingsstretched out, it means that she lacks light, and you may need to add some potting soil. It is recommended to add it 2-3 times a month.
• If you have the lower leaves dry, then this is probably due to too high temperature and low humidity in the room.
• If lower leaves turn yellow, then the seedlings of cucumbers need feeding with a full complex fertilizer.
• If wound up mite, then to combat it it is better to use biological products (Fitoverm, Bitoxibacillin). Spray generously on both sides of the leaf, and remove the oldest and most affected leaves.

By the way! The site has a separate article about how to deal with spider mites on cucumbers.

• If you notice the appearance downy mildew (downy mildew) - sprinkle the ground and spray the leaves Fitosporin.
• If cucumbers started to taste bitter, this means that a lot of cucurbitacin has been developed in the fruits, which occurs with unfavorable growing factors.

Advice! Plant those varieties of cucumbers that have the phrase "genetically without bitterness" in the description. Such cucumbers will never (under any circumstances) be bitter.

• Due to improper care, cucumbers can also start curving (crocheting)while inside voids form.

Terms of germination and harvesting of home cucumbers

In most cases, seedlings appear within 3-5 days after sowing (if the seeds were previously germinated, then earlier, if they were sown dry, then later).

The duration of ripening is determined by the specific variety (its ripening period). Some are able to give the first full harvest in 40-55 days (early ripening).

Attention! For harvesting, you need to focus on the volume of cucumbers. If the size of the fruit reaches 8-10 cm, then it can already be plucked. By quickly collecting the crop and not letting it overgrow, you can get another (repeated) crop.

Many varieties grown during the winter months are suitable not only for fresh consumption, but also for salting.

But, of course, you should not rely on crops from the windowsill to make seams during winter 🙂

Advice! Be sure to watch the next video, in which the author shows photographs of all stages of growth of cucumbers in an apartment.

Video: cucumbers in 50 days on the windowsill

Thus, do not miss the opportunity to sow cucumbers in your window and get fresh vegetables in your apartment. Of course, to grow successfully, you will have to work hard to ensure the abundance of light and the required care. But if you try (set a goal and go to it), then even novice home gardeners can grow cucumbers at home.

Video: cucumbers on the windowsill - from sowing to harvest