Crochet cucumbers are a fairly common occurrence in the beds of even experienced gardeners. Fruit formation is influenced by many factors: plant nutrition, temperature, light, moisture, etc. To avoid such a nuisance and get a good harvest of beautiful, even cucumbers, you need to know the reasons for the curvature of vegetables and methods for eliminating them.
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Nutrient Deficiency
Most often, the reason for the appearance of hooked and curved cucumbers is a deficiency in the soil of any nutrients.
Potassium starvation
Potassium very quickly leaves the soil, especially since the culture needs frequent watering, so potash fertilizers should be applied to the soil regularly. If even at the beginning of the season the content of the substance in the soil was sufficient, then starting from the middle of summer its reserves are gradually depleted. The following signs become noticeable:
- The fruits acquire a yellowish tint and are club-shaped or pear-shaped - narrowed at the base and thickened at the flower.
- Leaves grow small, light at the edge, bend down. Later they become covered with necrotic spots.
Any of the proposed dressings will help to save the situation:
- spraying bushes with a solution of potassium salt (25-30 g of substance per bucket of water), consumption ½ l per bush;
- sprinkling the beds with dry powder of potassium sulfate: 50 g per 1 sq. m;
- infusion of wood ash (0.5 liters of ash per 10 liters of water), the irrigation rate is 1 liter per bush.
Deficiency of nitrogenous substances
Externally, the nitrogen deficiency on cucumbers is manifested as follows:
- fruits lose color - become pale;
- deformed - they acquire a strongly pointed shape towards the end, very often the tips of curved cucumbers also turn yellow;
- the vegetation of the plant practically stops, the leaves lose their brightness, become smaller, the stems and shoots weaken and also change color.
To save the crop, you should do the following:
- spray the bushes with a urea solution (50 g of the substance will be required for a bucket of water);
- a week later, sprinkle ammonium nitrate under the bushes (30 g per 1 sq. m).
For plant nutrition, ammonium nitrate solution is often used. Pour no more than 60 g of powder into a bucket of water. If you do not follow the rates of fertilization, you can lose the entire crop.
Organic fertilizers are also used to compensate for the nitrogen deficiency in the soil. The mullein is dissolved in water in a ratio of 1 to 10. You can also fertilize with herbal infusion diluted in water 1 to 10.
Lack of several micro and macronutrients
The problem of crooked cucumbers can also arise with a complex lack of nutrients. This happens when the seedlings are planted in poor soil and in the absence of fertilizer.
Prevention of curvature will be timely and regular feeding using complex fertilizers that contain phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium and other necessary elements. It is best to use Agricola or Spring. These drugs have been proven effective many times over.
Improper watering
Cucumbers are very moisture-loving plants. You cannot get a high-quality crop without regular and abundant watering.
If you use cold water for irrigation, a constriction will appear on the cucumbers. The middle of the fruit becomes thinner. The constriction also occurs with irregular watering.
Sudden temperature change
Also, sharp temperature drops are a negative factor. Fruits can become deformed due to very cold nights.
Heat can be stored as follows:
- use a covering material, such as film, spunbond, etc.;
- mulch planting;
- when growing cucumbers in a greenhouse, you can place a container with water to accumulate heat;
- close the greenhouse earlier in the evening and open later in the morning;
- use heaters.
Harvesting too late
For the fruits to ripen, the cucumber bush has to spend a lot of nutrients and energy. If a ripe cucumber is not plucked for several days, then the plant will not have enough strength to properly form new fruits.
If ripe fruits are cut off less than once every 2 days (especially in the second half of the season), small and crooked cucumbers will form on the bushes. In addition, there will be several times less of them.
What to do
If twisted fruits are seen on the bushes, it is necessary to determine the cause of their deformation. Some causes are fairly easy to fix, but others will have to be fought:
- Measures are taken immediately after the detection of deformed cucumbers so that the entire crop does not deteriorate. During flowering and fruiting, you cannot feed with nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Phosphorus and potash should be used.
- When planted too close, the bushes shade each other. If it is not possible to plant them, you should cut off the extra leaves.
- It must be remembered that at temperatures below +20 degrees, cucumbers slow down their growth or stop growing completely, and the existing fruits are bent. If the cucumbers are grown in a greenhouse, you should try to regulate the temperature. The ideal temperature is from +20 to +26 degrees.
- It is desirable that the water for irrigation is at room temperature.
- Cucumbers can be bent even if the neighborhood rules are not followed. It is necessary to protect different varieties from each other, and it is advisable to cover the self-pollinated ones during flowering with gauze.
If you follow all the rules of agricultural technology and provide proper care, cucumbers will be straight and tasty. You need to closely monitor the landings in order to respond in time to emerging problems.
Do you know what to do if crocheted cucumbers?
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