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Don't Make These Mistakes: How to Properly Prepare a Bed for Cucumbers
04.02.2025 11:20
To get a good harvest of cucumbers in your garden plot, you need to do some painstaking work.
The lion's share of the process is associated with preparing the garden bed.
Unfortunately, many inexperienced gardeners make mistakes at this stage that negatively affect the quality and quantity of the harvest.
An expert of the online publication BelNovosti, agronomist and landscape designer Anastasia Kovrizhnykh reminded that properly prepared soil provides plants with the nutrients they need.
In addition, such soil stimulates active and healthy growth of flora representatives, which ultimately brings a good harvest.
Place
First of all, we need to choose the right place for the garden bed.
Here it is worth considering that cucumbers love sunlight and natural ventilation.
You shouldn't plant them where zucchini, pumpkins, watermelons, or cruciferous vegetables previously grew.
However, places where potatoes, legumes, and greens were previously “registered” are welcome.
Soil
The best soil for cucumbers is light, breathable, and well-drained.
If your site has heavy clay soil, you need to improve its structure, for example, by adding sand and humus.
It is recommended to add humus or compost to sandy loam soil.
In late autumn or early spring, the area should be dug up to a depth of 20-30 centimeters.
In this way, you can enrich the soil with oxygen and improve its structure.
Remember: water should not stagnate, if this happens, drainage canals should be built. Alternatively, raise the beds.
Fertilizer
In order to avoid the hassle of subsequent fertilizing, you need to provide the soil with the necessary amount of nutrients before sowing.
For this purpose, we add humus and compost – 4-5 kilos per square meter.
You can sow green manure in the fall, for example, clover or mustard.
In spring, we mow these plants and dig them into the soil. They will enrich it and also improve its structure.
Garden bed
The shape of the garden bed affects the microclimate and plant care.
Recommended dimensions: 1-1.2 meters in width and 20-25 centimeters in height.
This way you provide easy access to the cucumbers, which will make caring for them much easier.
You can also install trellises for vertical growth of the crop.
In addition, this way you will save space and improve ventilation, which will reduce the likelihood of illness.
The distance between rows is from 70 to 100 centimeters.
Sowing
Once we have completely prepared the bed, we can begin sowing.
In warm regions, such work with cucumbers usually begins in late April – early May.
The day before sowing, you can soak the seeds in warm water for two to three hours, which will speed up the germination process.
