Siderata is a natural green fertilizer that makes it possible to solve crop rotation problems, as well as improve the soil, which is depleted over the years and loses its nutritional value. A competent selection of green manure for cucumbers is considered equally important, allowing in a short time to fill the deficit of useful components in the soil and minimize the effect of toxic secretions of vegetables.

What is siderata

Siderata is a green fertilizer, the main function of which is to quickly restore the natural structure of the soil, make up for the lack of useful components. Simply put, green manure means a number of plants that have the ability to quickly build up green mass, emerge and quickly decompose in the ground.

• In agriculture, they are not grown for harvest, but for the purpose of:
• fertilizers and soil nutrition;
• restoration and improvement of soil structure;
• enrichment with nutritious, active biological components;
• decrease in acidity;
• overheat protection;
• prevention and destruction of parasites, various diseases;
• weed control.

As plants necessary for sideration, those that meet the following qualities are perfect:

• quickly build up green mass;
• have a rapid rate of decomposition in the soil;
• perfectly loosen the soil;
• nourish the soil with valuable substances and heal it.

Sideration is allowed in the spring before planting the main vegetable crop, immediately after harvesting or in mid-autumn, before wintering.

Video: Using siderates before planting cucumbers

What siderates are best planted under cucumbers

Experienced gardeners consider the best green manure for cucumbers:

• mustard - serves as an effective tool against slugs and peduncle, prevents the development of fungal ailments, inhibits the growth of weeds;
• radish - improves the fertility of the culture, prevents the development of viral and fungal diseases, provides deep loosening of the soil;
• oats - nourishes the soil, enriches with useful minerals;
• rye - gives a large, easily biodegradable biological mass;
• bean (peas and beans) - are considered an excellent source of nitrogen, quickly build up green mass;
• clover and lupine - are suppliers of nitrogen-containing components, make it possible to make the soil more loose and breathable.

Did you know? Mustard belongs to the cabbage family. Her seed is one of the smallest, but the concentration of useful components in it is one of the richest.

The described plants are distinguished by rapid germination, intensive development, they can enrich the earth with micro- and macroelements. They do not need special care, mowing or trimming. In winter, plants easily crumple, leaving under the snow, and in the spring they decompose in a short time.

What crops to use

As mentioned above, siderealizing events can be carried out in spring or autumn.

In the spring

It is recommended that spring sideration be carried out immediately, as soon as the snow has melted and climatic conditions allow, to be in time before the cucumber planting material is planted in open ground. In the role of green manure for spring sowing, cold-resistant plants should be used, for example, spring rape, mustard or fatseliya. Many vegetable growers sow siderat seeds, after which the seedlings are covered with plastic wrap to protect them from possible return frosts. After the appearance of the first shoots, the shelter is removed.

Cucumbers in open soil may be planted directly on seedlings.

For this:

• after the growth of greenery in height up to 10-15 cm, small depressions are made on the crops of green manure;
• cucumber seeds are placed in each well;
• seed material is covered with soil, each recess from above is covered with a PET bottle;
• after the formation of several leaves on the sprouts, the greenhouses are removed.

Siderat plants that grow around cucumbers reliably protect vegetables from the harmful effects of winds, direct sunlight, and heavy torrential rains. When the cucumbers get stronger and gain strength, green fertilizers are cut off and left for further use as mulch.

Important! Many vegetable growers believe that growing cucumbers in green manure inhibits the development of vegetable crops and leads to lower yields.

The majority of summer residents prefer to harvest green mass sown in early spring one week before the expected date of sowing cucumbers. In this case, the mown biomass is left on the soil as a layer of mulch, which will quickly decompose and protect the soil from drying out.

Fall

Autumn sideration is carried out after a complete harvest, starting in mid-August, ending in the second half of September. For sowing, experts advise choosing plants that quickly enough, for 1-1.5 months, gain green mass, easily rot in winter, make the soil loose, nutritious and more healthy.

When choosing plants for autumn sideration, it is recommended to stop at:

1. White mustard: grows rapidly, prevents the appearance of many pests, in particular, cruciferous flea, slugs. Growing mustard sprouts, before flowering, must be mowed or hidden in the ground. It is allowed to leave mowing on the site for their decay, which will save moisture in the soil and make it loose.
2. Oilseed radish: quickly grows greens, improves soil fertility, prevents the development of many fungal ailments, heals the earth.
3. Cold-resistant Phacelia: it rapidly accumulates green mass, decomposes very well in spring, and is able to grow even at low temperature values ​​of + 5 ... + 8 ° С.

It should be noted that autumn plantings develop much more slowly than spring ones, due to low temperatures and shortened daylight hours. And if it was not possible to sow green manure right after harvest, then they can be sown as winter crops, before the onset of cold weather. It is important that they do not have time to hatch, and ascend in the spring, when the soil warms up well.

Did you know? The first greenhouses for growing cucumbers were erected in ancient Rome during the reign of the emperor Tiberius. The head of Rome wanted to eat these healthy vegetables daily.

Scheme for growing green manure

Sideration in open soil and greenhouse conditions has its own characteristics, with which experts recommend that beginner growers carefully read.

In the open ground

Crops of green manure in the open ground must be organized as early as possible so that they have time to increase green mass before planting vegetables. Vegetable growers are advised to give preference to cold-resistant varieties that are able to germinate at low temperatures.

The best option for green manure in open soil are crops such as mustard, phacelia, oil radish. In order for the plants to sprout faster, it is necessary immediately after sowing to cover them with a film. After the emergence of the shoots, the shelter can be removed. When the siderates reach a height of 10-15 cm, it is allowed to sow the seeds of cucumbers, and after sowing work, each hole should be crushed with soil and covered with a plastic container. When the first shoots appear, the bottles are removed.

In this case, siderates have a number of very important functions:

• protect vegetables from the harmful effects of atmospheric phenomena: frost, rain, wind, scorching sun;
• retain moisture in the soil;
• prevent soil erosion;
• saturate the soil with nutrients and components, cause additional aeration;
• prevent the development of ailments and pests.

After mowing biomass, it serves as an excellent natural remedy for mulching. Quite often, siderates are cut to seed cucumbers, so as not to constantly control the height of plants that can obscure the vegetable crop.

Green fertilizers are sown in open soil in late August or early September, after the crop of cucumbers is fully harvested. For cucumbers, such a solution is considered the most acceptable, since the moisture accumulated during the winter and valuable mineral components should go to the nutrition of the vegetable, and not green manure.

In the greenhouse

When vegetables are grown in a greenhouse, it is quite difficult to comply with the basics of crop rotation. And if enriching the soil with useful components in such a case helps organic and mineral fertilizers, then it is difficult to cope with pathogenic microflora and various parasitic insects in the room. What is the solution then? Take advantage of green manure.

For cucumbers in greenhouse conditions, the most optimal option for sideration has been and remains mustard. The biological mass of the plant is able to saturate the soil with the necessary minerals, to disinfect it and improve it. It is recommended to sow the culture in late March - early April, if it comes to film greenhouses, or in late February - in polycarbonate greenhouses.

Excellent result show landing watercresswhose biomass rapidly grows and develops, fills the soil with vitamins and minerals, ensures its disinfection. Of the legumes, experts advise using a vetch-oat mixture, beans, peas, lupins.

In greenhouses, sowing seeds of cucumbers is allowed directly among green manure.

For this:

• grooves in the soil, sprinkle the earth;
• seed material is sent to the wells, they are covered with a small layer of earth, moisturized abundantly;
• as soon as green fertilizers reach a height of 10-15 cm, they are mowed and left on the surface of the soil.

Important! When growing cucumbers among fertilizer plants, it is imperative to monitor the height of the latter so that they do not obscure the vegetable shoots.

After the autumn harvest of cucumbers is harvested, you can sow white mustard or radish. After 1.5 months, the plants form a lush green mass, which should be covered with soil.

What crops are undesirable to use for cucumbers

Cucumbers are considered universal vegetables for which there are no particular contraindications. However, vegetable growers do not recommend the use of late varieties of cabbage or carrots for these vegetables. It is also undesirable to sow cucumbers in place of vegetables of the same family - zucchini, watermelons, melons, since the yield of the former is significantly reduced. Onions, tomatoes, cabbage of early ripening are considered to be excellent predecessors for cucumbers.

To enjoy high yields of tasty and healthy cucumbers in open ground or greenhouses will help simple, but surprising in their functions plants - green manure. The described green crops serve as an excellent fertilizer for the soil, make it possible to disinfect it from fungal ailments and parasites, as well as improve the soil, make it more nutritious and fertile.