If the leaves of cucumbers are too light and small, this is a lack of NITROGEN. In this case, the fruits develop a narrowed, light, beak-curved tip. Feed the plants with manure (1:10), weed infusion (1:5), urea or ammonium nitrate (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water).
If a brown border (marginal burn) appears along the edges of the leaves, this is a deficiency of POTASSIUM. In this case, the ends of the fruit swell spherically, taking on a pear-shaped shape. To fix this, give potash fertilizer (3 tablespoons of any potassium fertilizer that does not contain chlorine per 10 liters of water) or sprinkle 0.5 cups of ash around the plants.
If the leaves are directed upwards, this is a lack of PHOSPHORUS. Feed with superphosphate (3 tablespoons per 10 liters of water).
If the leaves have a marbled dark and light green color, this is a deficiency of MAGNESIUM. Dilute dolomite (1 cup per 10 liters of water) and pour this white milk over the soil around the plants.
If the leaves have acquired a yellow-green color, this is a lack of MICROELEMENTS. Feed the plants with microelements. that you have, dissolving them according to the attached instructions.
ALL THESE FEEDINGS SHOULD BE DONE IN THE EVENING, AFTER WATERING.
But it is most effective in all cases to give foliar feeding on the leaves with a solution of "Uniflor-rost" or "Uniflor-bud" (2 teaspoons per 10 liters of water).
TYPICAL FAILURES
THE FRUITS HAVE A PEAR-SHAPE - they have a swollen tip. This is a lack of potassium.
THE TIP OF THE FRUIT IS NARROWED AND BENT, like a beak, and the end usually turns lighter - this is a lack of nitrogen.
THE FRUIT IS NARROWED IN THE MIDDLE - the reason is the large temperature difference between day and night; sometimes this happens due to watering warm water.
CUCUMBERS ARE CURVED, IRREGULAR, ARC-SHAPED - cross-pollination of hybrids by insects has occurred. Such cucumbers should be removed immediately and used in salads. In varieties, this phenomenon is observed when the soil dries out or is unevenly watered: sometimes it’s dry, sometimes it’s too wet.
GREENS STOP GROWING - This often happens in cold weather, especially on cold nights. Sometimes this happens when there is a lack of moisture in the soil and air.
THE OVIES TURN YELLOW, DO NOT DEVELOP, DRY AND THEN FALL AWAY. Fertilization did not occur because the temperature was too high (above 36 degrees), or because the humidity was too high (above 90%), or because of prolonged cold snap and prolonged rains (pollinating insects do not fly in such weather). Sometimes this happens with bunch fruiting: one or two fruits grow, and the rest from this bunch dry out - lack of nutrition, there is simply not enough for everyone.
CUCUMBERS HAVE STRONG BITTERNESS. Cucumbers contain a valuable element - cucurbitacin, which has an antitumor effect. When its concentration in fruits increases greatly, cucumbers begin to taste bitter. Most often this happens with a sharp change in temperature, prolonged cold snap, or high tide. cold water, uneven watering. That is, it is always associated with extreme situations. Try to avoid them and, when plants find themselves in such conditions, feed them with calcium and potassium nitrate. Strengthen your plants' own immune system by spraying them with Zircon.
DISEASES AND PESTS
The main pest of cucumbers is the spider mite. When it colonizes a leaf, it sucks the juices out of it, so the leaf first brightens, then turns yellow, and then dies. Ticks are very small and are clearly visible only under a magnifying glass. They live on the underside of leaves. Spraying with the biological preparation "Fitoverm" (or "Iskra-bio") works well against them. These biological products are absorbed by the leaf and protect the plant from all sucking and gnawing pests for three weeks. You can use garlic infusion, but then spraying must be done on the underside of the leaves. Chemical poisons should not be used, since after treatment, cucumbers cannot be used for food for 20 days.
In the second half of summer, cucumbers may be attacked by BLACK MELOND APHID. You should also not use pesticides against it; it is better to use green soap, a solution of potassium permanganate, pine needles, garlic and other home remedies. The fact is that aphids have a very delicate body and even hot (45-53 degrees) water will kill the aphids, but will not harm the plant.
Pay attention to the leaves: if a light border appears on young leaves. There is a great threat of downy mildew, which develops quickly when there is too much humidity in the air and soil, especially in cold weather. On adult leaves, yellowish oily spots appear on the upper side, along the veins, on which there is a whitish-purple coating on the underside of the leaf. Oily spots begin to dry out, gradually covering the entire leaf blade. The process of infection and drying of leaves occurs very quickly, literally in a few days all plants and open ground, and especially in the greenhouse they look like it’s deep autumn. Naturally, there can be no talk of any fruiting. At the first signs of disease, stop watering, ventilate the greenhouses well, completely cover the soil under the cucumbers with ash or chalk to dry it, leaves with oily spots and dried ones should be removed and burned. Spray healthy leaves with “Fitosporin” or a solution of potassium permanganate, bright Pink colour to prevent them from becoming infected. This same disease is sometimes called peronospora.
The most common disease of cucumbers in greenhouses is BACTERIOSIS. The leaves first appear angular yellow spots, which then dry out and crumble. Muddy pinkish droplets of liquid are visible on the underside of the leaf. The same cloudy droplets appear on fruit sores. In humid weather, the disease intensifies sharply. Constantly ventilate greenhouses at the first signs of the disease. Reduce watering, feed the cucumbers with an infusion of fresh manure or weeds, and give additional potassium fertilizer. Spray diseased plants with “Fitosporin”, “Zircon” or garlic infusion (200 g of chopped leaves and garlic arrows, pour 5 liters of water, cover, leave for 4 hours and immediately spray the leaves from below).
Another fairly common disease is ANTHracnose. It usually appears after bacteriosis. The disease first appears on the leaves - rounded spots form on them. brown spots, which are then painted over. Then anthracnose spreads to young green plants. Deep round ulcers with a hard edge appear on the fruits, reminiscent of bird pecks.
Spraying should be done with “Fitosporin”, “Zircon” or potassium permanganate, followed by pollination of wet leaves with ash, or even better - with dry mustard (only after potassium permanganate).
If the stems or leaf petioles become soft and covered with a white coating, then the cucumbers have developed WHITE ROT. Contributes to the appearance of disease high humidity with a sharp change in temperature, prolonged cold snap, watering with cold water, stagnant air with thickened plantings. URGENTLY do foliar feeding: 1 teaspoon of urea, a grain of copper sulfate (or HOM on the tip of a knife) per 10 liters of water. Stop watering, ventilate greenhouses, remove diseased fruits and leaves. Remove the plaque with a dry cloth or a cloth soaked in a raspberry solution of potassium permanganate, then pollinate the plants with ash or cover with a putty of chalk and potassium permanganate with water. The putty should be pink. Do not delay removing plaque, otherwise the plant will die!
Sometimes the whole plant wilts. This could be caused either viral disease- WILT (and then the plant should be removed so that sucking insects cannot transfer the disease to others), or ROOT ROT. In any case, you must first carefully rake the soil from the roots. If the root collar is soaked, it has Brown color, rotted, then this is root rot. Root rot often occurs where manure is used as biofuel. The top layer of soil around the plant must be completely removed. Water the roots with a solution of raspberry-colored potassium permanganate to kill the fungus in the soil. Remove the stem from the vertical trellis, lower the lower end onto the soil in a ring and tie it to the trellis again. Sprinkle the stem ring lying on the soil with fresh nutritious soil on top, moisten it well and make sure that it does not dry out. New roots will appear on the buried part of the stem.
If the dug up roots have a completely normal appearance, and the plant wilts, then it is WILT (verticillium wilt).

Flaw nutrients causes a change in color and shape of cucumber leaves. But in order to figure out what is missing, or what was added in excess (this also happens), you need to decide how the leaves turn yellow:

• all sheet plate;

• along the edges;

• in the form of spots;

• the leaf loses its greenness between the veins, although they remain green.

As you can see, there are many options. You need to examine the cucumbers and try to determine the problem yourself. Otherwise, the crop may disappear, because with some symptoms the ovaries are shed. And losses begin with banal yellowing.

The second question is, if the cucumbers are pale green, what should you feed them with?

Supposed reasons for the loss of green color in cucumbers

Nitrogen is responsible for the accumulation of green pigment in plant leaves. But if the root system is weak, then it will not be able to absorb nutrients, even if they are in the soil. Therefore, the reason must be sought deeper.

Roots may not develop due to alkaline soil reaction. If lime was added to it, then phosphorus nutrition will be unavailable to the plants, since phosphorus itself has a high pH.

For complete decomposition, it needs acidic neighbors - nitrogen and potassium. With phosphorus starvation, the foliage turns yellow unevenly - yellow-brown spots appear, which dry out after a couple of days.

A chain reaction results: plants do not absorb phosphorus because it is not available to the roots. Due to a lack of phosphorus, nitrogen is not absorbed. You need to look first at the roots of the cucumbers.

If they turn yellow, then fertilizing with mineral mixtures will not help - most likely, the plants will die. If the root system is white, then you can start with spraying with urea. This fertilizer is best absorbed through the leaves, so the effect will be quick.

If lower leaves Cucumbers are light green, so feed them only with nitrogen. Because the lack of nitrogenous substances begins to appear first on the old foliage, and then moves to the young tops - they also begin to turn yellow, dry out and die.

Important! With nitrogen starvation, there are other signs that you need to pay attention to - thin shoots of cucumbers, small leaves, fruits with pointed tips, few flowers and ovaries

Another important element nutrition of cucumbers during the fruiting period - potassium. If there is a small amount in the soil at the beginning of the fruiting period, the foliage may begin to turn yellow at the edges. Potassium starvation can be distinguished from nitrogen starvation only by the marginal “burn” of the foliage. With nitrogen, the leaf suffers completely.

The yellow edge of the leaf subsequently dries out and dies.

Potassium starvation can also occur with a lack of phosphorus. Because of this close relationship, these elements contribute simultaneously. Potassium is absorbed faster by cucumbers, as it is needed for the formation of fruits and their ripening - it can be added during the growth of cucumbers. Phosphorus is consumed more slowly; dosages are usually sufficient for the entire fruiting period.

Lack of microelements - light leaves on cucumbers

Lightening of the foliage of cucumbers is primarily caused by a lack of copper. Appears at the tips of leaves. The process begins with the middle leaves - 4 – 5 below the top. Additional signs of copper deficiency:

• ovaries and flowers fall off;

• the plant becomes smaller and becomes dwarf.

Manganese, or rather its deficiency, also contributes to the appearance of chlorotic spots. The process is noticeable between the veins of the cucumber leaf blade. The veins remain green. The problem begins with the middle leaves.

With zinc deficiency, yellowing also spreads to the veins of cucumber leaves. The plant becomes spotted - there are shades of yellow, green and bronze.

A lack of iron in the soil causes uniform yellowing of young leaves. The process soon spreads to old foliage if measures are not taken and fertilizing is not applied.

Calcium is one of the most important microelements that plants feed for fruit ripening. Chlorosis due to calcium deficiency begins between the veins and along the edges. The veins themselves and the area adjacent to them remain green.

Magnesium is involved in the formation of chlorophyll, a green substance cucumber leaves. A deficiency can weaken the plant and it will develop blossom end rot. Old leaves are the first to suffer - they lose color and become deformed.

If cucumbers have pale leaves, you need to decide what to feed. More often and easier, buy a solution of microelements and spray at intervals of a day or two until the balance is restored.

Soil care

At insufficient watering the process of chlorophyll formation stops because the activity of beneficial microorganisms is suspended. And plants can absorb nitrogen only after it is absorbed by bacteria.

In this form, nitrogen fertilizers are available to cucumbers. What to feed is the second question. First you need to make sure that cucumbers get enough water, because they love moisture in both the soil and the air, because they come from tropical forests.

As soon as it returns to normal water balance, cucumbers can independently restore the color of their leaves. Moreover, if fertilizing was applied regularly and there should be no shortage.

If the soil is cold - this happens when the temperature stays below 15 degrees for several days in a row, then the balance of nutrients is disturbed. The reason is that the activity of soil bacteria stops and plants do not receive the nitrogen they need.

The leaves of the cucumbers turn pale, but this phenomenon is temporary, so with the onset of warm weather everything is restored. To help plants in this situation, you can use complex fertilizers and carry out foliar spraying.

Fertilizers can be either purchased or mixed yourself. It is imperative that they be three-component if the situation arises in the first half of the growing season - in the spring, when temperature changes still occur.

If cucumbers have pale leaves, what to feed them with?

To balance nutrients in the soil, you can use both organic and mineral fertilizers for cucumbers. There are a huge number of species of both. You don't need to use everything at once.

Video: Feeding cucumbers in the 4-5 leaf phase

Knowing the type of soil on the site and the needs of cucumbers, you can choose 2 - 3 types of mixtures and a solution of microelements to maintain the required amount of nutritional components.

Carefully! Plants can be poisoned by mineral nutrient mixtures if they have never been used in open ground. In this case, you need to start using fertilizers not according to the recommendations in the instructions, but in doses half as small as those indicated.

Nitrogen-potassium fertilizers

The most nutritious and safest are organic fertilizers for cucumbers, if the leaves are pale or have begun to gradually lose color. It is recommended to use overwintered manure or mature compost.

The problem is that not all gardeners live permanently in their dachas, but only visit them occasionally and cannot devote much time to growing plants. In this case, you can order manure from sellers or buy granulated chicken fertilizer in the store to feed the cucumbers a couple of times.

Manure, chicken droppings contain large amounts of ammonia, potassium and trace elements. Soil bacteria are very fond of such fertilizers and quickly process them.

How to use fresh manure so as not to damage the roots of cucumbers.

• First you need to let it sit so that the excess ammonia disappears. To do this, fill a third of the bucket with fresh manure and fill it with water for a week. You need to stir the mixture periodically

• When it's brewed, dilute each liter with 10 liters of water

Water at the root approximately 1 liter for each cucumber bush.

Chicken manure is a very concentrated fertilizer containing large amounts of ammonia, which can burn root system in a matter of hours. Therefore, it is infused in the same way as mullein, but dilute a liter of solution in 20 liters of water.

Wood ash is a valuable organic fertilizer that can improve matters with a lack of potassium and phosphorus, if the cause of yellowing of the leaves is underdevelopment of the roots. Contains potassium, phosphorus and trace elements in total about 30 items. This is enough to restore the balance in the diet of cucumbers.

To prepare the solution wood ash for watering, necessary take 300 g of the substance and pour a bucket of water for 3 – 4 days. Then you can water it at the root. To prevent chlorosis, ash is applied to the soil in the fall. Wood ash is a valuable food for microorganisms. Enough dig up ash with soil once every 2 – 3 years.

Do not mix the ash solution with nitrogen fertilizers - they neutralize each other and become useless for cucumbers. When applying at the same time, you need to add ash at the root, and spray the leaves with urea.

Mineral mixtures

The simplest and fastest fertilizer is urea. This is a concentrated substance containing up to 46% nitrogen. It is sprayed on plants sick with fungus during nitrogen starvation. Urea must be diluted from calculating 50 - 100 g of substance per 10 liters of water. The amount of solution is sufficient for 200 square meters.

A special feature of urea is the large loss of substance per alkaline soils or neutral. Therefore, if you have gone too far with lime, then it is better to apply it using the foliar method. Mix with alkaline substances - dolomite flour, ash is also not allowed. It is better to apply superphosphate with urea separately: phosphorus to the soil, urea to the leaves.

If the leaves have turned pale, you can use two or three-component commercial fertilizers for emergency feeding of cucumbers:

• azophos – two-component, contains nitrogen and phosphorus;

• diammophos – 2 nutritional components;

• nitrophoska is a three-component mixture containing nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.

A feature of all mineral complex mixtures is the obligatory presence of either all three elements at the same time, or nitrogen and phosphorus. This confirms the version that the root system must develop first so that cucumbers have the opportunity to grow, fill and ripen.

We will analyze with you the signs of a lack of one or another element for cucumbers and, based on this, we will see in what cases and what to feed cucumbers at the stages of their growth and development.
Vegetable growers often observe changes in the color of cucumber leaves. And indeed, it speaks volumes: a border along the edge of the leaf and dark green veins - a lack of potassium; pale yellow color near the corolla of the flower - low phosphorus. Insufficient development of apical buds and the appearance of dome-shaped leaves means cucumbers lack calcium.

A change in the color of the leaves or the appearance of certain signs of a lack of nutrients in plants does not mean that there are not enough nutrients in the soil. Assimilation nutrients often depends on external conditions. For example, if you observe signs of nitrogen deficiency (leaves turn pale), then first of all you need to ensure that watering is done regularly. Overdrying of the soil leads to a partial attenuation of the activity of beneficial microorganisms and the disappearance of available nitrogen, which is why the leaves turn pale.

However, there is no need to rush to feed the plants. Fertilizing with fertilizers containing nitrogen, especially during the period of fruit formation, increases the content of nitrates in them, and the quality of the fruits noticeably decreases. Sometimes it is enough to start watering the cucumbers correctly and regularly, and within a week the color of the leaves is restored. Well, if things are really bad for the plants, then you can feed the cucumbers with ammonium sulfate or urea at the rate of 10 - 15 grams per 10 liters of water. You should not feed cucumbers before harvesting or on the eve of harvesting.

Appearance of leaves dome-shaped with a border along the edge often misleads gardeners, since exactly the same signs of disease occur in plants with damage to the root system. Therefore, before feeding cucumbers with calcium or potassium, it is worth checking what the roots look like. If you see that the roots have turned yellow, then feeding such cucumbers is unlikely to help. Most likely, it will further aggravate the situation, especially if the cause of the root disease is an increased concentration of elements in the soil solution, which occurs when mineral fertilizers are applied in excess of the norm.

But it may also be like this: the roots have normal, White color, but the symptoms of potassium deficiency are not confirmed. This happens when, due to long cloudy and cold (below 15 degrees) weather, there is an outflow of nutrients from the leaves. The color of the leaves usually returns with the onset of warm days.

If, nevertheless, cloudy weather lingers, it is useful to carry out foliar fertilizing with complex fertilizers: you need to take 5 g of potassium chloride per 10 liters of water, 5 g ammonium nitrate and 5 g of superphosphate, pre-infused in water for 24 hours.

Cucumbers respond especially well to foliar feeding in the first half of the growing season. This feeding is carried out at the end of the day so that the moistened leaves are not damaged by sunlight.

Now a little about phosphorus fasting. Its signs appear very rarely. If superphosphate is added to the soil according to the recommendations, then the cucumbers will be fully provided with it. But still, we must remember that phosphorus is poorly absorbed when the soil is alkaline. The soil reaction can be easily checked using litmus paper. IN in this case the soil substrate should be acidified by adding sawdust or acidic peat.

Chapter 1. Why do cucumber leaves turn pale?

Lack of nitrogen. Signs of nitrogen deficiency are clearly visible in the spindle-shaped habit of plants. Growth is greatly inhibited, the vines are thin, hard, and quickly become woody. The leaves remain small and most of them point upward. Very few side shoots are formed. The ovaries rapidly fall off and some of the flowers die. First, on older leaves, premature yellowing of the leaf blade is observed. It quickly spreads to young leaves. With a later onset of nitrogen starvation, yellowing can also affect middle-aged leaves. With progressive nitrogen deficiency, the fruits become pale yellow in color. At first, the thinnest veins of the leaf still retain green color, but subsequently they also lose their green color and even new leaves acquire a lighter color. Some fruits lose their normal color, they are shortened in size and have a pointed end.

Excess boron. The first sign of excess boron intake into plants is the lemon-yellow color of the edges of old leaves. Later, small light yellow, fairly evenly distributed spots appear along the edges of the leaves between the veins. The rest of the leaf, especially the middle, retains its normal green color. These spots then become necrotic, and signs of excess appear on young leaves. The edges of the affected leaves bend down after some time. The death of tissue until complete necrosis of the leaf occurs between the veins, but has no clear boundaries.
Iron deficiency. Signs of chlorosis appear on the youngest leaves of the main and side shoots. Only the main and lateral veins retain their green color. The entire plate becomes light green in color. Over time, the edges of the leaves become necrotic, and chlorosis spreads to older leaves. The fruits show no signs of iron deficiency.
Excess potassium. Visual signs of excess of the specified element appear along the edges of older leaves
Calcium. A lack of calcium in cucumber causes the appearance of small, dark green leaves with short internodes. Then the young leaves lighten at the edges, and at the same time narrow light stripes appear on the leaf blade between the veins. They expand, lose their green color, and necrosis. The veins and the adjacent part of the leaf retain an intense green color. The edges of the sheet are curved down.
Copper. A lack of copper causes the tips of the leaves to turn white; the plants lose turgor and wilt.
Molybdenum. With a lack of molybdenum, a weakening of the green color of the leaves is observed. The deficiency of this element is accompanied by a violation of nitrogen metabolism.
When a plant lacks potassium, the edges of its leaves first turn yellow and then turn brown. If the soil is peaty, the leaves begin to wrinkle. With nitrogen starvation, the leaves are stunted in growth, turn pale, especially the lower ones, and the fruits are shortened and pointed (you've probably had cucumbers like these!).

A lack of phosphorus is accompanied by a sharp slowdown in the growth of your green wards, the leaves become smaller, become dense, watery spots appear on them, and after some time the damaged leaves die.

Chapter 2. How to deal with this problem

Everyone knows that lack of nutrients negatively affects the growth and development of plants, which naturally affects the quantity and quality harvested. Today I will talk about how our most common favorite vegetables react to a lack of essential nutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. And also about what to do if you external signs determined the lack of one or another element.
What to do if a deficiency of elements is detected in a plant?
Needs to be prepared nutrient solution small concentration from 0.2 to 0.3%, that is, take from 20 to 30 g per 10 liters required fertilizer. More often, a deficiency of elements is observed on soils poor in humus, but on such soils it is dangerous to apply large doses of mineral fertilizers, as this can lead to poisoning of the plant. A good effect is achieved by spraying the leaves (foliar feeding) with a weak fertilizer solution (10 g per 10 l).
Can an excess of some fertilizers cause a deficiency of others?
Most often, plants react to an imbalance of nitrogen and potassium. With an excess of nitrogen, plants “fatten”, that is, they form large leaves, powerful stems, and abundant flowering, but flowers set later and fruits ripen more slowly. An increased content of potassium in the soil leads to accelerated flowering and fruiting, and the plants are small in size, the overall yield is reduced. High calcium content in the soil leads to reduced absorption of manganese, copper and zinc.
Which vegetable crops most sensitive to chlorine?
Such crops include cucumber, pepper, tomato, and potato. It is undesirable to add potassium salt and potassium chloride to these crops. They should be replaced with potassium nitrate or potassium sulfate. You can use complex fertilizers that do not contain chlorine.
How do fertilizers affect the quality of vegetables?
Leafy vegetables with a lack of nitrogen sharply reduce yield, the leaves become hard, rough, and excess nitrogen fertilizers with a lack of phosphorus and potassium, as well as poor lighting, it leads to the accumulation of nitrates; cabbage heads are poorly stored. With excess nitrogen nutrition, the shelf life of root crops sharply decreases.
Increased doses of phosphorus fertilizers improve the quality of fresh and pickled cucumbers and tomatoes. In a tomato, with a sufficient amount of potassium in the soil, the taste qualities.
What should be done when the first signs of phosphorus deficiency are detected?

It is necessary to add superphosphate to the soil (1 square meter– 1 tablespoon), or phosphorus flour (per 1 square meter – 2 tablespoons), or any other fertilizer containing phosphorus. It should also be noted here that advance liming of acidic soils improves phosphorus nutrition of plants.
Before fruiting, you can feed the cucumbers with potassium fertilizers (20 g per 10 liters). Repeat fertilizing with water 3-4 times a month, if the condition of the plants requires it. A good mineral-organic fertilizing with microfertilizers is a solution (in 10 liters of mullein) 1 kg of water, 30 g phosphorus fertilizer, 20 g of potassium, 2 g of copper permanganate and 1 g of potassium sulfate and boric acid.

If the cucumber vines are thin and the leaves are small and pale, then feed them with nitrogen. If the growth of vines is strong and fruiting is delayed, feed with phosphorus and potassium. If there are few ovaries, it is necessary after
feeding with bird (mullein) droppings, reduce the temperature in the greenhouse to 18, ventilate (degrees at night). If there are a lot of ovaries, they require intensive feeding with mullein (if), then with manure, a change in the feeding scheme - a transition from alternating once with organic matter and mineral fertilizer to two 2: 1 (scheme of once with organic matter, once with mineral fertilizer).

Apply both mineral and liquid organic fertilizers at the roots, without contaminating the leaves.

Don’t forget about foliar feeding, especially those in which development is prevented dangerous diseases, - false powdery mildew and so on. Such a top dressing can be a solution (per 10 liters of water) of 20-30 g of urea and 2 g of copper sulfate, boric acid and potassium permanganate.

Chapter 3. Prevention of pale leaves

It is necessary to help the plants and feed them. But who knows what?

Why recommended doses of fertilizers are not always effective. The reason for this is that our soils are very different in their chemical composition, and the content of vital nutrients in them is not the same. All nutrients are divided into macro- and microelements. Macrofertilizers are applied in large quantities. These are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Doses of microfertilizers are small, but their role in plant life is also great. They are part of vitamins and enzymes - living catalysts for reactions in organisms, both plants and animals.

External signs of lack of fertilizers various plants vary, but there are general changes in growth and development caused by a lack or excess of nutrients. Visual diagnostics is a simple and accessible method for every amateur vegetable grower to determine the fertilizer needs of plants. I want to draw their attention to external signs of a deficiency or excess of certain chemical elements in different cultures.

With a lack of nitrogen, suppressed growth, short and thin shoots, small inflorescences, weak foliage of plants, weak branching, and small leaves of a pale green color are observed. Moreover, the yellowing of leaves begins with the veins and the adjacent part of the leaf blade, and parts of the leaf remote from the veins may still retain a light green color. When there is a lack of nitrogen, the leaf veins are also light in color. Yellowing begins with the lower, older leaves.
By external signs, one can judge the lack of a particular nutrient in the soil and the need of plants for fertilizing, which should be carried out without delay as soon as the plants show the first signs of deficiency, and it is better to not allow these “SOS” signals to appear at all. However, slowing growth and changing appearance plant problems are not always caused by a lack of these nutrients in the soil. Similar symptoms are sometimes caused by damage to plants by pests or diseases, as well as unfavorable conditions cultivation (drought, low temperature, etc.). It is important to be able to differentiate these changes from signs of nutrient deficiency.

Today, trade organizations offer many different fertilizers to amateur gardeners. Don't rush to buy the first one you come across. Good to use complex fertilizers, especially with the addition of microelements. For each crop, a certain composition of fertilizers is released at different stages of development. And what is suitable for potatoes in the second half of summer is not suitable for feeding young cucumber plants in greenhouses. In addition, different soils also determine for the same crop different composition fertilizing

Usually they do wet feeding. The prescribed amount of fertilizer is diluted in a bucket (or liter) of water and the plants are watered with this solution over an area of ​​1 m2, and then a bucket is poured onto the plants clean water to avoid burns. If your plants are very behind in development, it makes sense to do foliar feeding. The concentration of the solution should not exceed 1% in this case. Nutrients will be absorbed by the leaves through the stomata and immediately used by them. Dry fertilizing before rain or watering should be done carefully. For this purpose, you can adapt a dense plastic bag small size. Carefully use scissors to cut off a small corner of the package. Pour fertilizer into the bag, after thoroughly mixing and breaking up all the lumps. We carry this bag between the rows of cucumbers, carrots, parsley, onions and other crops, almost touching the ground. Fertilizers through the cut hole will be evenly poured onto the soil surface and there will be no danger of them getting on the plants even if the rows are close together.
In order for cucumber seedlings to develop normally, they need to be fed. The first fertilizing is recommended 8-10 days after emergence. If you prefer to feed cucumbers with organic fertilizers, then it is advisable to add 20 g of superphosphate per 8-10 liters of mullein solution to the mullein solution (1:10).

To feed cucumber seedlings, you can also use complex fertilizers, which contain not only nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, but also other micro- and macroelements necessary for plant nutrition.

In the future, fertilizing of cucumber seedlings is carried out once every 2 weeks. Fertilizing should not be done on dry soil or in the morning. It is recommended to water the plants in the morning and fertilize them in the evening. If you are using mineral fertilizers for the first time, do not exceed the dosage recommended by the manufacturer. The recommended dose of fertilizer can even be halved, otherwise it is easy to burn tender plants.
Try to maintain crop rotation.

Do not plant cucumbers in the same place from year to year, do not plant them after zucchini or pumpkin, otherwise the likelihood of “catch” increases significantly fungal disease. Water your cucumbers promptly and abundantly.

If you are on the site only on weekends, take the time to mulch the beds well with weeds or mown grass. A thick layer of mulch will prevent moisture from evaporating and will also provide the cucumber roots with additional nutrition and warmth.

After emergence of shoots in the 3-4 leaf stage (and then every 10 days), spray the cucumbers with the following composition: 20 grams laundry soap, 1 liter of milk and 30 drops of iodine per 10 liters of water. Another option for preventive spraying: soak a loaf of bread in a bucket of water in the evening, knead the bread in the morning and add a small bottle of iodine.

How to feed cucumbers in a greenhouse? This is the question most often asked by both experienced and novice summer residents. We have collected the most complete collection of fertilizers necessary for the growth and fruiting of cucumbers grown indoors.

For abundant fruiting, plants must have well-developed and healthy aboveground part. To form it, you need to properly fertilize the soil. Therefore, in the summer, summer residents are especially active in introducing various nutrients. But this must be done correctly and in a timely manner, otherwise the cucumbers will lose their taste and will not bear fruit abundantly.

How to feed cucumber seedlings

The first feeding of cucumbers is carried out even before they are planted in the greenhouse. Already at the stage of growing seedlings, it is important to form a branched root system and full-fledged leaves. During this period, plants need nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus.

Before spring planting(about a week before planting cucumbers) dig up the soil in the greenhouse and add to it:

• 20-30 g ammonium nitrate,
• 20 g potassium sulfate,
• 20-30 g of superphosphate.

To disinfect, pour warm water with potassium permanganate (1-3 g per 10 liters of water) over the beds, then cover them with a thick transparent film and do not remove it until planting the cucumbers.

How to feed cucumbers after planting in a greenhouse

12-14 days after transplanting cucumber seedlings into closed ground and at the moment 3-4 true leaves appear, fertilize according to the following recipe:

• in 10 liters of water, dilute 20-25 g of double superphosphate, 15-20 g of potassium sulfate or 10-15 g of potassium chloride, 10-15 g of ammonium nitrate. Evenly water 10-15 plants with the resulting solution.

How to feed cucumbers during flowering

The next feeding of cucumbers in a greenhouse should be carried out 15-20 days after the first application of fertilizers, approximately at the time when the plantings begin to bloom en masse and form ovaries. Except constantly necessary for plants nitrogen and potassium, they also develop a need for trace elements such as magnesium and boron.

During the flowering period, before applying any fertilizer, cucumbers should be thoroughly watered with warm water.

During this period, it is best to add such organic fertilizers, How bird droppings or mullein:

• Dilute bird droppings 1:15, add 1 cup of ash to 10 liters of solution. Pour the prepared mixture, the color of weakly brewed tea, over the beds with cucumbers;
• 0.5 liters of liquid mullein and 1 tbsp. Dilute nitrophoska in 10 liters of water. To the resulting composition add 1 glass of ash or 50 g of potassium sulfate, 0.5 g of boric acid and 0.3 g of manganese sulfate.

Plants are watered at the rate of 3 liters per 1 sq.m of area.

How to feed cucumbers during fruiting

The next important stage in "life" greenhouse cucumbers- fruiting. You can feed them with the same composition as during flowering, slightly adjusting the doses of fertilizers applied. Or you can try something new, for example, one of the following formulations:

• potassium nitrate 25-30 g per 10 liters of water;
• urea – 50 g per 10 liters of water;
• mullein or ash, diluted with water in a ratio of 1:5.

7-8 liters of the prepared composition are consumed per 1 sq.m.

To increase productivity it is best to use yeast feeding, alternating it with abundant watering

How to feed cucumbers to prevent them from turning yellow

Even if you regularly fertilize and create a favorable microclimate for cucumbers, this does not mean that they cannot suddenly turn yellow. You can prevent this unpleasant phenomenon using the following foliar feeding:

• Place a loaf of bread in a 10 liter bucket of water and leave overnight. The next day, mash the bread and add a bottle of iodine to the bucket. Dilute 1 liter of the resulting composition in 10 liters of water and treat the plants.

You can also prepare a nettle infusion:

• cut off young nettles, without seeds, fill it with water and let it brew for 24 hours. To water 1 liter of infusion, dilute 10 liters of water.

Cucumbers in the greenhouse have pale leaves - what to feed them with?

Perhaps the change in leaf color is due to a lack of nitrogen or iron or the development of diseases. To correct the situation, you should use one of the following recipes:

• Dilute 1 liter of mullein in 10 liters of water and water each bush at the root;
• use an infusion of crushed weeds (1 part weed to 5 parts water), let it brew for 10-12 hours;
• 2 tbsp. dissolve urea in 10 liters of water;
• Dilute 50 g of ammonium nitrate with 10 liters of water.

Yellowed tips of borage leaves indicate a lack of iron, and light brown edging around the edges indicates a potassium deficiency.

Feeding cucumbers in a greenhouse with folk remedies

Using the means at hand, you can quickly return cucumbers to a healthy appearance and help the bushes continue to bear fruit abundantly.

• feeding cucumbers with ash. Add 200-250 g of ash to the bucket warm water volume 10 l. Water the cucumbers at the rate of 1 liter per plant. To prevent diseases, dust the lower part of the shoots and the ground around the plants with ash;
• feeding cucumbers with onion peel infusion. Add a little onion peel (150-200 g) to a 10 liter bucket and fill it with water almost to the very top. Place the mixture on the fire and bring to a boil. After this, let the broth cool for 4-5 hours and pour over the cucumbers at the rate of 1 liter of composition per plant;
• feeding cucumbers with yeast. Yeast contains useful macro- and microelements such as nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, iron, manganese and others. Dissolve a pack of fresh yeast in a 10 liter bucket and let it brew for 24 hours. After this, water the plants at the rate of 1 liter per bush;
• feeding cucumbers with chicken droppings. You can use both rotted and fresh droppings. Dilute the rotted droppings with water 1:10 and apply 0.7-0.8 liters of the composition under each bush. The beds must be thoroughly watered before fertilizing so as not to burn the roots of the plants. Dilute fresh droppings in a ratio of 1:20 and water well between the rows.

How often should you feed cucumbers in a greenhouse?

So, to summarize, you need to feed cucumbers in a greenhouse at least 4-5 times:

• the first feeding is carried out 2 weeks after planting the seedlings, the main elements are potassium and nitrogen;
• the second feeding is organized at the beginning of flowering. In addition to potassium and nitrogen, cucumbers at this time need magnesium, boron and other trace elements;
• the third feeding coincides with the beginning of fruiting. The composition and proportions of the applied substances are identical to the second feeding, but some of them can be adjusted depending on the condition of the plants;
• the fourth feeding is carried out 2-3 weeks after the third and is aimed at stimulating fruiting. Phosphorus must be added to the usual fertilizer composition;
• If necessary and in growing conditions on depleted soil, fertilizing is carried out with a complex fertilizer.

If cucumbers grow poorly and the plant slowly dies, it urgently needs calcium

How to feed cucumbers on the balcony

Balcony cucumbers are also partly in greenhouse conditions. However, the process of growing them and the composition of fertilizers have their own characteristics.

• Cucumbers are fertilized approximately two weeks after the first shoots appear. As the first fertilizer, you can use a weak solution of the following components: dilute 15 g in 10 liters of water potash fertilizers and 5 g of ammonium nitrate. Then add 3 g of superphosphate and 5 g of magnesium sulfate. When watering, make sure that the solution does not get on the leaves.
• After 10 days, feed the balcony cucumbers a second time. Dilute 1 liter of mullein in 10 liters of water and add 20 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium sulfate. Apply 1 liter for each plant.
• Once every 10 days you can water the plants with a weak solution of light pink potassium permanganate.

Now you know everything about fertilizing greenhouse, greenhouse and balcony cucumbers. Apply the “mandatory” fertilizers in a timely manner and monitor the condition of the plants - they themselves will tell you what additional substances they need.

The vegetable, which is one of the most widespread throughout the world, is susceptible to a large number of various diseases, which must be dealt with so as not to lose the entire harvest. All these diseases can destroy cucumbers at any stage of development. How to identify the disease and prevent the death of vegetables, we will talk in this article.

Diseases and their symptoms

A large number of diseases of cucumbers are currently known. Let's look at them in more detail and analyze the symptoms.

Disease	Symptoms	Treatment
Anthracnose	Oval brown spots on leaves, cankers with hard edges on fruits. The fruits cannot be eaten.	Affected fruits are burned; at an early stage, plants can be sprayed with copper preparations.
Downy mildew	Yellow oil spots on leaves, at the bottom of the leaf white coating with a purple tint.	Stop watering, remove affected foliage, sprinkle the soil with ash, treat with Previkur, spray with Gamair
Angular spot	Seeds, leaves, and fruits are affected. Holes appear on the leaves and pink liquid appears. Fruits with brown ulcers, twisted.	They are treated mainly with fungicides, copper preparations such as Bordeaux mixture.
White rot	A coating appears on the leaves and fruits, which resembles cotton wool. The affected areas become slimy.	Fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizer + copper sulfate, spraying with copper preparations, manual removal of plaque. Cutting and burning affected vines.
Cladosporiosis (olive spot)	Occurs due to watering with cold water. Affects young fruits, leaves rarely. The fruits become inedible	Ventilation of greenhouses, treatment with Fitosporin
Fusarium	The root part of the stem rots, the leaves fade.	Treatment is effective mainly in the early stages; when the disease is fully developed, the plants are destroyed and the ground is sprinkled with bleach.
Gray rot	Gray, slimy spots on fruit	Adjusting air humidity, powdering affected areas copper sulfate along with wood ash.

Cucumber mosaic is a viral disease, and it is the one that is most resistant to a variety of treatment measures. To destroy the virus, you need to make every effort, otherwise success simply will not be achieved.

This virus can live for a long time in the soil, on garden tools and in plant debris, for example, in cucumber tops. Mosaic can even affect seed material, and disease activity can persist for 3 years.

The disease can occur for several reasons:

1. too much heat air (above +25 degrees);
2. sudden changes in temperature.

This disease is transmitted through:

• seed material;
• weeds;
• priming;
• inventory;
• pests

The disease most often appears when the plants are still young. The leaf blade of cucumbers is affected; yellow or white spots appear on it, which become more and more numerous. Gradually, the cucumber leaves completely lose their natural color, only the veins still remain green.

Now let's talk about methods of treating this disease. At the first stage, separate diseased plants from healthy ones to avoid the spread of infection. All affected foliage is removed, and the cucumbers are treated with Aktara or another drug with a similar effect. All instruments used to work with diseased plants are disinfected in a manganese solution (saturated).

You can slow down the development of the disease if you spray cucumbers:

• weak infusion of garlic;
• a solution of milk and iodine;
• decoction of onion peels.

Many summer residents are faced with the problem of hooking. There are several reasons why crooked fruits appear.

1. Bee-pollinated and parthenocarpic varieties are grown together. If you grow in your greenhouse different varieties, then you will have to block access to pollinating insects. For example, when you ventilate the greenhouse, cover the cucumbers with gauze.
2. Irregularities in the irrigation regime. If the soil is too dry, the cucumbers curl, become small, and their shape is deformed.
3. Heavy, infertile soil. During the sowing process, the soil needs to be loosened, peat and humus added.
4. Violations when applying fertilizing. If you do not comply with the amount of fertilizing, you may encounter hooking. In particular, excess nitrogen leads to such consequences.
5. Untimely harvesting of fruits. Ideally, cucumbers should be harvested every 24 hours. If the fruits are overripe, then new ones are formed with difficulty.
6. Little light. Cucumbers can become hooked if they don't get enough light. If the bushes grow greatly, it will be difficult for light to penetrate the new ovaries, resulting in hooked fruits.
7. Cold. If the crop does not receive enough heat, the fruits grow small and hooked. This is a kind of reaction to the cold.

In cucumbers, a disease such as root rot occurs quite often, there is nothing surprising about it. Moreover, the reasons for its appearance can be different, and not just overflow. This list can include:

1. high humidity;
2. soil acidity.

The symptoms of the disease are as follows:

1. the root collar is brown;
2. leaves turn yellow and wilt;
3. drying of the ovary;
4. underdeveloped fruits;
5. gradual withering and death of fruits.

The disease progresses quickly, especially if the air temperature is above 27 degrees or below 15-16. In seedlings, symptoms most often do not appear.

Ways to prevent the disease:

1. disinfection and heating of seed material;
2. disinfection of containers for future seedlings;
3. watering the seedlings with warm water;
4. use of fertilizers without chlorine;
5. timely removal of diseased plants.

This is definitely not full list methods, but only the basic and most famous ones. In addition, if you find the first signs of root rot in your area, immediately try to rejuvenate the crop: lower the stems to the ground so that new roots can successfully form.

As new roots form, add soil to the stems.

Do not forget about fungicides and treat the soil with them.

Why does a vegetable get sick?

There are actually many reasons for the occurrence of diseases. This can happen due to the presence of one factor, and in some cases there is a complex of causes that lead to the appearance of symptoms.

1. Violation of agricultural technology requirements in the process of growing crops.
2. Plants don't get enough sunlight.
3. Failure to comply with crop rotation rules. It happens that a gardener has little experience, and he plants cucumbers in the same place every year.
4. Soil depletion. In this case, the problem can be solved only by timely application of fertilizing.
5. Violation of the ventilation regime. Do not forget that the greenhouse must be ventilated, but do not allow a strong draft to arise.
6. Diseased seedlings were discovered late. This happens if the bushes are not inspected regularly.
7. Pollution in the greenhouse. Before the start of each planting season in the greenhouse, it is necessary to carry out general cleaning– remove fallen leaves from last year’s harvest, wash walls, fumigate for disinfection.
8. High air humidity. This indicator must be controlled, avoiding a significant increase in humidity. Otherwise, the fruits and root system will suffer.

Nutrient deficiency has the most negative impact on the health of cucumber crops. With such a deficiency, cucumbers are affected by fungal diseases, lose their taste, grow slowly, and become deformed.

For example, if the soil has a very low potassium content, then the fruits will make up for the deficiency through shoots and foliage, and they will turn yellow and fall off. The shape of the fruit will be pear-shaped or hook-shaped.

If there is not enough nitrogen fertilizer, the leaves turn pale green, then yellow. Most effective method To remedy the situation, prepare a urea solution and feed the plants with it.

When cucumbers are low on phosphorus, the foliage changes its color to purple. This is the most striking and noticeable sign of a problem. The fruits grow small size and lose taste.

The indicated symptoms are similar to a lack of sulfur, which for cucumbers is fraught with diseases and the appearance of rot. Boron deficiency is characterized by a decrease in the nutritional value of the crop. The lack of iron is especially noticeable in the foliage; it cannot be seen in the fruits.

In order for cucumbers to have a marketable appearance and excellent taste, it is necessary to promptly and fully provide the crops with vitamins and microelements. This is especially true for phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium.

The key to success is regular application of fertilizers and strict adherence to dosages.

Pests

• root-knot nematode;
• spider mite;
• greenhouse whitefly.

The root-knot nematode usually affects cucumbers that are grown in greenhouse conditions or in a greenhouse. It lays larvae in the roots of cucumbers, and also provokes the development of growths on the crop with its toxic substances.

In such a situation, the affected soil will have to be removed (approximately 50 cm) and replaced with healthy soil. The soil in the greenhouse should be treated with steam, and in winter the soil should be thoroughly frozen.

The spider mite drinks all the juices from the plant. It may seem that the pest is simply eating the cucumbers. The leaves curl, lose their color and die.

In this case, you can solve the problem by spraying. You can treat the bush using special preparations purchased at a garden center or store for summer residents. If this is not possible, use a soap solution.

As for aphids, the peak of their appearance is July and August. Because of its presence, the leaves curl, the ovary and flowers fall off. You can fight aphids and treat diseased plants quite successfully. Excellent folk remedies– this is a solution of wood ash and laundry soap, garlic infusion.

If a crop is infected by a greenhouse whitefly, a black border appears around the edges of the leaves, then the foliage turns black completely. It is worth noting that the development of this disease is provoked by the presence of large quantity weeds, so you need to get rid of them first - this is the key to successful treatment

Also eats cucumber fruits cucumber mosquito. Its larvae are able to gnaw passages in the roots and stems of seedlings. As a result, the entire crop may die.

It eats cucumbers and the cockchafer, even if it accidentally gets into the greenhouse. The pest causes significant damage to crops and destroys crops with amazing speed.

Improper care

Improper care and violation of the rules of agricultural technology are important reasons why a crop can get sick, so when growing cucumbers, special attention should be paid proper care. Let's look at some rules.

1. If holes appear on the leaves, this indicates sunburn. To avoid this, you need to carefully inspect the greenhouses and immediately remove the condensate that has accumulated in it.
2. There is no need to allow seedlings to overgrow.
3. You should not completely abandon plant protection products. If you use them in moderation, they will not cause you any harm.
4. Do not overplant cucumbers. If the plantings are dense, the fruits will be bitter and twisted.
5. It is necessary to shape the plants, thin out the bushes, and pinch them.

When caring for crops, you shouldn’t rely on chance. The disease, if it has already manifested itself, will not go away on its own; it must be fought. You can’t leave everything to chance, because any violation in care leads to disastrous results.