A productive vegetable garden in extreme summer: growing vegetables in hot and cold weather Part 1

In half of the regions of Russia, the whole May was unbelievably cold, and at the beginning of June - hellish heat. And the forecasts for the summer are not at all encouraging: where there was a heat, an abnormally cold summer is expected, and where it was cold - heat and drought. In this article, we have collected recommendations for a vegetable garden in an extreme climate: how to get a crop when it seems that it is impossible to get it.

How to grow cucumbers at +12 - +16 degrees

Cucumbers are tropical plants that love warmth, moisture, and fertile soil; and warmth is almost in the first place on this list. If the summer is without heat, only enhanced nutrition can save the cucumbers, which will strengthen the plants and make them bear fruit normally.

• Harbor. As soon as the cucumbers begin to bloom, the holes need to be mulched with straw. Plants will have much more fun under such a straw blanket in the cold summer!
• Feed. The best organic fertilizer for cucumbers is chicken manure diluted in water. The main thing is that the solution is not too concentrated, otherwise the plants can be easily burned. If a mullein solution is used for watering, it is imperative to add wood ash to it for the correct ratio of nitrogen and potassium in the dressing.
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• Feed properly. In the cold summer, foliar feeding is necessary for cucumbers! This axiom could save thousands of crops. If the air temperature in your garden for weeks is kept at around +12 - +16 degrees, root feeding of cucumbers will not make much sense, because in a cool the weather, root hairs work on a weak C grade, and, moreover, all valuable nutrients in the feed do not dissolve well, cucumbers simply cannot extract them from soil.

Therefore - weekly foliar feeding. This is a prerequisite for a good harvest of cucumbers for a cold summer.

Ideal conditions for foliar feeding: evening, cloudy, but no rain. You need to feed it only with weak solutions of complex fertilizer, Kemira, Solution, etc.: literally 10 grams is enough for a bucket of water. When the cucumbers begin to bear fruit, the fertilizer concentration can be increased slightly. Foliar dressing will be useful for cucumbers in a normal warm summer, but it will be excessive to spend it once a week, once every two weeks is enough.

How to grow cucumbers at +35 - +40 degrees

In an abnormally hot summer, when growing cucumbers, we no longer focus on feeding (although fertilization is still necessary), but on retaining moisture in the soil and shading.

• Loosen. Imagine what a cucumber hole looks like on a hot day: the soil is dense, as if rolled by a roller - it is all permeated with tiny capillaries through which moisture rapidly evaporates. By loosening the dry surface layer, the gardener destroys these capillaries, and moisture gets to the root system. You need to loosen cucumber beds weekly in a dry and hot summer!
• Mulch. Mulching is the alpha and omega of any thinking amateur vegetable grower, an agrotechnical technique, repeatedly sung by the "people's agronomist" Nikolai Kurdyumov. When mulching cucumber beds in summer, you need to make sure that the mulch layer is not thick (otherwise pests will start there). The ideal mulch for this is lawn mower grass.
• Weed. During dry summers, weeds in the garden compete with crops for water and often win this competition.
• Dig in the whips. Few gardeners use this technique, but in vain! In a drought, cucumber bushes age very quickly, not at all like in a normal summer, and in order to extend the fruiting season, you need to add whips. Dig in, wait until the lash takes root properly and cut it off from the old, fruiting plant.

• Use growth stimulants. Epin and similar preparations will help the plant to survive the stress of lack of moisture. It is recommended to use them after light frosts.
• Shade. Direct sunlight burns leaves and damages plants, shading is highly recommended! It is best to make a canopy over the garden bed made of agrofibre or special agricultural mesh with small cells.
• Water. Cucumbers generally cannot live without water, they must be watered every day, especially in the heat. In hot weather, 6–12 liters of water are needed per square meter of cucumber plantings. And it shouldn't be cold tap water - only warm, pre-heated in a barrel. The best solution is drip irrigation.
  

How do you care for cucumbers in extreme summer? Write in the comments!

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Read also:

• Extreme summer harvest garden: growing vegetables in hot and cold weather, part 2, part 3.
• How builders are abused in geological surveys.

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