Cucumber is one of the most demanded vegetables, consumed fresh or canned. Marinated pickles and pickles - the first festive snack on our tables. To grow cucumbers, you should try and give the vegetable all the necessary elements for a good harvest.
A bit of theory: the basic rules of feeding cucumbers
Cucumber is considered the most capricious garden crop. For good development and fruiting cucumber requires nutrient soil, but at the same time the plant does not tolerate a strong concentration of useful elements in the soil. To balance the amount of nutrition and balance it with the nutritional value of the soil, you need to know how to feed cucumbers after planting in the ground.
Did you know? The first in the history of greenhouses were built in ancient Rome. They grew cucumbers - the favorite vegetables of the emperor Tiberius.
Fertilizer types
Cucumbers react equally well to organic and mineral fertilizers; you just need to figure out the best way to fertilize cucumbers. Of organic compounds culture takes best mullein infusion - It is rich in nitrogen, copper, sulfur, iron and potassium. In addition to nutrition, the infusion provides the plant with protection against infections.
Chicken litter contains nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium, increasing also resistance to diseases and activating plant growth. An excellent source of nitrogen is the infusion of rotted grass, and this fertilizer loses ammonia, which is harmful to plants, when pereplevaniya faster than animal organics.
Important! Horse manure for cucumbers is categorically unacceptable: there is too much ammonia in it, which, disintegrating in the ground, releases nitrates absorbed by cucumbers. The fruits of this plant are dangerous to health.
Mineral fertilizers for cucumbers in open ground is also important, since in organic dressing some elements are found in scanty quantities. The most important in all life processes of cucumbers are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Potassium cucumbers can provide a natural mineral remedy - wood ash. Urea - the best source of nitrogen for cucumbers, and phosphorus will ensure their introduction superphosphate.
Top dressing forms by the method of application
There are two main forms of fertilization for cucumbers.
Radical top dressing Cucumber in open ground - a method of fertilizing under a bush, as close as possible to the roots. At the same time, care is taken, since it is undesirable for the fertilizer to fall on the hardwood. Similar top dressing can strongly burn leaves and stalks.
Foliar top dressing cucumber is a spraying directed to the above-ground part of cucumber: leaves and shoots. This method is safe for foliage, because fertilizing is not as concentrated as root.
How to make a calendar of fertilizing cucumbers after planting in open ground
In addition to what to fertilize, you need to know how often to feed cucumbers in open ground. In order to control the process and not be mistaken with the timing and type of dressing, to give the cucumbers the necessary elements during a specific life span and to prevent the shortage or excess of any substance, you need to make a calendar of dressings. Make it in the form of a table with graphs of dates, types of fertilizing (organic or mineral fertilizer), method of application (root and foliar) and graph, which takes into account the nutrient introduced (nitrogen, phosphorus, etc.), its quantity.
What, when and how to feed cucumbers after planting in the ground, consider below.
Second feeding 
First feeding culture after planting in the ground is carried out with the appearance of two or three strong leaves. Nitrogen is needed for better growth. This may be a mineral fertilizer - urea. Method of application - basal, the amount - 1 tablespoon of powder per 10 liters of water. You can also use organic mullein - dilute 500 g per 10 liters of water, fertilize with the root method.
Third dressing necessary during the flowering period. Cucumber for the formation of full-fledged ovaries needed potassium. Suitable foliar fertilization with wood ash: two glasses per ten liters of water.
Than to feed cucumbers in the open ground in fourth time? This feeding is carried out already during the fruiting period., the plant needs nitrogen and potassium.
The first feeding - after the appearance of the fruit. Apply a solution of nitrophoska (1 tablespoon to 10 liters of water), a method of making foliar. A week later, the second feeding is carried out by the radical method, with a solution of mullein with the addition of potassium sulfate (10 l of water, 500 g of mullein, 5 g of potassium).
The better to feed cucumbers after landing in the ground
Feeding cucumbers is a necessity at all stages of plant life. Compliance with fertilizer dosages, alternation of mineral and organic compounds, timely introduction of the necessary elements for each period will provide you with a tasty and abundant harvest.
Did you know? The first mention of cucumbers in Russia was made by the German ambassador to Russia, Herberstein. In 1528 he described this vegetable in his travel diaries about a trip to Muscovy.
How to fertilize cucumbers immediately after picking seedlings
Nitrogen stimulates the plant for further development. When picking in the open ground, a hole is often added to the seedlings. teaspoon ammofoski. 
Feed the cucumbers and organic fertilizers containing nitrogen, infusion of mullein, chicken manure and grass.
Between the beds sprinkled with wood ash, which is absorbed into the soil after watering. Ash is rich in calcium, which accelerates plant growth. In addition, since ash is a natural remedy, it can be consumed several times during the vegetative period.
Fertilizer cucumbers during flowering
Just before the start of flowering make stimulating fertilizer for cucumbers in open ground - Mullein infusion with the addition of superphosphate and potassium sulfate. At the same time observe the proportions: 200 g of mullein, 5 g of superphosphate and potassium sulfate per 8 -10 liters of water.
A week later, in the flowering phase, the dressing is repeated, replacing the supplements to the mullein with nitrophoska (1 tbsp. L.) and reducing the dose of mullein to 100 g.
How to feed cucumbers during fruiting
Let's figure out what to water cucumbers for a good harvest. Fertilizer has proven effective during fruiting chicken manure. The content of zinc, copper and nitrogen in it fills cucumbers with substances necessary for the growth and taste of fruits. Chicken droppings are used mainly in liquid form.
Feeding cucumbers during fruiting should also contain magnesium and potassium.
During the period of active fruiting use potassium nitrate (25 g saltpeter per 15 liters of water), make a radical way.
Important! In the period of frequent precipitation, cucumbers are highly susceptible to scab. Potassium nitrate when applied acts not only as a fertilizer, but also as a defense against diseases.
How to feed cucumbers correctly after landing in the ground, tips gardeners
Before fertilizing cucumbers in open ground, it is advisable to find out what elements they need, in what quantities and what the consequences will be due to the lack of certain substances.
For growth, cucumbers need nitrogen, but before feeding them with nitrogen-containing compounds, think about how much irrigation cucumbers have enough. With a lack of moisture, the root system will not be able to absorb the right amount of the element. With a shortage of substance, the stems and side shoots of cucumbers cease to grow, the leaves turn yellow, the fruits change color to pale green and lose their taste.
Fertilizer of cucumbers in open ground should include phosphorus. Phosphorus is involved in all processes: growth, flowering and fruiting. This element strengthens the root system of cucumbers, stimulates the growth of deciduous mass, increases resistance to diseases and weather conditions. The lack of an element leads to diseases, slow development and empty ovaries. A sign of phosphorus starvation is a purple shade of foliage.
Potassium is no less necessary for cucumbers. Enough to feed the cucumbers twice, and the growing season will pass without complications. With a lack of potassium, cucumbers will be bitter, since it is potassium that is responsible for the sugar content in fruits.
What else do cucumbers like, how to feed a plant, besides the main listed elements? Calcium, boron, magnesium, manganese, iron, sulfur, and zinc are also of great importance for cucumbers. Therefore, in order to grow a good and tasty crop, it is necessary to alternate organic and mineral fertilizers.
The advantage of ready-made mineral fertilizers is that in the production they add all the necessary minerals and substances in different proportions. These compositions are complex and balanced, you can choose from the abundance on the store shelves and under the culture, and for a certain life cycle.
Do not be lazy to learn more about the crops you grow. Knowledge of the characteristics of their cultivation and care will ensure you get tasty, healthy and, most pleasant, self-grown products.
