How to grow cucumber in greenhouse
LCucumber as a Profitable Crop for greenhouse,While cucumbers thrive in lean-to or span-roof houses, the three-quarter span forcing house seems particularly adapted to their growth. The house should be arranged to provide thorough ventilation. However, as cold air is injurious to the tender plants, the ventilators should be situated to admit fresh air without producing a draft. Ridge ventilators, hinged at the lower side, seem best for this purpose.
Heating and Pipe Arrangement
The heating apparatus should maintain a night temperature of 65 degrees, and the pipes should be, at least in part, overhead. The best arrangement is to have the flow pipes overhead, with one or two returns on each side brought back on the plates, and the remainder under the benches. This arrangement will prevent downward currents of cold air upon the plants.
Table or Bed Arrangements
The tables or beds may be arranged as in a rose house or may consist of a wide bench in the center and a narrow one on each side. A house eighteen feet wide will be adapted for growing cucumbers, but any width up to thirty feet may be used.
Planting Time and Methods
When used as a succession crop, cucumbers are not started until about December or January. With a good market, cucumbers will be profitable if started in the fall and fruited during the winter. The seeds should be sown in four-inch pots or in transplants. It is important not to fill the pots more than halfway with soil and to gradually fill them with rich compost as the plants develop.
Germination Conditions
The seeds will germinate best at 70 or 80 degrees. If started in a lettuce house, they should be placed in the warmest portion, on about six inches of fresh horse manure, covered with hotbed sash to hold the heat. Another method is to sow the seeds in flats filled with sand and transplant to pots.
Bed Preparation
The beds should be ten to twelve inches deep with drainage at the bottom. A layer of rich pasture sods should be placed upon the clinkers or similar material, followed by six inches of rich compost.
Watering and Plant Care
While in pots, the plants should not be checked by lack of water or plant food, and they should not become pot-bound. They can be best cared for by being plunged in brisk bottom heat.
Planting and Training Cucumbers
When the cucumbers are ready to run, they should be planted out with at least four square feet of space for each plant. In houses with wide beds, the rows should be spaced at least three feet apart, with five or six feet between rows for the best growth. The plants should be trained in opposite directions.
Trellis Systems for Cucumber Growth
The trellis consists of wires one foot apart on either side of an A-shaped framework. The vine will be trained up on either side to form a series of galleries for easier cucumber gathering and vine tending.
Alternative Planting Methods
In lean-to or three-quarter span houses, cucumbers can be planted in rows two feet apart, with five or six feet between the rows. The vines should be trained towards the south on wire trellises inclined at an angle of about 45 to 50 degrees.
Heating for Cucumber Growth
To ensure the required bottom heat, a hotbed should be created under each row. If the rows are spaced more than three feet apart, a fresh horse manure bed, about one foot wide and deep, covered with eight inches of soil, will suffice.
Temperature and Fertilization
For early winter crops, seeds should be sown around the first of August. After transplanting, cucumbers should be ready for market within two months. If they are following lettuce, seeds should be sown in December and transplanted when the roots fill the pots. Night temperatures should be kept below 60 degrees for a few days, gradually increasing to 65 degrees. Day temperatures can go up to 80 or 85 degrees.
Pollination of Cucumbers
Artificial fertilization is required to ensure fruit development in most cucumber varieties grown in forcing houses during winter. This can be done by dusting the pistils with pollen from staminate flowers using a small brush. Some English forcing varieties do not require pollination.
Growing Two Crops of Cucumbers
If desired, two crops of cucumbers can be grown, one ripening in December and another in April. The seeds for the first crop should be sown in July, with transplanting occurring in August. By early September, they may be placed in four-inch pots or flats for the final transplant in October.