Emma Miller
Cucumber is a very popular and not too fastidious crop, which can be easily grown on your own plot. It is a very heat-loving vegetable, so you should not rush with its planting. Seeds before sowing will not harm a special preparation for a better harvest.
When to plant cucumbers in the open ground
Cucumber seeds do not tolerate frost. You can plant them when the average daily temperature for a few days is at least +12-15°. At this temperature, the first shoots will appear in about 10 days. If you sow the seeds at a temperature of +15-18°, the shoots will appear in a few days.
In the open ground, cucumbers can be sown in May. In the southern regions with constant warm weather, you can plant the culture at the end of April. You can sow cucumbers in several stages, for example, the first batch in May, and the second in June. Then you will have a fresh crop all summer long.
How to prepare cucumber seeds for planting
If you bought quality seeds in a specialized store, they have already been decontaminated and prepared. In other cases, the seeds can be heated. To do this, they are put in an oven for 2-3 hours at 50 °. Then the seeds are soaked for 30 minutes in a 1% solution of manganese.
Then the seeds are dried and, if desired, treated with growth stimulants. If overnight frosts are expected, seeds can be hardened. Wrap them in a damp cloth and place them in the refrigerator for two days. The cloth should remain moist at all times.
