Garden mesh for supporting cucumbers (0.9 x 1.8 m)

Installation is very simple:
1. Stretch the mesh with yellow nylon ropes.
2. Secure them on the four sides of the supporting frame.
3. It is convenient to use cable ties for this.
4. Trim the excess ends of the ties with scissors.

Hang up the cucumber!
The main reasons for small cucumber harvests are the increasingly widespread powdery mildew, against which there are no reliable means of protection today, and there are still few varieties and hybrids that can resist this dangerous disease.
However, there is a way out. The technology of growing cucumbers on supports and trellises will increase the volume of commercial products. The fact is that the traditional cultivation of cucumbers spread out on the ground ideally contributes to the development of powdery mildew.
The infection mechanism is as follows: spores overwinter on the surface of the soil on plant residues, from where they are carried by splashes of water by the shortest route to their "permanent place of residence" - the underside of the leaves of cucumber plants. As a result, the foliage is affected by powdery mildew - it is from this moment that the struggle for the harvest begins for the vegetable grower. The infection intensively colonizes the plants, and the vegetable grower hurries to collect the maximum number of cucumbers from them. But still, it is not possible to carry out more than 2-3 commercial harvests. The rest of the harvest is essentially a cleanup. At the same time, the prices for the products are appropriate.
A more progressive method of growing cucumbers is a vertical system using a trellis, which:
• simplifies plant care;
• improves the quality of the fruit;
• creates more favorable conditions for plant development;
• yields in production conditions increase to 100 t / ha or more.

* It should be remembered that cucumber is a herbaceous vine that, with the help of mobile tendrils and a rough stem, rises from the partial shade of the humid tropical forests of India to the sunlight, clinging to any suitable support.

Therefore, vertical cultivation has advantages.
Firstly, the cucumber plant is removed from last year's supply of infection in the soil. If the spores are still carried by the wind, then the conditions for the development of the disease are unfavorable, because the plants are much better illuminated by the sun and blown by air. Much less dew falls on the leaves, and it evaporates faster.
Secondly, when spraying, the underside of the leaves is more accessible to protective solutions, therefore, treatments with this method of cultivation are more effective.
Thirdly, it has been noted that when growing on a trellis, the number of deformed fruits, as well as fruits with light spots from contact with the soil, is sharply reduced.
True, there is additional work on caring for the plants: you need to tie them to the trellis wire and to the cucumber net, tie the tops of the plants that accidentally lost contact with the trellis. But when collecting cucumbers, working conditions are much better and its productivity increases. Not only does the output increase - the harvesting period is also extended, and therefore the sale of the crop.
Of course, the transition to vertical cultivation of cucumbers will require costs. But these are one-time expenses, and the installed supports can be used for 5 years or more. If you divide the costs over these years and compare them with the annual increase in yield (2 or even 3 times), then the economic indicators will clearly be in favor of the vertical cultivation method.

It is advisable to orient the trellis rows from north to south, which will save the plants from a significant part of the midday, particularly harsh, sun rays. The length of continuous trellis rows over 100 m is undesirable, otherwise it will be more difficult to care for the plantings and take out the harvested products. If the care will subsequently be carried out using small-sized equipment or manually, the width between the rows can be 1.4-2.8 m.

Support posts in a row are set up at a maximum of 6.0 m. If the availability of materials allows, of course, it is better to set them up more often.
Posts made of untreated pine round timber usually last for 5 years of operation. A trellis made of reinforced concrete posts can be used for 10 - 20 years.
It is most convenient to dig in trellis posts using drills, from manual to tractor (manual motor drills are the most practical). The drill diameter should be 1.0-1.5 cm larger than the diameter of the posts being installed. If the posts have a standard diameter, they can be easily installed in the drilled hole with minimal compaction.
You can use a cucumber plastic mesh stretched between two wires at the top and bottom as a trellis. Such a mesh, if of proper quality, will last for 5 years if handled with care.

If the trellis is only wire, then the lower wire, 2.0-2.5 mm in diameter, is stretched at a height of 15-20 cm, the second - at a distance of 70-80 cm from the first. The third, 3.5 mm in diameter, since it bears the main load - along the top of the posts.
After planting the seedlings, hemp twine should be pulled from the lower wire to the upper one from each bush so that the tops of the cucumber plants are wrapped around it. Thus, the same cucumber net is created, only from other materials and for one season. Therefore, it makes sense to hang a cucumber net from the first year, which in subsequent years can be used for other crops.
The seedling method is more profitable.
Direct sowing of cucumber seeds under a trellis crop is sometimes still practiced, but this method of cultivation is not very rational even in the southern regions. After all, it is important to get the harvest as early as possible and extend the period of collecting cucumbers as much as possible.
Seedlings are grown in spring heated film greenhouses or hotbeds in peat-humus pots with a capacity of 10x10x10 cm. But it is better to use cassettes with the appropriate cell size. (In the southern regions, cassettes with conical cells of 5x5 cm in size are increasingly used, ensuring good root curling and 100% survival of plants). The nutrient mixture is prepared at the rate of 1 m3 per 4 m2 of a ground greenhouse or 5 m2 of useful area of ​​a rack greenhouse. The seeds are sown 20-25 days before the estimated planting date. The seedlings are planted in the ground when 1 leaf has fully developed and before 3 leaves have formed, at a time that excludes the possibility of recurrent frosts. Plants are placed at a distance of 10-20 cm in a row, depending on the habit of the variety. It is necessary to strive to ensure that during the growth process a continuous wall of foliage is formed, but without leaves layering one on top of another.

* Parthenocarpic gherkin hybrids of universal cultivation type are suitable for vertical culture (for example: "Dirigent", "Adam", "Dolomit", etc.)

Prevention of cucumber diseases.
To prevent diseases, plants in the 2-3 leaf phase are treated with one of the following copper-containing preparations:
• 90% wettable copper oxychloride powder (2.4 g per 10 m2, 0.4% concentration);
• 1% Bordeaux mixture (10 g copper sulfate and 10-12 g lime per 1 l of water). The consumption rate of the working fluid for strip processing is 0.5 l per 10 m2.
If plants are infested with pests (for example, aphids), use "Fitoverm" and other systemic acaricides.
To combat powdery mildew, plants are sprayed with a suspension of colloidal sulfur (4-5 g per 1 liter of water).