It’s easy to make a trellis with your own hands in the garden or in a greenhouse. The support method of growing tomatoes or cucumbers in a vertical plane has several advantages.
- The trellis allows you to walk freely between the rows without stepping on, for example, cucumber vines.
- Planting tomatoes and cucumbers when grown on a support is well blown and ventilated. The leaves don’t seem to sweat; there are no droplets of water on the bottom of the leaves. This means that it is more difficult for spores of peronospora or late blight to germinate, i.e. conditions for the occurrence of diseases are not created.
- Harvesting from plants growing on a trellis is much easier and more enjoyable - everything is in plain sight. Branches and shoots do not need to be turned or turned over.
What is a trellis
A trellis is a specially made vertical support for garden or garden plants. This can be a structure of wooden or metal posts dug into the ground with a metal stretched between them, plastic mesh, wire. Instead of mesh or wire, you can fill or secure wooden slats.
Now you can buy in gardening stores ready-made designs for growing plants on a trellis. For example, I adapted the side walls for this purpose old greenhouse, stretching a plastic trellis mesh over them from bottom to top, as well as between them from above.
I bring to your attention the experience of gardeners on how to install a trellis in open ground for growing cucumbers and tomatoes.
Description of the trellis design - step-by-step instructions
Three columns are buried so that their height above the ground is three meters, and four meters apart from each other, in one row. The posts must be buried well so that they do not wobble. We connect the top of three posts with two four-meter slats. We nail it firmly on top.
Then, from top to bottom from the rail, after one meter, we stretch a thick wire and secure it with staples made of nails. On the outermost posts, twist the ends of this wire around the post and secure with staples. So - every meter. You get three stretched wires, and the bottom one should be 20 cm from the ground. The trellis frame is ready.
Now we take soft aluminum wire or any wire, cut pieces of 4.5 meters, and begin to braid from top to bottom. We fix the end of the wire on the rail, then twist it on the cross wires once at a time so that the thin wire does not move, and do this until the ground. After 20 cm, the next wire is twisted on the transverse ones again to the ground. We repeat this until the entire plane looks like a grid with identical cells.
You need to make six such panels of the same length and height. In the fall, on one side of the panel we dig a trench 60 cm wide and 50-60 cm deep. We place the soil next to it. Then we do this: take six parts horse manure, six parts mullein, one part chicken, three parts goat droppings, three parts ash. Mix, fill the entire trench to the top, then cover with soil - you get a bed near the trellis.
Behind winter period the mixture will settle and rot. And in the spring we make a groove 10-15 cm deep throughout the entire bed, sow cucumbers and tall tomatoes through a trellis. That is, one row is cucumbers, the second is tomatoes, the next is cucumbers again. This is what we should do if we plant different varieties tomatoes so that they do not over-pollinate.
When the seedlings grow up, we leave, for example, 30 tomato bushes, 40 cucumber plants at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. So - a row of cucumbers, a row of tomatoes, we also alternate the next rows to preserve the varieties.
Care is as follows: guide the plants up the trellis and water them. To avoid loosening the beds, cover them with fine straw or dry leaves. From one tomato bush planted in this way, you can collect 1-1.5 buckets good tomatoes. From the cucumber lash - 1 bucket of cucumbers.
Vegetables grown on a trellis are well ventilated and are very convenient to collect.
Options for trellises, different support structures - photos
Below photo various designs trellises made by .
Wooden pillars for cucumbers 
Horizontal support for cucumbers from improvised means 
Trellis for cucumbers metal poles with coarse mesh polymer mesh 
Trellis for tomatoes - a vertical garter on a wire under the roof of the greenhouse 
Trellis net for cucumbers in a greenhouse 
DIY trellis for tomatoes in a greenhouse 
How to make supports for seedlings from scrap materials? In one video I saw this design of a trellis for cucumbers.
Bamboo sticks must be stuck into the ground at an angle towards each other (like a hut). At the top they intersect with the letter X. Several pairs of bamboo supports are placed in a row. Another stick is inserted horizontally into the slingshots on top. At the junction points, the sticks are fastened to each other with wire or strong twine - this gives stability to the entire structure. A twine is attached to a horizontal support, with the help of which the lashes of cucumbers are fixed to the supports.
The trellis is made of bamboo, with additional intermediate horizontal crossbars added.
Tomato support hut made of bamboo sticks 
Trellis, photo Interesting design of the trellis wooden slats. It is not only functional, but also very decorative.
Here's a very ingenious solution - old used hockey sticks came in handy. In my opinion, it’s not difficult to do it yourself, but it turned out very well.
Support and at the same time shelter (greenhouse) for cucumbers made of plastic pipes 
Support for cucumbers high bed How to properly tie tomatoes or cucumbers on a trellis?
Watch the video. You will be taught how to tie knots correctly when vertical growing vegetables
When growing on a trellis, a trellis net is very convenient not only for gardeners, but also for plants. In addition, this is a great relief for those who make the trellis themselves. It can be different - with small or large cells, thicker for large plants or thread-like for delicate flower climbing plants.
A trellis, a vertical support, can be used not only for cucumbers, tomatoes, but also for beans, peas, raspberries, blackberries, various colors. With its help you can save a lot of money usable area garden And the harvest increases. A do-it-yourself trellis is an opportunity to take into account the slightest desires and growing conditions of any gardener.
Today, a huge number of gardeners and amateur gardeners are paying attention to polycarbonate greenhouses. They have the most modern design combined with the best production and frame making, are ideal for creating a favorable growing climate garden crops in suburban, household and farm households.
The layout of the greenhouse and the size of the beds for tomatoes.
Preparing greenhouses for sowing tomatoes and cucumbers
Adult seedlings are planted in the greenhouse approximately in early May. But at this time it is still cool outside, especially at night. Therefore, it is recommended to plant seedlings in a polycarbonate greenhouse. Those greenhouses and greenhouses that are intended for tomatoes must have openings on both sides. This is due to the fact that tomatoes, especially during flowering, need careful ventilation. To avoid plant diseases in greenhouse conditions, growing tomatoes for several years in a row in the same place is not recommended.
Formation of cucumbers in a greenhouse.
Typically, agronomists and amateur gardeners resort to alternating planting of tomatoes with cucumbers. So, for example, if you planted tomatoes in a polycarbonate greenhouse last year, then this year it is better to plant cucumbers in it. But in Lately cucumbers and tomatoes began to suffer from the same fungal disease called anthracnose (or popularly called root rot).
Tomatoes require more ventilation, low humidity and temperature compared to cucumbers. Greenhouses and greenhouses should be fully illuminated by sunlight from morning to evening. It is worth remembering that even a small tree or shrub causes a decrease in activity during the period of growth and fruit ripening and has a negative effect on yield.
Features of preparing land for planting seedlings of cucumbers and tomatoes
For 1 square meter of land consisting of loam, or clay soil add one bucket of peat, sawdust and humus. In addition, add potassium sulfate, urea and superphosphate in granules. The amount of ingredients added depends on the quality of the soil. Therefore, before using them, you should carefully study the label and instructions for use of soil additives.
How to plant seedlings correctly?
Planting tomatoes.
Unovergrown seedlings (25-35 cm) are planted vertically, filling only the pots for mixing the soil. Even if for some reason the seedlings have become too elongated (for example, if they have been in a darkened part of the room for too long), it is not recommended to bury the stem deeply when planting. In this case, it is recommended to lay the stem slightly horizontally from below. This is necessary so that it becomes stronger in the ground and then continues to grow as needed. This event is possible due to the fact that both the main trunk and the side shoots of tomatoes very quickly produce roots that strengthen the plant in the ground.
That is why you can observe a phenomenon in which a fallen branch almost immediately grows to the ground. If this does not happen, then this will stop the growth of plants and will cause the flowers of the first clusters to fall off. That is why, when the seedlings outgrow, gardeners are encouraged to replant the bushes first in the same soil in some container intended for disposable(or better yet, use it in in this case peat pots), and plant seedlings in the ground, having first removed the bottom of the container.
After several days, when the roots should have established themselves in the main soil, you can remove this dish.
By the way, old buckets, pots and basins can be used as it.
To ensure that nothing leaks through the removed bottom, you will need to put a bag on the container from below, and then install the entire structure in a larger container (for example, a bucket and pan can be placed in a basin). Once the plant is in place, it should be watered well. All plants must be planted at a sufficiently wide distance from each other - at least 50 cm. Otherwise, it will be difficult and problematic to cope with plant care and harvesting. And the plants themselves will not be comfortable enough to grow in cramped conditions.
How to properly care for tomatoes in polycarbonate greenhouses?
Planting and pruning overgrown tomato seedlings.
Once you have planted tomato seedlings according to all the rules, you need to water them well for 2 weeks. This is necessary so that all plants are approximately equal in height and do not stretch out or become overly depleted. If proper watering is not provided, this can lead to delayed flowering, ripening, or even the death of the plant.
Typically, tomatoes have a fairly dense main stem, from which clusters with inflorescences extend at equal distances. Their number can sometimes even reach 8 pieces. However, this does not mean at all that the harvest will be impressive. In most cases, only 2-3 brushes are needed to achieve a solid harvest.
By cutting off excess branches, you can count on the tomatoes being large and ripe. If all the side shoots are left during the growth process, then an ovary will form on each of them, but in this case it will be difficult for the plant to fully supply the fruits useful substances. There is a risk that small but numerous tomatoes that have started will remain small.
In most cases, it is advised to leave only the lower stepsons; all the rest can be removed either manually (if the branches are thin) or using tools such as scissors or pruners. If stepson formation occurs already during the flowering period, then preference is given to those stepsons that have already put out a peduncle. The rest can be deleted. Experts advise producing this event early in the morning, when the stepsons are not strong enough, and the plant in this case will not experience any negative effects.
Agrotechnical techniques for growing cucumbers: 1 - sowing seeds on a damp paper napkin, 2 - transplanting sprouts into pots, 3 - planting plants on permanent place, 4 - pinching the top, 5 - pinching side shoots, 6 - collecting fruits (cut with a sharp knife).
Particular attention should be paid to seed labels. Here, in addition to such factors as pinching, the ripening period and care features, it is necessary to pay attention to the method of pollination of plants. They, in turn, can be self-pollinating and bee-pollinating. The difference is that the first group is the simplest option, since in this case you will not need to worry about how exactly the process of fertilization of the flower occurs and, accordingly, the birth of tomato fruits.
The second option assumes that someone’s help is needed for the ovary to begin. In other words, pollen from one plant must somehow get onto the inflorescence of another plant. In this case, your helpers will be bees, bumblebees, wasps and other insects that feed on nectar. But there is practically no guarantee that the pollen fell on exactly the plant that needs it.
In order not to worry about the future harvest, you need to help the plants yourself. Your help consists of shaking the inflorescences. This can also be facilitated by light watering of the plants, but after this one should not forget that excess moisture, remaining on the walls of the greenhouse can adversely affect the tomatoes. Therefore, immediately after watering, leave open door, and if there are windows, then theirs too.
Ventilation should be light, especially in cases when the stage of active flowering of this plant begins. fruit crop. Ventilation has the best effect when the sides are open in the same way as on top panel. This will ensure that the tomatoes remain in the greenhouse without condensation. Waterlogged soils cause the amount of sweetness in tomato fruits to decrease. Such tomatoes are characterized by increased wateriness and have too many seeds.
Drip irrigation system.
Of course, such fruits will be very sour and unsuitable for preparing salads or canning. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure irrigation in such a way that the crop will not only have increased quantity, but also increased quality. Before flowering, tomatoes need systematic watering no more than once every 5 days. In this case, the amount of water is determined depending on the quality of the soil. But on average, it is recommended to pour approximately 5 liters of water per square meter.
It should also be remembered that the greenhouse is constantly maintained at a warm temperature, which leads to the need to use exclusively warm water for irrigation. Its temperature should not fall below 20 degrees, so in order to make this possible, fill a large vessel in the garden or garden with water in advance so that it can warm up from the sun's rays.
Feeding tomatoes
Tomato planting scheme.
During the growing season, 3-4 root feedings should be done. For the first time, they are carried out no earlier than 2.5 weeks after the seedlings are planted in a permanent place. The amount of feeding should be calculated separately in each case.
Typically, all instructions for preparing and mixing ingredients are indicated on the packages with the composition. You can seek advice from a specialist who provides services for the sale of plant fertilizers.
After the first feeding, at least 10 days should pass, only then will it be possible to fertilize the soil again and strengthen root system plants.
The third part of the fertilizer is poured onto the plants 12 days after the previous one. If you need to repeat this procedure, then the break between all subsequent events should be no less than that taken between 2 and 3 procedures.
How to grow cucumbers in a greenhouse
Scheme of planting bee-pollinated cucumbers in heated greenhouses.
Cucumber seedlings, like tomatoes, need to be grown at home, only then can they be transplanted into a greenhouse that has been prepared using some additional heating source. Planting cucumbers in unheated greenhouses under conditions middle zone our country should not be implemented earlier than May 10-15. During early sowing, the planted bushes may be damaged by frosts, which occur even in early June.
Thus, as soon as the soil in the greenhouse is warmed up to required temperature, you can plant seedlings. It is necessary to use special utensils that will allow you to transplant it without harm to the plant. IN best case scenario This peat pot, which supplies the plant with useful microelements. It is worth separately noting the fact that there is no need to remove the plant from the pots. Therefore, when planting seedlings in a greenhouse, you only need to dig holes the right size and, placing the pots in them, sprinkle soil on top. When watered, the peat will disperse into the ground, enriching it with the necessary useful elements.
Planting cucumber seeds in a greenhouse is allowed. However, this increases the time before fruiting begins. Therefore to this method resort quite rarely. The exception is planting seeds in warm regions of the country. Planting technique - described for planting seedlings.
Caring for cucumbers in a greenhouse
Formation of a cucumber in a greenhouse.
It is important to note here Special attention on the process of bush formation, watering and fertilizing. At first, cucumbers need to be watered only a little at a time so as not to wash out the roots. And only after the length of the cucumber bushes reaches about 30 cm, they can be hilled up and then watered as you wish. Bushes of varieties grown in greenhouses are formed according to the same pattern. Pinch the top of the main stem when the stem grows to 20-30 cm, so that the side stems grow, which produce much more fruit.
After the top stem is removed, you will observe (at proper watering and care) active growth side shoots, and after a while they will bloom. It is better to remove the trunk so that its tip is broken off or even bent.
In the future, the strict system of bush formation can be neglected, because the bush will already grow and be quite strong. The main thing is to tear off leaves and shoots only so that the shoots do not extend onto paths and neighboring beds. Depending on the age of the plants, it will be possible to gradually remove those shoots that no longer bear fruit, but still feed from the main stem, preventing the plant from devoting all its strength to the formation of new fruits.
When growing bee-pollinated varieties and hybrids, it is necessary to provide access to the plants inside the greenhouses for bees and other insects. On hot summer days, bees are reluctant to fly in the greenhouse. You can attract them by organizing feedings sugar syrup. Both cucumbers and tomatoes should be planted in early to mid-May.
Every year I rack my brains over how to combine incompatible things in one greenhouse. On our site there are two greenhouses from. There is nowhere to squeeze a third one. The area of the “lower” greenhouse in which I grow cucumbers and tomatoes is only 12 square meters. m. (4 x 3 m). In the second greenhouse (“upper”) it grows. Its area is larger, but there is no room for tomatoes. In addition, grapes and tomatoes are not best neighbors. So you have to get out and think through different variants, at which you can get the maximum fruit yield.
In the “lower” greenhouse made of cellular polycarbonate I grow cucumbers and tomatoes
Why are they different?
Motherland cucumber- hot humid India. This vegetable crop quickly spread to countries East Asia, then they began to breed it all over the world. Good harvests can only be obtained where the cucumber is provided with conditions similar to those in which it can live in nature.
Cucumber native to the tropics
Tomatoes from South America. There they thrive on dry, windy slopes irrigated by heavy rains.
Tomatoes in a greenhouse can bear fruit abundantly even in early autumn
These completely different plants have only one thing in common - the need for warmth. These are not cultures that complement each other. Therefore, when planting cucumbers and tomatoes in the same greenhouse, it is necessary to ensure that the requirements of agricultural technology are met.
How to reconcile cucumber and tomato?
Many of my friends, gardeners and summer residents, have only one greenhouse. Everything is grown in it: cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers. Greenery also fits there. Absolutely all the time different cultures forced to coexist in the same microclimate and put up with similar living conditions.
At good care you can count on a good harvest of fruits. But I want to achieve maximum productivity. To do this, you will have to part with the “communal apartment” and move the cucumbers and tomatoes into separate warm “apartments”.
In a tomato "apartment" should be dry. High humidity can cause pollen to clump together, making pollination impossible. Without air movement, such serious bacterial and fungal diseases, such as gray rot, brown spot and late blight. It is enough to water tomatoes in the morning twice a week. Warm water should moisten the soil to a depth of 20 - 25 cm, but not wet the leaves. The air in the greenhouse with tomatoes remains fresh all the time and does not stagnate. Drafts dry out upper layer soil and promote pollination. Therefore, in summer it is worth leaving the windows and doors of the greenhouse open.
The main tomato harvest has already been harvested
In a greenhouse with cucumbers the conditions are completely different. Dry air and soil lead not only to poor fruiting, but also to the rapid proliferation of pests ( spider mite and etc.). plant with large leaves quickly evaporates moisture and constantly needs it. Let's not forget that it is from the humid tropics. Therefore, water it often. Every day in hot summer. In hot weather, humidity can be increased by moistening not only the paths and walls of the greenhouse, but also spraying cucumber leaves. If after this you close all the doors and windows for a couple of hours, the microclimate of the greenhouse will become similar to a tropical one. Yield increases with increased concentration carbon dioxide in the air.
Cucumbers in a greenhouse early in the morning
You can clearly see how difficult it is to completely different plants live side by side in the same greenhouse. There is only one way out: you need to resettle two incompatible cultures in different compartments. It’s up to you to decide what the partitions will be like. In large, spacious greenhouses, you can make a wall even from opaque materials. I saw a partition made of white plastic in one greenhouse. Previously there was a sheet of plywood reinforced there. I'll try to use it this summer cellular polycarbonate. Last year, the cucumbers were separated with plastic wrap.
In some greenhouses, a “neutral zone” is possible. These are other plants that act as hedges or screens. With this option, the cucumbers will be provided with high humidity; they can be watered frequently and carried out the necessary water procedures. The tomatoes will be blown by the breeze and surrounded by dry fresh air. When watering at the root, their compartment will always be dry.
This year I will separate only two beds with cucumbers with a partition (on the north side of the greenhouse)
Cucumber and tomato in one plate
Cucumbers and tomatoes are opposites in everything. These are antagonistic vegetables that may be without the vitamins they contain.
According to nutritionists, raw tomatoes and cucumbers in one salad are not the best best combination. Recently, there has been a lot of research related to vitamins and antivitamins. The products that contain this “couple” include cucumbers and tomatoes. Each of them is useful. But when we eat them together, it turns out bad. Ascorbic acid in tomatoes and ascorbinase in cucumbers neutralize each other, leaving our favorite dish without vitamin.
For reference: ascorbinase is a substance similar to vitamin C, but with the opposite effect. Antivitamins partially or completely block the action of vitamins and greatly reduce their biological activity. Most ascorbinase is found in cucumbers and zucchini. As a result, vitamin C is almost completely destroyed. You can compensate for its deficiency with greens or avocados, which are added to a salad with cucumbers instead of tomatoes. It is better to put leafy greens in a salad with tomatoes, onion and cheese.
Our traditional tomato and cucumber salad require different enzymes to digest. Therefore, one of these vegetables begins to ferment, releasing gases and causing discomfort to the person who has eaten a good portion of the delicious salad.
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Vegetables are a valuable low-calorie dietary food product, the regular consumption of which has a beneficial effect on human health. In this article we will tell you how to grow vegetables in a city apartment, and we will understand the peculiarities of agricultural technology for growing cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers.
Vegetables are the main source of vitamins necessary for humans. Eating various vegetable salads stimulates the body's defenses and protects us from adverse effects environment. This is especially important in winter and in early spring, when the body so desperately needs protection from influenza and respiratory infections.
In winter, you can grow the amount of vegetables needed for your family on window sills and insulated heated balconies. To do this, it is necessary to follow specially developed agricultural techniques for indoor growing. Let's figure out what they are.
We organize the beds correctly
You can grow cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers in an apartment all year round. Building beds on a windowsill is not at all difficult. If your window sill is narrow, then first you need to widen it. This can be done in two ways.
You can use a sheet of plywood with a thickness of 7-10 mm, a width of 20 cm and a length equal to the window sill. You just need to slide one side of the plywood under the frame and secure it - now the area for the bed will be quite sufficient.
You can increase the area by using stools. To do this, we place two stools near the window near the radiator and place a board 20 centimeters wide on them. In this case, the upper part of the containers should be at the level of the window sill. In this case, the vegetable plants will be both warm and light.
You can use any containers for growing, the main thing is that there is room for the plants in them. We'll talk about this in more detail a little later. It all depends on your financial capabilities. You can use expensive ceramic pots, or you can adapt 5-6 for these purposes liter bottle from under the water. To grow vegetables, you can make your own boxes from pine or spruce boards, again adhering to the required volume for each individual plant. We talked in more detail about containers and drainage in them in the article “Vegetable garden on the windowsill. We grow greens, leafy vegetables and herbs."
You can prepare the soil for growing vegetables on the windowsill yourself, or you can buy a ready-made substrate. If you use garden soil, you must comply following proportions: 80% soil from the garden, 10% humus, 10% sand. Before planting seeds, it is advisable to disinfect the garden soil by pouring boiling water over it. A high-quality substrate can be prepared from vermicompost and coconut fiber. To do this, they are mixed in the following proportions: vermicompost - 1 part, coconut fiber - 2 parts. These ingredients can be purchased at specialty stores.
A few basic rules
For successful cultivation vegetables on the windowsill, you must strictly follow the recommendations described below:
- Plays an important role right choice seeds Self-pollinating, early-ripening, low-growing or bush hybrids are suitable for growing in a city apartment. Today, special varieties have also been bred for home cultivation; in this case, the bags of seeds will be marked “suitable for growing in an apartment.”
- In order for a beautiful lush fruit-bearing bush to grow from a seed, the plant must be provided with a suitable temperature and required amount Sveta. Beds with vegetables should be placed on south or south-east windows. On short winter days, additional illumination with lamps is mandatory. daylight.
- It is necessary to water the plants with warm, settled water, at a temperature of 20-25 degrees.
- Vegetables on the windowsill must be fed regularly, especially during the fruiting period. For these purposes you can use universal fertilizer For indoor flowers or specialized growth concentrates.
- Pots with seedlings and adult bushes must be turned 180 degrees once a day. This is necessary so that the bushes are level, since plants tend to bend towards the light.
Basic rules for lighting vegetable beds on the windowsill
On cloudy short winter days, grow lush bushes It is simply impossible to live in an apartment without additional lighting. As you know, light is the main component of such an important process for a plant as photosynthesis, without which normal growth and development of the crop does not occur.
It is recommended to organize additional lighting using fluorescent lamps white and daylight. These lamps provide sunlight-like illumination without generating heat. Therefore, they can be placed quite close to the plants. Today, in specialized stores you can also purchase phytolamps adapted specifically for indoor growing of vegetables.
Fluorescent lamps are hung at a height of 10 cm for light-loving plants and 40-50 cm for shade-loving plants. For 1 sq. m window sill requires lighting of 200-300 W. You can organize additional lighting using the following formula:
- lamp power = 200/300 W * window sill area
It is best to choose the length of the lamp equal to the length window sill.
It is very convenient to connect fluorescent lamps using a special timer. In this case, the additional illumination will turn on itself, exactly in the period of time that you set, for example, from 7-00 to 10-00 in the morning and from 15-00 to 21-00 in the evening. Lamps with a timer will also turn off independently.
Features of growing cucumbers on the windowsill
To grow cucumbers in a city apartment, the main thing is to choose the right seeds. Specially bred self-pollinating greenhouse varieties are suitable for these purposes. It is most convenient to grow bush varieties of this crop on a windowsill. If you want to grow bee-pollinated cucumbers on your windowsill, pollination will need to be done manually.
Cucumber is a light-loving and heat-loving crop, so the beds must be placed on southern or south-eastern windows. This plant has an extremely negative attitude towards drafts. The window near which the containers with cucumbers are located must be well insulated, and the window must be covered with polyethylene to prevent cold air from entering during ventilation. Get good harvest is possible only if you illuminate the beds in winter time using fluorescent lamps.
Before planting, to speed up the emergence of seedlings, it is best to pre-germinate the seeds. To do this, they need to be placed in several layers. toilet paper and place in a flat container, pour on top warm water. Next, we keep the seeds at a temperature of 28-30 degrees and high humidity within 2-3 days. If the paper dries out, it must be moistened periodically. The appearance of seedlings of 2-3 mm means that the seeds are ready to be planted in the soil.
Sprouted seeds can be planted in small plastic cups to obtain seedlings, or you can place them directly in a permanent place in a container. It should be taken into account that one adult plant will need a volume of 3-3.5 liters for full development.
After planting the sprouted seeds in the ground, the containers are covered plastic film and placed in a warm place. After the shoots have appeared, the pots are moved to a south window and, with short daylight hours, provide additional lighting. If you grew seedlings in small cups, you can transplant them to a permanent place when the plant has two or three leaves.
After the cucumber grows 5-6 leaves and begins to produce mustaches, you need to tie it to a peg or stretched twine. Pinch cucumbers grown on a windowsill above the 11-12th leaf. The faster you do this, the faster the cucumber will begin to bear fruit. Any side shoots that appear must also be removed.
If you prefer to grow bee-pollinated varieties of cucumbers in your apartment, pollination can be done by hand. To do this, pick a bright yellow male flower and touch the female ones with it (they, as a rule, are not brightly colored). Pollination can also be carried out using cotton wool wound on a match. The best time to pollinate cucumbers is in the morning. If you create a plant optimal conditions, from one bush you can get 12-15 medium-sized cucumbers.
Features of growing tomatoes on a windowsill
Tomato is a light-loving and heat-loving crop, so the beds must be placed on southern or south-eastern windows. Unlike cucumber, this plant has a positive attitude towards drafts, so the air temperature can be regulated by ventilating the premises. Optimal temperature for growing tomatoes is 28 degrees during the day and 15 degrees at night.
It should be noted that low-growing, early-ripening, small-fruited tomato varieties are best suited for indoor growing.
You can grow tomatoes on a windowsill, just like cucumbers, or seedling method, or planting seeds immediately in a large container. The optimal volume for each adult plant is 3.5-4 liters. After planting the seeds, the containers must be placed in a warm place (25 degrees) and covered with film. After germination, remove the film and place the plants on the windowsill. In winter, when daylight hours are short, tomato beds need to be provided with additional lighting.
The main problem when growing tomatoes on a windowsill is their susceptibility to fungal diseases, which, in most cases, occur with high soil and air humidity. Therefore, it is necessary to water the tomato beds on the windowsill very carefully, avoiding over-watering. Adult plants need to be watered 1-2 times a week with warm, settled water. If the room is observed high humidity, to avoid the development of fungi, you can spray the plants with Bordeaux mixture. To prepare it in glassware pour a liter of water, dissolve 10 grams in it copper sulfate. Then 20 grams of slaked lime are diluted in 100 grams of water - this milk of lime is poured into a solution of copper sulfate in a thin stream and mixed well. This mixture can be stored for 24 hours.
Tomatoes do not require artificial pollination, but for better fruit set, you can lightly tap the flower brushes several times a week. After the main part of the fruit has formed, the top of the plant and flowering clusters must be removed. If this is not done, the formed fruits will not be able to fully ripen.
Features of growing peppers on the windowsill
Pepper is one of those crops that are much easier to grow in an apartment than cucumbers and tomatoes. This is especially true for bitter varieties. For growing peppers on a windowsill, any variety to suit your taste is suitable. The most important thing is not to place sweet and bitter peppers next to each other to avoid cross-pollination.
If you have a summer house or garden where you grow pepper bushes during the season, several well-preserved bushes can be dug up and replanted in a pot for the winter. Pepper is originally perennial crop, so it can grow in a room for several years. With regular feeding (2 times a month), an adult plant requires a volume of 3.5-4 liters, and bitter varieties require even less - 1.5-2 liters.
You can also grow peppers on a windowsill by planting seeds in the ground. For better germination, they must be soaked in warm water at a temperature of 25 degrees for 3-4 days. To do this, the seeds are placed in a piece of cotton cloth, placed in a flat container and moistened with warm water as they dry.
The swollen seeds are planted in permanent pots, covered with film and placed in a warm place. After germination, the containers are moved to the window, and additional lighting is provided in winter. The first shoots appear after 2-2.5 weeks. When the plants have 5-6 leaves, leave one seedling per 4 liters of soil volume, the rest can be replanted.
The main care for peppers consists of regular watering with warm water as the soil dries, loosening and fertilizing. When growing peppers, you should remember that this crop loves light and does not respond well to sudden temperature changes and drafts. Almost all varieties of pepper need pollination, so during flowering it is necessary to shake the branches with flowers.
As you can see, growing vegetables on a windowsill is not difficult. Vegetable beds the apartment will not only provide for your family essential vitamins, but they will decorate the home, giving it a stylish, unique look.