How is potassium nitrate useful for cucumbers during the fruiting period and how to use it correctly

For normal growth and fruiting, cucumbers need complete mineral nutrition. One of the important elements for the health of the crop and the ripening of a quality harvest is potassium. It is indispensable at any stage of the growing season. For fertilizing, gardeners use agrochemicals with a high content of this microelement, among which potassium nitrate is popular.

Why do cucumbers need potassium nitrate?

Potassium nitrate - universal fertilizer, which is used on almost any soil. The trace element is contained here in a form accessible to cucumbers; there are no unnecessary impurities. Fertilizing with potassium nitrate will make cucumbers resistant to adverse factors, especially drought: the product stimulates easier absorption of soil moisture.

Regular application of the agrochemical balances the processes of photosynthesis and respiration, strengthens the root system of plants, accelerates the development and growth of green mass.

What is useful during the fruiting period?

The fertilizer contains the optimal ratio of nitrogen and potassium to obtain quality parameters for fruits:

• cucumbers do not crack;
• less is formed barren flowers;
• productivity increases;
• vegetables are smooth and beautiful;
• taste improves.

Composition and properties of fertilizer

Potassium nitrate, potassium nitrate or potassium nitrate (mixture formula: KNO3) is a potassium-nitrogen agrochemical produced chemically.It is a white, odorless, crystalline powder or granules.

The mixture contains 2 active ingredients:

• nitrogen - 13%;
• potassium - 46%.

Nitrogen helps cucumbers grow faster and form green mass.

The main advantages of potassium nitrate over other fertilizers with the same microelement:

• does not contain chlorine, which is important for chlorophobic cucumbers;
• dissolves well in water;
• low toxic.

Potassium nitrate is flammable and explosive, so store it in a cool, dry place, away from sources of heat and fire. For the same reasons, fertilizer is not mixed with organic matter.

Important! In the room where the agrochemical is contained, maintain humidity at 60–65% so that the product does not harden.

Symptoms of potassium deficiency

With a lack of this element, cucumber leaves become smaller in size, become pale, turn yellow, become covered with brown spots, similar to burns, at the edges and die off. The stronger the crop's need for potassium, the more spots on the plants.

The lack of the element manifests itself on the lower leaves, since potassium is quite mobile and, with a limited supply, moves to the young parts of the bushes. In hot weather, the manifestation of nutritional deficiency increases. Such cucumbers feel the need for water earlier than others and wither.

Potassium deficiency has the greatest impact on the quantity and quality of the crop. Flowering is accompanied by an abundance of barren flowers and partial death of the ovaries. The fruits grow small, uneven in diameter, and twisted.

How to prepare the solution correctly

The dissolved substance replenishes the nutritional balance much faster. Fertilizer in liquid form is used when there are visible signs of potassium deficiency in the form of foliar fertilizing.

For the procedure to be beneficial, it is important to know the exact dosage when preparing the working fluid and follow the instructions on the pack of agrochemicals.

Proportions and instructions

Basic dosages of the substance:

1. For foliar feeding, more concentrated solutions are used: 25–30 g of mixture per 10 liters of water. The solution is consumed on the day of preparation.
2. When watering at the root, the dosage is reduced to 15–20 g/10 l.
3. For application to the soil in dry form (dry fertilizing, autumn digging of soil on the site and in the greenhouse, preparation of soil mixture for seedlings), use 15–20 g/m2.

It is better to use powder fertilizer for preparing liquid fertilizer, and granules are best applied to the soil in dry form. Granulated potassium nitrate is saturated with moisture more slowly and is stored longer.

Potassium nitrate for cucumbers during fruiting period

During the flowering period, future cucumbers are laid. How many there will be and how they will grow depends on the chosen variety, the efforts of the gardener and good nutrition. How to feed vegetables at this stage of the growing season? Potash fertilizers are applied both at the root and by spraying the plants, depending on the type of soil in the garden and the health of the crop.

Root feeding

Used on light soil types as it gives quick results:

1. To speed up flowering, cucumbers are fertilized in the phase of 2-3 true leaves. The dose for preparing the solution is 2-3 tbsp. l. (15–20 g) per 10 liters of water.
2. When the first flowers appear, 20 g of potassium nitrate and 30 g of superphosphate are dissolved in 10 liters of water. This product is used to feed the plants after watering. This amount of liquid is enough for 15 bushes.
3. At the moment of growth of the main mass of fruits, fertilizing is repeated (two weeks after the second fertilization).

Each subsequent feeding begins at the appropriate time: wait at least two weeks between procedures.

Attention! If cucumbers are regularly fed with potassium nitrate, then root watering will be sufficient.

Greenhouse vegetables require nutritional supplementation with potassium more often than those grown in open ground. The reasons for this are simple: the necessary elements do not fall with rain, watering washes them out of a limited area, and a closed space increases the risk of fungal diseases. If in the open ground, with cucumbers in good condition, only fertilizing is left during the fruiting period, then all 4 are carried out in the greenhouse.

Foliar feeding

On heavy and clayey soils, spraying with a solution of nitrate will be more effective. The same method is used if visible signs of potassium starvation are noticed on the plants. For spraying, granules or powder are dissolved in water. To avoid burning the leaves, prepare a less concentrated solution: 1-2 tbsp. l./10 l of water.

Rules for processing plants:

• spray in the morning and evening hours;
• fertilize only in dry, windless and cloudy weather;
• use personal protective equipment (gloves, goggles), and after work, wash your face and hands thoroughly with soap.

Leaves are treated no more than 2-3 times during the entire growing season.

Advice from experienced summer residents

Many farmers have appreciated the benefits of fertilizer for cucumbers.

Oleg, Kostroma region: «I grow cucumbers in a greenhouse for sale, so the friendly return of the harvest is of great importance. At first I fed the cucumbers with potassium chloride at the time of fruit set, but in 2017 I decided to try potassium nitrate from the Fasco company. I liked that the fertilizer is already in liquid form.Preparing the solution is a pleasure: you measure out a cap onto a bucket of water, and that’s it! The price of the fertilizer is higher than that of cheap analogues, but in my case the investment was justified.”

Olga, Moscow region: “I have acidic soil in my garden. The fertilizer for cucumbers is good, but if you look from the point of view of agrochemistry (I am a chemist by training), then only one element is used - potassium. Nitrogen does not work on acidic soils, but on purely alkaline soils, on the contrary, potassium will lie as a dead weight. For me, a pensioner, it is also expensive. I feed my cucumbers with ash and am happy with the result.”

Anastasia, Klin: “My husband and I are just starting to garden. The plot was given with poor soils. In the fall, manure was applied, and in the spring, cucumbers were planted under the film. The culture was growing and had already begun to bear its first fruits. We were about to harvest this weekend when we discovered that the lower leaves had turned yellow. Whatever we did: watered, looked for pests, used home remedies, but the plants stopped growing and setting fruit. A neighbor helped, advising us to spray them with potassium nitrate. I did everything as in the instructions. After 4-5 days, the cucumbers came to life and continued to set ovaries.”

Conclusion

Potassium nitrate is widely used over large areas and is effective both when applied to the soil and when irrigating cucumbers. The fertilizer is available in dry and liquid form. To be sure of the harvest, the product is used according to the instructions, applied during the period of flowering and fruit set. It is important to remember that an excess of nitrogen and potassium is harmful to plants, as is their deficiency.