When is it better to pick cucumbers, in the morning or in the evening, and what determines the characteristics of harvesting?

It would seem that if you grow cucumbers on your plot, what’s easier: go to the bush and pick as many fruits as you need. But even the cucumber harvest has its own rules and taboos. In the morning or evening, with your hands or with a knife, before watering or after - read about this and more in the article.

When is the best time to pick cucumbers: morning or evening

What time of day is it best to harvest crops from the garden? At any time convenient for you. It all depends on the degree of maturity, the size of the fruit and the intended use. It is better to harvest early in the morning or late in the evening, since cucumbers are saturated and retain a large amount of moisture, which makes them more elastic.

Important! Do not pick cucumbers with your fingers. Use pruning shears or a knife. Leave the stalks on the vines.

During harvesting, do not tug or pull the fruit or turn over the leaves.. Otherwise, you will damage the plant and its roots.

After harvesting, the greens are placed in a cool place and covered with a cloth.to protect from wind and sun.

Cucumber harvest in June

To get a harvest in June, it is necessary to plant it for seedlings in late March - early April. In early May it is transplanted into open ground.

Reference. One of the earliest - a hybrid Herman F1. Shoots appear 39-41 days from the appearance of sprouts. The length of the fruit reaches 10 cm. The yield reaches 23-26 kg per square meter. m. It has a long fruiting period, immunity to fungi, and self-pollinates.

To get the first early harvest, follow this algorithm:

1. Dig a trench about 1.5 spade depths.
2. Fill the hole one-third full with last year's manure.
3. Add fertilizer - for example, ash or Nitroammofoska.
4. Sprinkle about 10-15 cm of soil with humus on top.
5. Plant seedlings at intervals of five bushes per meter.
6. Cover the plantings with non-woven material and stretch plastic film over it.
7. As soon as the plants put out tendrils, remove the covering material. Tie the sprouts to the trellises.

If you want to reap a large and high-quality harvest, then follow the correct watering mode. In hot weather, water the cucumbers every day. On rainy, cloudy days, when the air temperature drops, irrigate the soil as it dries. And do not overdo it with the volume of water, otherwise the cucumbers will lose all their taste.

Important! Remove the shoots from cucumbers - they take nutrients from the main vines. To avoid losing productivity, do not allow the bushes to thicken.

When the first harvest appears, pick the fruits, do not wait until they gain weight. The more often you do this, the higher the yield will be.

Harvesting in greenhouses and open ground

By growing cucumbers in a greenhouse, you can enjoy their taste as early as March. Several varieties and hybrids have been bred specifically for greenhouses.

Self-pollinating ones include:

• Masha F1;
• Siberian garland F1;
• Emerald Flow F1;
• Corinna F1.

Bee-pollinated varieties and hybrids:

• Ira F1;
• Delicious;
• Madame F1;
• Elegant;
• Alligator F1;
• Pickling.

Mid-season varieties of cucumbers can be grown both in greenhouses and in open ground:

• Chinese disease-resistant F1;
• Nugget;
• Sister Alyonushka F1;
• Fontana F1;
• Libelle F1.

Suitable for open ground the following varieties of late-ripening cucumbers:

• Nezhinsky;
• Brownie F1;
• Crunch F1.

Cucumber hybrids (F1) give a large yield, are unpretentious, with different types of pollination.

To get maximum yield, necessary:

1. Maintain temperature conditions. For young plants – +25-27°C, for fruit-bearing plants – +27-30°C.
2. Avoid allowing temperatures to drop too low at night.
3. Water early in the morning once every 3-4 days with warm water. Water should only fall on the soil, and in no case on the leaves.
4. Increase watering when the first ovaries appear, and run water between the rows during hot days. This will increase air humidity.
5. If the soil was not fertilized with organic matter before planting the seedlings, it is important to regularly feed it with complex mineral fertilizers. Stop fertilizing three weeks before harvest.

What size cucumbers are best to pick?

Do you like to crunch young cucumbers or collect seeds? Then pick small unripe fruits or large ones with large seeds, respectively.

Cucumbers are collected once every two days.. If you don't pick the fruits in time, they will turn into large, thick-skinned "yellows." This product is not suitable for consumption. In addition, such specimens interfere with the growth of new cucumbers and draw out all the beneficial substances and forces from the vine.

The degree of ripeness of a cucumber can be determined by the following factors::

• the structure of the fetus is formed;
• the secondary flower fragment dries out;
• in the area where the fruit joins the vine, the color is uniform;
• the tip has dried out.

The nuances of collection depending on the intended use of cucumbers

Cucumbers are harvested at different times when they are ripe, depending on what you plan to do with them.

Do you plan to eat it fresh or add it to salads?? Pick when the fruits reach 10 cm or more.

The size of the fruit depends on:

• varieties;
• growing method;
• nutrient content in the soil.

For canning collect cucumbers 8-10 cm long. For pickling - 8-18 cm long.

For special purposes and special recipes The fruits are very small, 3-4 cm.

If you need fruits to collect seeds, then F1 hybrids are not suitable - only varieties.

Storing the harvested crop

The best way to store fresh cucumbers is in the refrigerator.. At low temperatures and high humidity, you will save your crop from withering:

• the optimal temperature for storing fruits is 6-8°C;
• humidity - 85-95%.

When stored in the refrigerator the fruits are placed in a plastic bag without tying it, placed on the bottom shelf refrigerator. You can cover them with a damp cloth.

Important! Do not seal the bag with cucumbers tightly! Otherwise, in 2-3 days they will “suffocate” and lose their taste.

For storage in the cellar, take trays or boxes, cover with film. This method ensures the presence of the necessary moisture and delays the evaporation of water. It is possible to use enamel pans with lids.

If you don't plan To store cucumbers for a long time, place them in water in the form of a bouquet with the stems down. Water should cover only the lower parts of the fruit and their stalks. In this case, leave the stalks long. Change the water daily.

If you want to To preserve cucumbers for as long as possible, then use a glass jar, after dipping chopped or grated horseradish into it, following these instructions:

1. Heat the jars in the oven.
2. Rinse with boiled water and dry. Be careful with the skin, don’t damage it.
3. Sprinkle about 2 cm of horseradish on the bottom of the jar.
4. Then add cucumbers.
5. Seal filled jars with boiled plastic lids or use vacuum canning lids. For the latter, first pump out air through them.
6. Place the finished jars in a cool, dark place.

Another way to keep cucumbers fresh is to use raw egg whites.:

1. Collect cucumbers.
2. Rinse with boiled water, dry thoroughly.
3. Coat completely with egg white.
4. Don't touch the stem.
5. While the protein dries and until a reliable film forms, hang the cucumbers by the stalk.

Storing cucumbers in this way allows you to keep them fresh almost until the New Year., even without a refrigerator.

Conclusion

If you want to use cucumbers directly for food or salads, then harvest them slightly unripe early in the morning. If you need to collect seeds and save them for next year, then wait until the cucumbers are fully ripe, when they reach a size greater than 18 cm. A refrigerator or cellar will help keep the cucumbers fresh for as long as possible. Have a rich harvest!