Rules for feeding cucumbers with chicken droppings in open ground and greenhouses

Cucumbers, like other garden crops, require proper care and nutrition. Vegetable growers often wonder how and what to feed cucumbers in order to get a rich harvest. One of the most common and affordable fertilizers is chicken manure. Is it possible to use it and how to do it correctly, read our article.

Is it possible to feed cucumbers with chicken droppings?

Chicken manure is not suitable for fertilizing all crops.. It contains a high content of urea, which not all plants tolerate. But for cucumbers this is a good top dressing: it solves a number of problems during the growth and ripening of fruits.

Reference. Chicken excrement is not inferior in quality to cow manure and commercial fertilizers.

Let's take a closer look at the pros and cons of feeding cucumbers with chicken droppings.

The advantages include:

1. The presence of trace elements such as nitrogen, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium and cobalt. They increase the immunity of cucumbers against fungal diseases and harmful insects, accelerate the growth and gain of green mass of the plant.
2. Beneficial effect on soil structure. Excellent solubility promotes intensive growth of the bush and increases the yield of cucumbers.
3. Destruction of yeast and mold fungi in the soil, thereby protecting plants from diseases.
4. Saving time and money. Unlike complex fertilizers, which are used every year, a one-time soil treatment with chicken manure lasts for 2-3 years.
5. Natural and environmentally friendly.
6. It is easily absorbed by the plant and accelerates the process of fruit ripening by 1-2 weeks.

Disadvantages of use chicken manure:

1. It may contain weed seeds, which will subsequently sprout in the garden bed.
2. Chicken manure is not compatible with such types of fertilizers as lime, Nitroammofoska, saltpeter, Ammophos, ammonium sulfate and Diammophos. They will reduce its effectiveness.
3. Presence of infectious agents, incl. helminths and salmonellosis.

It can be useful:

When is it necessary to feed cucumbers with urea?

Top dressing for cucumbers in the greenhouse during fruiting

What are the benefits of feeding cucumbers with ammonia?

How to properly prepare a feeding solution

If you keep chickens yourself or have somewhere to get fresh droppings, remember that the process of preparing a feeding solution will be different from fertilizer prepared from ready-made granular droppings.

Granulated litter

Advantages of ready-made fertilizer:

• no unpleasant odor;
• absence of pathogenic bacteria, larvae, helminths;
• weed seeds will not sprout due to heat treatment;
• its shelf life is much longer;
• Methods for preparing and applying fertilizer are indicated on the packaging.

Granules are used both dry and dissolved. Dry granules are scattered on the ground before digging in the fall.

Preparing the infusion

The infusion is prepared depending on the stage of plant development.

For feeding cucumbers at the initial stage, starting from seedlings until the plants flower, the solution is prepared in the following proportion: 1 kg of litter per 50 liters of water. For flowering cucumbers, during the period of budding and the appearance of ovaries, 1 kg per 100 liters of water is diluted. This solution is infused for 24 hours.Consumption – approximately 1 liter per bush.

Important! After feeding with infusion, the bushes must be watered with water.

Homemade chicken manure solution

If you are using fresh poultry excrement, it is important to maintain proportions, because a concentrated solution may burn the cucumber roots.

Methods for preparing the solution at home:

1. Fermented mixture. We take chicken manure in dry form and fill it with water in a ratio of 1:20 and put it in a dark place. We regularly monitor the fermentation process. As soon as the liquid stops bubbling, and this is after 2-3 weeks, the solution is ready. After straining, you can water the bushes.
2. Infusion. It cooks faster in time and is most effective during the period of green mass growth. To make the infusion, take rotted droppings, add water, mix thoroughly and let it brew for 2-3 days. The finished infusion is light brown in color, like weakly brewed tea. If it turns out darker, dilute with water to the desired consistency.
3. The solution is also prepared from liquid chicken manure. To do this, collect chicken excrement and immediately fill it with water (0.5 kg of excrement per 10 liters of water). Let it sit for 4-5 days and water the seedlings.

Read also:

How to feed cucumbers with ash

How to feed cucumbers for their record yield

Timing for applying fertilizer

The basic rule for fertilizing cucumbers is that moderation is good in everything.. Don’t overdo it, monitor the condition of the seedlings and bushes, their appearance will tell you everything:

1. We carry out the first feeding when four leaves appear on the bushes. Pour the aqueous solution of chicken manure strictly under the root.
2. The second time we feed the cucumber bushes during the flowering period.
3. The third time we apply fertilizing during the appearance of the first fruits.
4. You can feed the cucumbers a fourth time if new fruits stop appearing.

Step-by-step instructions for fertilizing cucumbers with chicken droppings

Regardless of where cucumbers are grown, in a greenhouse or in open ground, the rules for applying fertilizing and preparing the solution are the same.

Important! When grown in a greenhouse, cucumbers are fed for the first time at the planting stage. Fertilizing cucumbers with chicken droppings in open ground is carried out after the first leaves appear, but before flowering.

Fertilizer application algorithm:

1. We water the wells with a pre-prepared working solution.
2. We plant seedlings in the holes.
3. We water each bush with water to avoid burns to the roots of the plant.
4. During the flowering period, before applying fertilizer, first water each bush with 2 liters of water, then water with the solution and again with water.
5. When feeding cucumbers during budding and fruiting, pour the solution not under each bush, but between the rows. Then water thoroughly again.

Advice from experienced summer residents

To avoid making the mistakes of most beginners, take advantage of useful advice from experienced summer residents:

• Do not fertilize cucumbers with fresh chicken feces. The concentration of uric acid in them is high and can burn the root system. Apply fertilizer only in the form of weakly concentrated solutions;
• chicken droppings have a very unpleasant pungent odor. To get rid of it, leave the droppings in the open air for a while so that the smell disappears;
• If, when applying fertilizer, the solution gets on the leaves of cucumbers, immediately wash them with water so that they do not get burned;
• Collect chicken droppings along with straw or hay and store in buckets or bags. If you want to keep it for a long time, get a special box.

Conclusion

Growing cucumbers is not a difficult task, but it requires attention and care from gardeners. Many people take 1-2 dozen chickens for the summer dacha period and use chicken droppings as free fertilizer for cucumbers and other crops. If you do not have this opportunity, use ready-made bird droppings in granules, the result will be no less pleasing.

By properly and timely fertilizing cucumbers with chicken manure, you will speed up the process of their ripening and increase the yield several times. Have a rich harvest!