The main thing in cucumbers is taste and health benefits, but I also want the vegetables to have an attractive appearance. Crooked cucumbers can be cut into a salad, but they don’t look very good in jars. The shape of the fruit turns out to be curved for various reasons. In most cases, special feeding can help, replenishing the nutritional deficiency and having a beneficial effect on the development of greens.
The main causes of curvature of fruits
Sometimes the crooked shape of cucumbers is associated with the characteristics of the variety. In other cases, the following reasons contribute to this:
- unbalanced feeding;
- violations of agricultural technology;
- untimely harvest.
If the cucumbers are planted properly (without the proximity of parthenocarpic and bee-pollinated varieties), the rules of crop rotation are followed, the bushes have enough moisture, and the greens are harvested on time, then the reason is an imbalance or deficiency of nutrients.
Curvature of the fruit can be caused by a lack of potassium. In this case, the greens acquire a barrel-shaped shape with a narrowing near the stalk. If the fruits are light in color and are wider near the stalk than at the tip, the cause should be sought in a lack of nitrogen. When cucumbers lack several minerals at once, they can take on bizarre shapes. You can influence the situation by selecting appropriate fertilizers.
Choosing the right fertilizer
Cucumbers can be fed with mineral and organic fertilizers.They choose the composition based on the needs of the culture, assessing what exactly it lacks.
Potash fertilizers
Potassium fertilizers can be applied in two ways - in the form of root and foliar feeding. If you spray on the leaf, the food will reach its target faster. Substances added at the root take longer to be absorbed. From mineral fertilizers you can choose:
- potassium nitrate;
- potassium sulfate;
- potassium chloride;
- potassium humate.
For root feeding, use the standard dosage specified by the manufacturer; for spraying on the leaf, the concentration of the solution is reduced by 2 times.
An excellent source of potassium is wood ash. Ash powder contains 14-17% potassium carbonate. In addition, the composition of the ash includes:
- calcium;
- magnesium;
- sodium;
- silicon;
- sulfur.
If potassium starvation is not severe, a solution is prepared from 10 liters of water and 1 cup of ash. In the case when the symptoms of potassium starvation also appear on the leaves in the form of a light, drying border, the dose of ash can be doubled.
Compositions with nitrogen
Nitrogen can be supplied to cucumbers in the form of minerals and organic fertilizers. The culture responds well to any feeding.
Mineral fertilizers with nitrogen are used:
- ammonium nitrate;
- urea (urea);
- calcium nitrate;
- ammonium sulfate.
Fertilizers can be applied in granules or in the form of a solution after watering or rain. It is impossible to exceed the dosage specified by the manufacturer, otherwise active growth of green mass will begin to the detriment of fruiting.
Organic substances rich in nitrogen:
- mullein infusion;
- infusion of bird droppings;
- green fertilizer from mowed grass.
Organic matter is absorbed by cucumbers, but such fertilizing takes time to prepare. On average, the infusion takes 10 days to prepare; in cool weather, the fermentation process takes even longer.
The raw materials are placed in a barrel, filling it halfway. The remaining space is filled with water, slightly short of the top edge of the container. Cover the barrel with a lid and stir the composition daily. Before use, the infusion is filtered and diluted with clean water. To 1 part of manure and herbal infusion I add 10 parts of water. The infusion of chicken manure is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:20.
Complex fertilizers with microelements
A deficiency of several elements occurs in poor soil. If cucumbers are planted in soil containing up to 50% sand, nutrients can be washed out by water during watering and rain.
In this case, it is difficult to guess which elements the vegetable crop lacks. It is better to use fertilizers with the broadest possible composition. Today, all manufacturers produce such supplements. You can choose a universal fertilizer for vegetables from the following companies:
- "Buy fertilizers";
- "OrganicMix";
- "Agricola";
- "FASCO";
- "HERA"
- "Fertika".
An even more impressive effect can be achieved if you buy a specialized fertilizer for cucumbers, in the development of which the manufacturer took into account all the needs of this crop. Such complexes are produced by FASKO, Zdraven, SOTKA, Master and other agricultural firms.
Complex preparations are used in greenhouses and in open ground.If the weather is cool, it is better to spray the leaves with a nutrient solution, since in cold soil the suction function of the roots worsens.
Sometimes, despite all the efforts of gardeners, cucumbers continue to produce distorted fruits. This usually happens in open ground if the weather changes suddenly. The adaptogen Epin-Extra will help protect plants from stress. Spraying with the composition will strengthen the immunity of cucumbers and will have a beneficial effect on fruiting.
