Maximizing cucumbers isn't rocket science if you keep a few things in mind. For example, it can help prevent cucumber disease and ensure a consistent harvest.
Everyone has heard that tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) have to be pinched. But what about cucumbers (Cucumis sativus)? Do you also have to pinch cucumber plants and if so, how do you go about it? This article provides answers to questions on the subject and a guide on how to max out cucumbers. It also discusses which types of cucumbers should be pinched.
Do you have to exhaust cucumbers?
People are divided on the question of whether cucumbers need to be maxed out, and whether you really get higher yields by maxing out cucumber plants has not been scientifically proven. Nevertheless, regardless of the question of the yield, there are some good reasons that speak for the max.
- Growth control: Especially in the greenhouse, where space is often at a premium, you don't want cucumbers growing in all directions. Ausgeizen can help to guide the plants upwards in a controlled manner on climbing aids.
- Disease Prevention: Many diseases attack the plant from the ground up. In addition, most pathogens, such as powdery mildew, feel most comfortable in warm and humid climates. If you remove the lower side shoots and thin out the foliage a bit, you ensure better ventilation and faster drying of the plants. A lot has already been done with this to protect your plants from diseases.
- Direction of the growth energy into the fruit: What you want to harvest from the cucumber plant is a lot of fruit and no long side shoots. Therefore, it can be worthwhile to discourage the growth of too many side shoots so that the plant puts more energy into fruiting.
Disadvantages of maxing out
However, the advantages of maxing out are offset by some disadvantages.
- You could possibly remove fertile side shoots.
- Since the plant is always wounded by pruning, there are also entry points for pathogens. Therefore, if possible, you should use it in the morning and when the weather is dry. The wounds dry quickly and most pathogens have a hard time without water.
Ultimately, you have to find out for yourself whether the benefit outweighs the time required to make the most of it. There is good news, however, because unlike tomatoes, only one side shoot forms in each leaf axil of cucumbers. That means: A one-off is sufficient.
Cucumber: Instructions
Once you have decided to go all out, the further procedure is not difficult. All you need is your fingers and possibly a sharp knife for side shoots that have grown a bit larger. It is best to start with the pinching from below. But which shoots should you remove from cucumbers?
- You can completely remove all side shoots on the bottom 50 cm. Fruits that would grow there would be on the ground. You should therefore regularly check your young plants for stinging shoots and remove them if necessary. If your cucumber plant is growing well and vigorously, after a while it may make sense to remove the lower leaves as well. Because the greater the distance between the ground and the first leaf, the more difficult it is for pathogens to penetrate the plant.
- From 50 cm you should regularly check the leaf axils for side shoots and cut them off behind the first one or two fruit buds.
- If your cucumber is literally outgrowing you and you don't know where else to direct the plant, it can be worth cutting off the main shoot at the end of the season. Fruits that the plant would now produce would not ripen anyway and so the remaining growth energy can be put into the remaining fruits that are still on the plant.
Tip: If the side shoots are still small and fresh, they can simply be broken out with your fingernails. From a length of about 5 cm, however, it is advisable to use a sharp knife. Because the bigger the wound, the more the plant is weakened and the bigger the entry point for pathogens that you leave behind. It is also important that the knife, in the best case, after each plantdisinfected, you can prevent yourself from transmitting diseases in your cucumber crop.
Which cucumbers to use depends less on the cucumber variety and more on the type of cultivation. Basically, one can say that cucumbers can be pinched out as soon as some kind of climbing aid is offered and space is tight. So cutting out cucumbers in the greenhouse always makes sense. It is also advisable to cut out lettuce and cucumbers, as these are usually overgrown. On the other hand, it is usually not necessary to cut down on outdoor cucumbers. Pickles and pickles grow on the ground anyway and have more space outside. Whether mini and snack cucumbers should be pinched also depends on the cultivation. If they are grown in pots on the balcony, squeezing out is usually not mentioned as a care measure, as already mentioned, but it can make sense in the narrow greenhouse.
Often cucumbers are also cultivated with two shoots. The lowest side shoot is also selected and trained as the main shoot. With this method, all other side shoots can then be removed and only the fruit buds in the leaf axils of the main shoots can be left, as there are two fruit shoots.
Tip: Cucumbers are heavy consumers. Sufficient fertilization is therefore particularly important for a rich cucumber harvest. In addition to various home remedies such as nettle manure or coffee grounds, our Plantura organic tomatoes & vegetable fertilizer is also ideal for providing the cucumber plant with sufficient nutrients. It also has an increased potassium content, which is optimally adapted to the requirements of cucumbers and is produced and packaged in a resource-saving manner.
You don't necessarily have to exhaust cucumbers. However, the situation is quite different for most tomato varieties. If you want to get high yields here, the plants should definitely be pinched. How to do this is explained in more detail in our article How to extract tomatoes.