Why cucumbers have an irregular shape

When growing a cucumber crop in a greenhouse or in open ground, some summer residents wonder why the cucumbers have an irregular shape: either the vegetables are crooked, sometimes grow in the form of an uneven pear, or they are pot-bellied and hook-shaped. It turns out that in order to get even fruits, it is not enough to plant the seedlings in the greenhouse.It is necessary to eliminate the reasons for the formation of irregularly shaped cucumbers, including ensuring proper care, proper nutrition, the required agricultural technology and timely harvesting.

Causes of irregular shape of cucumbers

Improper nutrition

Improperly selected mineral nutrition when vegetables lacking useful components, it may also be the reason why cucumbers grow crooked, of irregular shape.

Lack of potassium

The lack of the trace element responsible for the formation of cucumber fruits is one of common causes of change and curvature of the shape of cucumbers.The lack of potassium at the flowering stage and before direct fruit formation leads to potassium starvation of plants, as a result of which a narrow “buttock” begins to form in the fruits and the lower part of the fruit is quite wide in comparison with it. The deformation of the shape of cucumbers in the form of a pear, when there is not enough potassium, is also accompanied by the appearance of a yellow border on the edges of the leaf blades.

Recommendations

To increase the potassium content in the soil soil by applying root top dressing with the content ashes. 1-1.5 L of ash powder is dissolved in a 10-liter volume of water, kept for several days until a concentrate is obtained, and the concentrated mixture is diluted with water in a proportion of 1:10 L.

To compensate for the lack of potassium, use ready-made fertilizers that incorporate the desired component. Potassium sulfate is bred at the rate of 3-4 large spoons per 10 liters of water and watered cucumber bushes with a consumption rate of 0.5 liters for each seedling.

Correct the situation so that the vegetables change their appearance on time and became classically straight, it is possible to use additional foliar top dressing, which is carried out with preparations containing potassium with a concentration of 2 times less than when watering.

Lack of nitrogen

When the foliage on the cucumber bush changes color and begins to fade, and the fruits are twisted or form with a wide base and narrow end, these are signs that the vegetable culture not enough nitrogen.

Recommendations

Chicken droppings or grassy infusions allow soil to be saturated with nitrogen-containing components.

Chicken droppings are used as compost made with peat, sawdust and straw for 1.5-2 months or in liquid form, when it is diluted with water 50/50 and stands for 2-3 days. Concentrated solutions are diluted with water in a proportion of 1:10 and the row spacing is watered with working fluid.

Nettle is distinguished among suitable herbs for preparing solutions, the foliage and stems of which are crushed, filled with water and fermented for 7-14 days, diluted again with water in a ratio of 1:10 for irrigation or 1:20 for spraying with foliar top dressing and is used at intervals of 2 weeks to improve the condition of cucumber plantings.

Violation of agricultural technology

One of main reasons why cucumbers are deformed by crochet and a hundred a pear-shaped form is a violation of the rules of agricultural technology for the cultivation of cucumber crops.

Crop rotation

Planted after pumpkin crops, strawberries, eggplant and tomatoes, taking all potassium from the soil, cucumbers grow incorrectly forms: become pear-shaped or hooked.

Recommendations

In the conditions of limited cultivated areas, it is possible to replenish the soil fertility by planting green manure before late planting. The most potassium green fertilizer of all green manure is oats.

Unsuitable varieties

The reason for the deformation of the fruit is often the incorrectly picked variety

Cucumbers bend, become round or twist if the variety is not selected correctly: it does not fit the description for a specific season. Thus, photophilous and thermophilic varieties by the end of the summer period will certainly begin to respond to lower ambient temperatures and less daylight hours, which will begin to change their shape.

Recommendations

Early varieties of cucumbers that love light and heat , you need to plant a little earlier and harvest them before the end of August.

The percentage of potential formation of ugly vegetables is the least likely to occur in the Twiksi, Paratunk and Othello hybrids. By the end of August, in 100% of cases it will be possible to get curved fruits with a thin stalk or an ugly shape from Patti, the Champion and the Little s-finger.

Wrong neighborhood

Pollinated and parthenocarpic varieties of cucumbers do not plant next to each other, especially in a closed greenhouse.Parthenocarpic varieties are intended for cultivation mainly indoors, since hybrids form an ovary without pollination. But when their flowers in the vicinity of inflorescences of classical varieties attract pollinating insects, in most cases this leads to deformation of the fruit and the growth of irregularly shaped cucumbers.

Recommendations

The neighboring varieties isolate the sown area non-woven covering material from each other. Also, when growing hybrid varieties, you should not often open the window in the greenhouse so as not to attract insects and eliminate the risk of pollinating parthenocarpic varieties with other varieties.

Violation of the rules of care

Improper care after cucumber plantings can cause cucumbers to deform.

Thermal conditions

Too low temperature or indicators above 30-35 ° C lead to a decrease in digestibility of potassium cucumber culture, as a result what changes the shape of the cucumbers.

Recommendations

During the hot season, regular ventilation of the closed greenhouse is required. Some summer residents for the summer season whitewash the roof of greenhouses so that a lot of sunlight does not pass through it. To save the cucumber bushes from the cool weather at night, the water barrels installed in the daytime help to accumulate heat during the day, giving it away on a cool night.

When growing cucumbers on open soil, mini-greenhouses are installed to protect against coolness. Covering materials are used from excess heat and create a shadow.

Watering

Non-observance of watering rules in a situation when the soil has been dry for a long time causes the cucumbers to grow crocheted and obtained deformed.

The cucumbers are irregular in shape and when the vegetable crop is too cold water. In this case, the screed forms in the middle of the vegetables and the cucumbers look like crooked barrels.

Recommendations

To ensure that the shape of the cucumber is not twisted into a hook and the vegetables are not bitter, use water at least 18 when watering ° C.

Untimely harvesting

A late harvest of cucumbers can also affect the further change in the shape of future fruits. Overgrowths present on the cucumber lash not only lose their taste characteristics, but also inhibit the further development of young vegetables, disrupting the intake of full-fledged mineral nutrition, resulting in a completely different shape from the classic cucumber.

It is recommended to harvest cucumber at least once a day to provide young Zelentsy with the opportunity to eat.

In the case when it is not possible to maintain the collection of cucumber with proper frequency, experienced gardeners recommend removing vegetables at least every 2-3 days all at once – from fully ripened to small gherkins, grown up to 4 cm. At the same time, when collecting a cucumber crop, you should pay attention to the quality of the cucumber lashes:

• it’s important that they don’t break out and rot,
• are old those that have begun to dry out should be removed,
• greenbacks with signs of pathology and disease do not leave.