You ’ve yield yourself a startle on the horticulture season by starting yourcucumbers indoorssix weeks before your last frost date . Now , your seedlings have sprout and their first , notched - edged “ true leaves ” have emerged . In other words , it ’s clock time to set about a seedling guardianship regime that will turn them into vigorous fruit - bear vines in just a couple of months .
Feeding
While peat pots of seed - fledgeling mix are corking for germinating cucumber vine , they have nothing to nourish the seedling . To mend that , you necessitate to move them — in their tummy — to larger good deal of constituent potting mix . Your cuke will give thanks you because :
Expert gardener ’s tip : prefer containers about one - quarter to one - third big than the current ones — for model , move a 3 - in to a 4 - inch one .
Repotting
irrigate the seedlings well . While they enfeeble , meet the bottom quarter of the larger potful with the organic potting dirt . Carefully peel away the top one - third and bottom of the seedling pot to expose the roots and then center them in the larger pot . Fill around them with more soil and urine lightly to settle it .
Watering
Cuke seedlings call for enough day-after-day water to keep their soil moist . water supply just enough that the peat pots neither wick by all the wet nor begin disintegrating from it .
Light
From the clip they sprout , cukes seedling need a day-to-day minimum of six hour of light . If possible , place yours in a south- , southwest- or southeast - facing windowpane . Weak , tall-growing seedling are short on Sunday . Supplement whet they get with full - spectrum head lights . attend the lights at the manufacturer ’s recommend length from the plant and keep them on 24/7 .
Expert nurseryman ’s tip : Set your individual pot far enough apart that the seedlings wo n’t begin to fill in each other as they produce .
Temperature
As the descendent of plant life originating in Southeast Asia , cuke seedling like it ardent . Aim for a daytime temperature of around 74 ° F ( 23 ° C ) with nights ranging between 60 ° and 70 ° F ( 15 ° and 21 ° C ) . To give the seedlings an edge on adjusting to outdoor life , place an vibrate devotee nearby . The moving air will commence to windproof their stalk .
Hardening-Off
select a warm , tranquil day one or two week before you intend to plant your seedlings in the garden . Set them in a sheltered billet with indirect sunlight for about an 60 minutes . Repeat each Clarence Day , step by step moving them into direct Dominicus . When they can digest it from morning time until dusk , it’stransplantingtime ! .
Expert gardener ’s peak : During the hardening - off summons , cut any day when the temperature is presage to overleap below 60 ° F ( 15.5 ° light speed ) .
