Cucumbers Plantation in Hydroponic Systems

Planting in a hydroponic system is one of the plantation ways you can practice at home. Hydroponic system allows you to plant vegetables without soil but use water instead. Water on the hydroponic system consists of nutrients needed to grow the vegetables so it is very possible to have hydroponic plants at home.

Nowadays hydroponics has become so popular, particularly in urban areas where there is limited land to plant on soil. Hydroponic is a solution since it is simple and easy to practice. People can have a hydroponic garden on the rooftop or in the backyard.

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There are many kinds of vegetables you can plant on a hydroponic system, for example cucumbers. Cucumber is a popular vegetable in our daily life. So it is a good choice to have some cucumbers planted within the hydroponic system at home. Let's dive deeper into how to plant cucumbers in a hydroponic system.

Preparation for cucumbers seeds

Before starting exploring how to plant hydroponic cucumbers, there are some preparations you need to do. First is preparing cucumber seeds. Whether you want to plant hydroponically or not, preparing cucumber seeds is a must thing to do. There are so many kinds of cucumber seed options to choose from. Some of the popular seeds such as Erina, Batara, Baby baresta, Herculas plus, Zatavy, Master As, Etha 87, Ethana, Bandana, Metavy, Harmony Plus, etc.

Hydroponic Seedling process

There are many other cucumber seeds we can find from different countries all over the globe, because commonly agricultural research institutions develop the seed that is suitable to their geographical condition. You are free to choose any cucumber seeds.

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Hydroponic system

After choosing cucumber seeds you like. Next you are about to read some information about the hydroponic system. However, for beginners you are recommended to read about some important aspects of the hydroponic system. Some basic knowledge you need to learn are Deep Water Culture, Wick System, Nutrients Film Technique (NFT), Drop System, and Aeroponics.

Once you have a better understanding of one technique then you Will be easier to understand others, you are probably able to make some modification based on your hydroponic plantation experience later.

Environment Circumstances

Environmental consideration is one aspect that you need to understand to grow any plants, including cucumbers. Just like other plants, cucumbers also need a match with environmental circumstances to make them grow well.

A few aspects of environment to note before planting cucumbers are as follows:
Temperature, one of the important components you need to pay attention to anytime you plant something is temperature. It is because the temperature of the nutrients fluid you put on the hydroponic system is very easy to change. Any plants you have on a hydroponic system are very sensitive to temperature changing, including cucumbers. Normally cucumbers grow at 77 F, if the temperature is too cold their growth might not be optimal.

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pH, similar to temperature, the pH is also easy to change depending on nutrient fluids you have. When you mix a nutrient fluid that consists of some different substance but not balanced proportion, some substances have more volume and others have less volume. This case causes the pH change of nutrients fluid. The best pH for the cucumber hydroponic system is around 6.7 to 7.0.

Harvest period, cucumbers in a hydroponic system just like planting on soil can be harvested after 30 days. Do not harvest the cucumbers before it is 30 days from the last time they were harvested.
Sunlight, I do believe that you have known that all plants commonly get better growth if they get enough sunlight. You also have to make sure that your hydroponic cucumber does not get too much sunlight during the day. It is able to cause drought.

Technique, there are so many hydroponic techniques to practice at home regarding hydroponic systems. Two recommended techniques you may better implement are DWC or NFT.

All factors above are important to learn day by day to increase a better performance of you in running hydroponic gardens at home. All those factors affect cucumber growth if it is going to be optimal or vice versa.

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Hydroponic Cucumber Seedling

Before the seeds are ready to plant on a hydroponic system, firstly it is needed to be in the seedling process. Seedling process on a hydroponic system is just the same as that on ground or soil. Before seedling prepare some tools as follows

Seeds that ready to plant
Huge tray for seedling
Rockwooll, a plantation medium
Toothpicks
Tweezers
Water as needed

Steps to do

Take the huge tray you have prepared previously. Fill it full of water. Make sure that the water is neutral, therefore it is recommended to use rainwater, well water, or groundwater.
Soak cucumber seeds in warm water to make it lenient.
Prepare the rockwool. Cut the rockwool as many seeds as you want to plant. Cut it into cubical pieces with size 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm.
Perforate it with a toothpick to a depth of one cm.
Put every seed on a piece of rockwool then put it on the tray
Make sure the rockwool gets enough sunlight to optimize seed’s growth.

Once a seed grows and shows at least four leaves, it indicates that the seed is ready to move to the hydroponic system. This process commonly takes two weeks based on the quality of seeds you have.
During seedling process always make sure the rockwools are wet enough.