For a prolonged and quality harvest, continuous renewal of the plant is essential. In cucumbers, this is achieved through timely and frequent pruning of vines, removing excess leaves, and poor-quality fruits.
Most cucumber growers in greenhouses use seedless female-type cultivars (parthenocarpic and gynoecious hybrids). These plants have large leaves, strong vegetative growth, and high yield potential.
Cucumbers grow indefinitely and produce flowers at the leaf axils. If allowed to grow freely, the plant will produce too many fruits at once, which cannot be sufficiently nourished, leading to fruit drop and many deformed and poorly colored fruits. Therefore, pruning is essential, and the rule of thumb is “the more you prune, the more and better you will harvest.” The pruning method depends on the cultivar type and the plant’s condition. There are two main pruning systems based on how the main vine is managed: the umbrella system and the “braid” system. Both methods involve removing side shoots and flowers up to a height of 50 – 70 cm to accelerate plant growth and enable earlier and more successful harvesting.
Umbrella System Pruning
The main vine is guided and wrapped around a string. When the main vine grows beyond the wire, its tip is pruned, and it is secured to the wire to prevent the weight of the fruits from pulling it down. Side shoots that appear up to this point are removed. Two side shoots near the top of the plant are left and draped over the wire to hang down. These begin to grow downward on each side, replacing the main vine. On the first-order side shoots, the first two second-order side shoots are left. The tops of the plant are left 50 cm from the ground, and their tips are pinched. After harvesting from the first second-order shoot, that shoot is pruned to allow the faster development of the others. On all shoots, one leaf with one fruit is left.
Braid System Pruning
Cucumbers are grown on a mesh attached to a wire, and the vines are threaded through. The main vine is guided until it grows beyond the wire, and its tip is pinched. At this point, the nearest side vine takes over its role. If too few side shoots are developing on the main vine, earlier pinching of the plant’s tip is done. All side shoots and flowers up to 50 – 70 cm in height are removed. For the next 50 – 70 cm, side shoots are allowed to develop one leaf with one fruit, then pruned. Up to the wire height, side branches are allowed to develop two leaves with one fruit, then pruned. The lateral vine at the top is draped over the wire and pruned to three leaves, each with one fruit. Further pruning of the side shoots follows the same method as for the main vine.
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