🥒 Amazing Greenhouse Cucumber Farming And Harvesting - Modern Cucumber Agriculture Technology ▶32

You are about to start working at Abbewerkt in the cucumber growing business. In this short movie, we will briefly explain how things are done in cucumber cultivation. That way, you will know exactly what to do. Always disinfect your hands and shoes before entering the greenhouse. In cucumber cultivation, this disinfection is often done in a hygiene lock chamber. Two or three times a year, thousands of new cucumber plants are delivered to the greenhouse. All of them are then prepared for cultivation, one by one. Place a little plant on the mat or in the pot, secure it with a stick and insert the dropper so that the plant receives enough water. It is important you do this carefully in order not to damage the plants. A cucumber plant grows upwards along a rope. This rope hangs on the crop wire at the top of the greenhouse. The ropes are secured to the cucumber plants immediately after planting. You only use one rope for each plant. This work is not strenuous. If the plants are in a cultivation trench, you do this while walking. If the plants are on a substrate mat on the ground, then you sit in a cart and ride on your own around the greenhouse. In order to ensure that the plant grows upwards properly, the rope should always be turned around the plants. You also lower the plant. This tightening starts immediately after the securing and continues until the plant has grown all the way to the crop wire. You can do this work while walking if the plants are still small. Later, when the plants grow bigger, you use an electro-cart. If the plants are not in the cultivation trenches, you will have to bend in the beginning. Some growers do not opt for tightening, but for clipping. This is done in particular in high-wire cultivation. The plant is attached to the rope with clips so that it can grow upwards along the rope. Some companies use a device for this. At other growers, the clips are put on manually. Clipping is done immediately after the securing until the end of the growing period. In the beginning, it can still be done while walking. If the plants are not in the cultivation trenches, you will have to bend. After some time, you use an electro-cart when the plants grow bigger. The larger the plant becomes, the more new shoots the plant will get. It is important to remove these side shoots so that all the energy can flow to the head of the plant and the fruits. You start pruning immediately after securing and continue doing this until the end of the growing period. In the beginning, you do this work while walking. Sometimes you will have to bend to do this. When the plants get larger, you use a cart. Cucumber plants get several fruits. The cucumbers grow from these fruits. Fruits are regularly removed in the beginning of the growing period. This is called thinning. This ensures that the plant continues to grow in length and produces the desired number of cucumbers later on. You do this work while walking if you work with cultivation trenches. Otherwise, you start by sitting on a cart so that you do not need to bend too much. This job is done several times for each growing period. If a cucumber plant has too many leaves, the crop grows densely. The leaves prevent the new fruits from getting light, while it is also more difficult to harvest a densely grown crop, so the leaves must be removed. With traditional growing, this is done walking and at most a few times. In high wire cultivation, it is done throughout the growing period. The first cucumbers are ready to be harvested three to four weeks after the planting. The harvesting continues until the end of the growing period. You walk through the rows of cucumber plants behind the harvest cart. The crop wire hangs at a height of more than two metres. Therefore, it is easier to do if you are taller than 1.65 metres for this work, so that you can also reach the highest cucumbers. To determine whether a cucumber can be harvested, you check its weight carefully. A fully grown cucumber weighs between 350 and 400 grams. You cut the cucumber from the plant with a knife. Please ensure that you cut the stalk at the right length. Your team leader can show you the correct length. If necessary, remove the flower at the end of the cucumber. You then put the fruit in a crate or a container. It is important you do this carefully, so that you do not damage the plant and the cucumbers with your knife. Harvesting is physically much more demanding work. You have to reach and bend and sometimes move the full crates. The harvested cucumbers are sorted in a warehouse and packaged in boxes or crates. Then they are shipped to the customers. In the warehouse, it is not as warm as in the greenhouse, so wear normal clothing here. The cucumbers are on a conveyor belt during the sorting process. You sort the cucumbers on quality. You remove the crooked or damaged cucumbers. Then, a computer weighs the cucumbers. If necessary, the computer also sorts them according to format. You place the cucumbers in boxes or crates in the packaging line. Depending upon the sorting system, you either put these boxes away yourself, or they are automatically moved elsewhere. Sorting and packaging is done standing up. At some companies, the boxes or crates have to be lifted and put away. This can be rather heavy work. Here, too, your length matters. If you are taller than 1.65m, you can stack them more easily. Crop rotation occurs 2 to 3 times in a year. All plants are removed so that planting can begin again. The plants are cut along the crop wire with a cutting knife. This heavy work is done at a high speed. You work above your head quite a lot. Sometimes machines are used. In that case, you wear hearing protection. Now you know the basics of cultivation. It's time to start. Abbe Wercht wishes you lots of success in the cucumber greenhouse.