Tips on how to Plant, Expand, and Harvest Cucumbers

Cucumbers are weak-stemmed delicate annuals that broaden best possible imaginable in temperatures ranging from 60° to 90°F (15°-32° C). Some varieties broaden like a bush, others are vining.

Rapid Cucumber Emerging Pointers

• Sow cucumber seed throughout the garden or set out transplants 3 to 4 weeks after the average ultimate frost date in spring.
• The easiest soil temperature for emerging cucumbers is 70°F (21°C).
• Sow cucumber seed indoors as early as 6 weeks previous than transplanting into the garden.
• Protect cucumbers from surprising frost or chilly nighttime temperatures early throughout the season. Use floating row covers or plastic tunnels to stick the coolness away.
• Cucumbers require 55 to 65 frost-free days from sowing to succeed in harvest.

Where to Plant Cucumbers

• Expand cucumbers in whole sun. Cucumbers can tolerate partial colour.
• Cucumbers need loose, well-drained soil rich in herbal topic. Get in a position planting beds in advance of planting by means of together with 2 to a couple of inches (5-7cm) of aged compost, business herbal planting mix, and aged manure to beds. Turn the soil to 12 inches (30cm) deep
• Place black plastic sheeting over the planting bed in spring to warmth the soil in advance of planting.
• Cucumbers need a soil pH of 5.5 to 6.8. Cucumbers can tolerate alkaline soil to a pH of 7.6.
• Set trellises or is helping in place to broaden cucumbers up or mound the soil to create a small hill off which cucumber vines can run. Use a trellis 4 to 6 feet (1.2-1.8m) tall. Create a mound no less than 16 inches (40cm) all over and quite a few different inches most sensible; space mounds 4 to 6 feet (1.2-1.8m) apart.

Planting and Spacing Cucumbers

• Sow cucumber seeds 1 inch (2.5cm) deep.
• Sow seeds at the base of the vertical give a boost to or on a mound at 6 to 8-inch (15-20cm) periods.
• When seedlings are 3 to 4 inches (7-10cm) tall, thin to probably the most tough plant spaced 12 to 18 inches (30-45cm) apart for vining cucumbers on vertical is helping and 24 to 36 (61-91cm) inches apart for bush varieties.
• Decrease susceptible seedlings off at the soil level with scissors to avoid worrying the roots of the remaining plants.
• Set a trellis, tripod, or cage in place at planting time if you’re emerging vining varieties. A 12 to 18-inch (30-45cm) diameter wire cage is highest for emerging vining cucumbers. You’ll be able to make a cage from a 4 to 5-foot (1.2-1.5m) section of wire fencing or building mesh.
• To broaden an early crop, you are able to get began cucumbers indoors 2 to a couple of weeks previous than the overall frost in spring then transplant seedlings to the garden 2 to a couple of weeks after the overall frost.

Emerging Cucumbers in Containers

Many dwarf or mini-cucumber varieties will broaden in a pot as small as 6 inches (15cm) huge and deep, upper is more healthy. Take a look at the description of the cucumber and its space must haves. ‘Potluck’ is a small emerging variety. Higher cucumbers for containers include ‘Patio Pik’ and ‘Bush Whopper.’ Use a 12- to 18-inch (30-45cm) trellis, stake, or other give a boost to to increase the yield of container-grown cucumbers.

Watering Cucumbers

• Keep the soil frivolously rainy with not unusual watering. Do not let the soil dry out. Cucumbers are about 95 % water and require not unusual water for speedy, even expansion.
• Set a soaker hose or drip irrigation at the base of plants. Give cucumbers no less than 1 inch of water each and every week all over the summer season.
• At all times water at the base of plants. Moisture on cucumber leaves can result in fungal illnesses comparable to powdery and downy mildew.
• Leaves would possibly wilt throughout the afternoon in scorching local weather; that is on account of plants are taking up water sooner than roots can give.
• If plants are wilted throughout the morning, the soil is just too try to needs fast water.
• Mulch around plants to gradual soil moisture evaporation and to avoid soil compaction resulted in by means of heavy watering.
• Too little water or inconsistent watering would possibly reason cucumbers to transform oddly formed or bitter tasting.
• An easy way to measure soil moisture is to stick your index finger throughout the soil; if your finger comes away dry, it’s time to water.

Feeding Cucumbers

• Add aged compost or business herbal planting mix to planting beds previous than planting. Compost has all the nutrients cucumbers need for speedy expansion.
• Side-dress cucumbers with compost tea or a dilute solution of fish or kelp emulsion or a liquid herbal fertilizer every 10 to 14 days all over the season.
•  Feed cucumbers with low nitrogen, most sensible phosphorus, and potassium components. Be careful to use label directions; over-fertilizing can stunt or harm plants.
• Side-dress cucumbers at midseason with aged compost to renew soil nutrients.
• Keep planting beds free of weeds; weeds compete for soil nutrients and water. Cultivate shallowly to avoid worrying roots.

Further tips: Cucumber Emerging.

Caring for Cucumbers

• Mulch around cucumber plants with straw or chopped leaves. Mulch will have the same opinion keep soil moisture, keep vines, and end result clean. Slugs and snails to search out if tough to move all over straw or pine straw mulch.

Cucumber Higher part Plants

• Expand cucumbers with beans, corn, peas, pumpkins, and squash. Do not broaden cucumbers with potatoes and herbs.

Cucumber Flowering and Fruit Formation

• Cucumbers have separate male and female plant existence. The main plant existence to seem are male plant existence that may not produce fruit.
• Female plant existence appear each and every week or so after male plant existence. A female flower will have a cucumber-shaped swelling at the stem end of the flower; that’s the unpollinated fruit.
• Female plant existence are pollinated when bees or other insects carry pollen from the male flower to the female flower. Some male plant existence would possibly die and drop previous than female plant existence appear. Be affected particular person or sow seeds every couple of weeks so that there are male and female plant existence throughout the garden at the similar time.
• To attract bees to plant existence, spritz plants with dilute sugar water.
• If plants are in a greenhouse or hoop area where pollinating insects cannot come or if pollination is gradual or does not occur, use a soft-bristled brush to hand pollinate plant existence; dust the internal of a male flower then reasonably dust the internal of a female flower. A female flower will have an immature fruit on its stem, a male won’t.
• Gynoecious, hybrid cucumbers require pollinator plants; monoecious plants with female plant existence.
• Cucumber end result hanging from a trellis or vertical give a boost to will broaden right away under the drive of gravity.
• Cucumbers emerging on the floor will have to be set on a tile or piece of wood so that the fruit does not have direct contact with the soil; this may increasingly more and more allow cucumbers to mature with a lot much less exposure to sickness and insects.
• Cool-weather, rain, and insecticides can extend or harm pollination.

 Cucumber Pests

• Cucumbers can be attacked by means of aphids, cucumber beetles, squash bugs, and slugs.
• Keep watch over aphids by means of hosing them off with a blast of water or pinching out infested plants.
• Cucumber beetles bite holes in leaves and can spread cucumber bacterial wilt when feeding on plant tissue. Hand-pick them off the vines and ruin them.
• Squash bugs suck plant sap causing leaves to wilt. Squash bugs can even attack seedlings. Dust plants with diatomaceous earth around the base of plants.
• Slugs can scrape ragged holes in leaves. Spread diatomaceous earth around the base of plants.

 Cucumber Illnesses

• Cucumber plants are vulnerable to scab, mosaic, and mildew.
• Keep the garden clean of debris and weeds that can harbor pests and illnesses.
• Remove diseased plants in an instant; put them in a paper bag and throw them throughout the trash to avoid the spread of sickness.
• Plant disease-resistant varieties. Seek for the following coding to indicate sickness resistance: leaf spot (LS), anthracnose (A), bacterial wilt (BW), mosaic (M), scab (S), and downy mildew (DM).
• Bacterial wilt is spread by means of cucumber beetles; plants unexpectedly wilt and die merely as they begin to produce. Keep watch over beetles after they appear.
• Powdery mildew and downy mildew, fungal illnesses, will reason why cucumber leaves to turn grayish-white past due throughout the season. Sluggish the spread of fungal illnesses by means of spraying plants with horticultural oil or neem oil.
• To have the same opinion prevent fungal illnesses, plant resistant varieties, and space plants further apart to increase air transfer.

Further on cucumber problems: Cucumber Emerging Problems: Troubleshooting.

Harvesting Cucumbers

• Cucumbers it will be in a position for harvest 55 to 65 days from sowing.
• Harvest cucumbers after they succeed in mature size; cucumbers left on the vine earlier maturity will suppress the producing of recent plant existence and fruit.
• Take a look at and harvest cucumbers day-to-day to stay ahead of the harvest.
• Reducing cucumbers are best possible imaginable picked when they are 6 to 8 inches (15-20cm) long.
• Clips cucumbers off of plants with a garden clipper, scissors, or knife. Pulling cucumbers off plants can harm plants.
• A fruit that turns yellow at the blossom end opposite the stem is overripe and it will be seedy.
• Pickling cucumbers–sweet or dill–are best possible imaginable picked when 1 to 6 inches (2.5-15cm) long. Select pickling cucumbers every two days.
• Commonplace dills are best possible imaginable picked when 3 to 4 inches (7-10cm) long.
• Burpless cucumbers will have to be picked at about 10 inches long.
• Hothouse-grown English or Armenian cucumbers are best possible imaginable picked when 12 to 15 inches (30-38cm) long.
• Cucumbers left on the vine too long will have tricky skins and will lose style.

Further harvest tips: Tips on how to Harvest and Store Cucumbers.

Storing and Keeping up Cucumbers

• Pickling and chopping cucumbers will keep throughout the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days.
• Hothouse cucumbers will keep throughout the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days. Make certain the temperature is not too low or cucumbers will freeze and turn smooth.
• Wrap refrigerated cucumbers in plastic or store them in a zipper bag to stick them crisp.
• Pickled cucumbers will keep for up to 1 12 months.

Monoecious and Gynoecious Cucumbers: The Difference

• Most cucumbers are monoecious, because of this plants produce every female and male plant existence. Female plant existence are repeatedly pollinated by means of insects after visiting male plant existence.
• Hybrid cucumber varieties are gynoecious. Gynoecious cucumbers produce only female plant existence. The ones plants must be set on the subject of a monoecious plant for pollination or must be pollinated by means of hand. Gynoecious cultivars include ‘Conquest,’ ‘Early Pride,’ and ‘Bush Baby.’

Kinds of Cucumbers

There are many sorts and forms of cucumbers. Listed below are the differences:

• Bush cucumbers can broaden 24 to 36 inches (61-91cm) tall and huge forming a compact plant. Bush cucumbers are well-suited for container emerging or small gardens. Plant bush varieties every two weeks for a unbroken harvest.
• Vine cucumbers can broaden to 6 feet (1.8m) most sensible or further and a couple of to a couple of feet (.6-.9m) huge. Vining cultivars require more room alternatively produce further fruit. Expand vining cucumbers on a fence, trellis, or tripods when possible to stick fruit off the ground.
• Pickling cucumbers have thin, mild green pores and pores and skin, go through fruit early, and concentrate fruiting in a 10-day length. Pickle cucumbers a few hours after harvesting for crisp pickles.
• Reducing cucumbers, for contemporary eating, repeatedly are green-skinned and set fruit for 4 to 6 weeks. Reducing cucumbers include “burpless’ cultivars which may also be mild-flavored and easy to digest.
• Eu, English, or greenhouse cucumbers are seedless cultivars complex for greenhouse emerging.
• Lemon cucumbers are yellow oval-to-round heirloom cucumbers. Lemon cucumbers are ideal for a single serving. Harvest lemon cucumbers merely as they turn yellow; do not wait too long or they will be seedy.
• Asian cucumbers are thin, intently ribbed cultivars; the fruit grows from 12- to 24-inches (30-61cm) long.
• Gherkin is a period of time used for any pickling cucumber; on the other hand, an actual gherkin is not a cucumber alternatively the fruit of a unique species, Cucumis anguria.
• Cornichons is the generic French period of time for any small cucumber.

Cucumber Yield

• Expand 2 to a couple of cucumber plants consistent with circle of relatives member for contemporary eating.
• Expand 3 to 4 plants consistent with quart for pickling.

Cucumber Types to Expand

Cucumbers are divided into chopping cucumbers for contemporary eating and pickling cucumbers. There are dozens of types to make a choice from. Inside the list beneath “gyn” denotes gynoecious which produce only female plant existence and must be grown on the subject of a monoecious plant; others are monoecious, which produce every male and female plant existence.

• Reducing:Ashley (66 days); Comet II (gyn-60 days); Dasher II (55 days); Commonplace Lee (gyn-55 days); Jazzer (48 days); Marketmore (76 days); Poinsett (65 days); Source of revenue (gyn-48 days); Slice King (49 days); Spacemaster (60 days); Speedway (gyn-56 days); Supersett (53 days); Sweet Slice (62 days); Tasty Green (55 days); Extraordinarily-Slice Early (56 days).
• Pickling:Kid Bush (51 days); Calypso (gyn-56 days); Conquest (gyn-50 days); Cross Country (51 days); Edmondson (70 days); Green Spear (gyn-55 days); Pik Rite (gyn-63 days); Salty (53 days); Spear It (gyn-52 days); Sumter (56 days).
• Burpless: Comet II (gyn-60 days); Green Knight (60 days); Jazzer (48 days); Perfection (60 days); Sweet Slice (62 days); Tasty Green (55 days).
• Greenhouse:Aidas (gyn-65 days); Carmen (gyn-65 days); English Telegraph (65 days).
• Container varieties: Patio Percent (50 days); Potluck (50 days); Spacemaster (60 days); Bush Whopper.
• Others: Lemon (64 days); Long White (65 days); White Wonder (60 days).

Further on cucumbers to broaden: Cucumber Types: Best Bets and Easy-to-Expand.

About Cucumbers

• Cucumber leaves are quite heart-shaped with difficult margins; leaves and stems are lined with prickly fast hairs.
• Cucumber plant existence are yellow.
• Finish end result are repeatedly mild or dark green alternatively some varieties are yellow or white; fruit ranges in size from 3 inches (7 cm) to bigger than 24 inches (61 cm) long.
• Botanical name: Cucumis sativus
• Basis: Asia

Further tips: Tips on how to Expand Cucumbers That Are Not Bitter Tasting.