Cucumbers are one of those summer fruits that we all love in our salads. Growing your cucumbers is so much better than anything you can buy from the store. Are they easy to grow? Why should you grow your cucumbers? When do you know if a cucumber is ripe enough for picking? I will answer all these questions and more below!
Cucumbers are easy to grow at home, significantly if grown under glass or plastic. They require rich fertile soil require high temperatures but must be at least 15˚C or 59˚F. The soil must be kept damp and not allowed to dry out. Feed nitrogen weekly until fruiting starts, then change to high potassium feed.
Table Of Contents
How to start growing cucumbers?
Preparing the ground to plant out cucumbers
Planting out cucumbers
What to consider as cucumber plants grow?
Watering cucumbers effectively
The Importance of airflow when growing cucumbers
Feeding Cucumbers throughout the season
How to tell if cucumbers are ready to harvest
Saving cucumber seed
Cucumber pests and diseases to watch for
Conclusion on growing cucumbers at home
Tony O’Neill with Giant cucumber at Malvern Giant veg show
Cucumbers are relatively easy to grow at home as long you can provide the right environment for them. Are they better than store-bought cucumbers?
Definitely! Store-bought cucumbers are always picked before ripeness, resulting in a bland, watery taste and dry, thick peel. They have also been sprayed with pesticides or waxes, which may cause allergic reactions in some people.
How to start growing cucumbers?
You can start cucumbers from seed. Do this by placing some potting mix into a modular cell tray and the source in the center. Planting the basis on edge is essential to prevent it from rotting.
Add a small amount of potting mix on top and water. Keep moist but not wet until seedlings appear, usually about two weeks. When they have grown enough to handle, transplant them into larger containers.
Preparing the ground to plant out cucumbers
It is vital to get the growing conditions right for cucumbers. As I mentioned earlier, they prefer rich fertile soil. But care should be taken when choosing the planting area. Some things you need to consider are:
Access to full sun
is there humidity
protection from wind and rain
Cucumbers need a minimum of 8 hours of sunlight a day; This is required to support this large climbing plant and produce good-sized fruits. They also need warmth. A soil temperature of at least 15˚C or 59 ˚F is necessary to encourage good growth and fruiting.
Humidity is required. Cucumbers are susceptible to drought; They have large leaves to support the photosynthesis needed to produce large fruits. Humidity stops the leaves from drying out and transpiring.
Finally, cucumbers require protection from the wind and rain. Winds can quickly dry out plants that are sensitive to moisture loss. Rainfall can be an issue, too, namely due to powdery mildew.
Planting out cucumbers
Now you have your location and prepared your soil ready to plant your cucumber starts; we need to consider how we will support the plant as it grows. There are many methods to keep cucumbers, such as:
Bamboo Canes
Hanging strings
Trellis
Pallets.
There are so many ways to support cucumbers that I couldn’t cover them all here; however, write a more in-depth article on all the different types of supports you can use for cucumbers. I will link it here when I have completed that article.
Ensure that all support systems are in place before you plant your cucumber. It will ensure you do not damage the root system later.
What to consider as cucumber plants grow?
You must keep the soil moist; never allow them to dry out
Cucumbers will sprawl everywhere, so ensure to tie them into their supports
Remove all lateral shoots (side vines) that
Only allow one fruit to form per node.
Cucumbers grow fast as the temperatures start to increase. It is essential to ensure you stay on top of training the vines for the best effect.
The temperature and humidity should be constant if you’re growing cucumbers under glass or plastic. If they are not, then there is a chance that fluctuations can cause the plants to go to seed.
Watering cucumbers effectively
Keeping the soil moist is of paramount Importance. Allowing the soil to dry out will cause the fine feeder roots to wither and die. Keeping the ground damp will prevent this. However, You should avoid logging water or stop the soil from becoming too wet.
Cucumbers are susceptible to drought as they have large leaves for photosynthesis and transpiration (loss of water from the plant through evaporation). Keeping moisture in the ground is paramount to prevent stress on the plant.
The best time to water cucumbers is during the morning before the sun has fully risen. It allows the leaves to dry off if you get them wet, and moisture from the soil increases, which helps retain the humidity throughout the day.
watering cucumbers
The Importance of airflow when growing cucumbers
Airflow is critical when growing cucumbers. It does seem to contradict the fact we want humidity. But keeping the soil damp will help create that humidity. However, we don’t want that humidity just sitting around.
