This guide explains how to grow cucumbers, including how to grow cucumbers from seed, when to plant and a trick to produce cukes with no bitterness.
Cucumbers can be one of the most rewarding vegetables you grow in your garden. They grow quickly and just a few plants can give you an abundance of cucumbers throughout the season! Here’s how to grow cucumbers, from seed to harvest.
Find more fast-growing vegetables for your garden.
Cucumber Growing Basics
Cucumber plants crave two things above all else: heat and water. This means that you have to wait for consistently warm days before you can plant them. They also need regular watering, so your planting location should be a spot you can easily reach with a hose or watering can. Finally, keep in mind that cucumbers will taste better and produce more with frequent harvests. Get out your favorite cucumber recipes and have them ready!
There are two types of cucumbers you can grow: vining or bush. Your local garden center will likely carry both; if not, you can buy seeds online for whatever veggie you’re looking for.
Vining: Vining cucumbers have long vines that can either run along the ground, grow from small mounds, or better yet, climb up a support like a trellis or fence. Growing cucumbers vertically also saves you garden space and increases your harvest.
Bush: Bush varieties of cucumbers are smaller and ideal for container growing but are available in fewer types and varieties than vining.
If you’re growing vegetables for the first time, learn more about vegetable gardening for beginners with Ashlie Thomas, AKA @TheMochaGardener
Before you move ahead check how to store cucumbers the right way so that you’ll never find a mushy cuke in the refrigerator again.
Growing Cucumbers from Seed
Cucumbers can’t be planted outside until well after the last possible frost date, and this can be a frustration for Northern growers. Starting the seeds indoors is a great way to get plants growing earlier and extend your growing season. Emerging seedlings will want a warm place to grow: use a heating pan under the tray or place it in the warmest, sunny location you have indoors. You can also look for seedlings or small cucumber plants at your local garden center.
Some sources say that cucumbers can be fussy about being transplanted. An easy backup plan is to save a few seeds to plant directly in the ground once it’s warm enough. That way, if your seedlings struggle after transplanting, you will have a backup crop underway.
Where to Plant Cucumbers
Assess your garden space to choose the type of cucumbers to grow. Vining cucumbers grown on the ground will need as much as four feet of space between plants, but trellised cucumbers need only a foot of spacing. (And strong support, of course!) Bush varieties produce fewer cucumbers than vining but give you lots of flexibility in smaller gardens or in containers that you can place where you want.
Like tomatoes and peppers, cucumbers need all the sun they can get. Find a growing location that gets six to eight hours per day. Cucumbers also need soil that drains well and is full of nutrient-rich, organic matter. If your soil is lacking, you can always amend it by working in several inches of aged compost or manure. This rich soil will also hold moisture more effectively, and that will help your cukes.
The Best Time to Plant
Remember: Cucumbers crave heat, and they also hate the cold. Cucumber plants are very vulnerable to cold snaps—because of this, it’s recommended to wait until two weeks after the last threat of frost before planting seeds or seedlings. The air temperature should be consistently above 70° F.
Plant seeds about one inch deep in well-drained, rich soil. Gardeners who have soil prone to waterlogging and poor drainage grow cucumbers on small mounds that are four to six inches high. The elevation helps moisture drain away and prevent root rot.
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