Vegetables 101: How do I grow cucumbers?

July 23, 10:02 AMGardening ExaminerRobin Ripley

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Cucumbers are simple to grow as long as you respect their need for full sun, well-enriched soil and plenty of water.

Although cucumber plants are widely available at garden centers, big box stores and even grocery stores, the selection is limited to just a few varieties. You’ll have many more choices by exploring the wide variety of seeds available through online sources and starting your cucumber plants from seeds.

Cucumbers like warm weather, so plan to get your cucumber plants into the ground after all danger of frost has passed. You can sow cucumbers directly or start the seeds indoors about four weeks before you plan to transplant into the garden.

It’s best to use tiny peat pots or other individual containers rather than seed trays to avoid disturbing the roots when it’s time for the cucumber plants' big move outdoors. Simply put individual seeds into re-hydrated peat pots about ½ inch into the soil, cover with plastic wrap or other cover in a warm place until the seeds emerge. You can then remove the cover, but remember to keep well moist so the peat pots don’t dry out. Keep your growing seeds on a very sunny windowsill or under a grow light. Depending on the size of your starter container and if they are growing well, you may need to repot them into a larger container.

About a week before transplanting out, start hardening off your cucumber plants by placing them outside in a shaded area and gradually moving them into the sun for greater periods of time over a period of days. You’ll need to pay careful attention that the plants do not dry out in the hot sun of they will suffer and could kick the bucket altogether.

Cucumbers are heavy feeders, so prepare the garden bed in a sunny location by working in generous amounts of compost or well-rotted manure. To plant, mound the soil into hills or in mounded rows. Plant the seeds or your seedlings in clusters of three about three feet apart. 

Cucumbers have long vines, which should be given a fence, trellis or other support to keep them off the ground and preserve real estate in your garden. As they grow, gently train them up the supports until their long tendrils catch hold.

Keep cucumbers, well watered, but make sure they aren’t standing in puddles. Cucumbers under stress from under-watering can become bitter and unpalatable. Top dressing the soil with more compost and mulching around the plants will also ensure that the soil is suitably rich and holding moisture.

Keep the weeds from growing up around the growing plants. After the cucumbers reach a certain size, the leaves will shade the ground and weeds will be less likely to pose any problems.

Harvest cucumbers sooner rather than later since the cucumbers have fewer seeds and a better flavor if you eat them before they get too large. Keep harvesting the cucumbers, even if your refrigerator is already full of them, or the plants will stop producing.

Cucumber Varieties of Try

There are also two types of cucumbers—the longer, slicing varieties and the shorter varieties suitable for picking. Of course, you can also slice and eat those pickling cucumbers too.

‘Burpless’ and ‘Diva’ are good slicing cucumbers if you find that cucumbers produce gas. Other good slicing varieties include ‘Sweet Slice’ and ‘Sweet Success.’ For pickling, try ‘Eureka,’ ‘Carolina’ or ‘West India Gherkin.’  For an unusual and amusing cucumber, try the ‘Armenian Yard Long,’ although if you plan to eat it, harvest it when it’s about 12 inches long.

Pests and Diseases

The best way to protect cucumbers is to ensure that they are healthy with proper sun, soil and watering. But there is always the possibility that nature will frown on you and curse your cucumbers with a problem or two.

The worst problem is the cucumber beetle, which can chew through your cucumber plants and also spread diseases. Striped cucumber beetles have black and yellow stripes, while the spotted cucumber beetle is yellow with black spots.

You can protect cucumbers from the beetles with floating row covers, but these quickly become unwieldy as the plants grow and vine several feet. Although there are chemical sprays to kill the pests, the earth-friendly alternative is to hand-pick the beetles every day, preferably in the morning when they are still slow-moving, dropping them into a jar of soapy water or kerosene. There is a certain amount of satisfaction from this type of murder, after all.

Cucumbers can also succumb to fungal diseases. Although the cucumbers can out-grow some of them to still produce enough to keep you in cucumbers, the plants will suffer and slow production, eventually stopping altogether. If you’ve had fungal problems on cucumbers in the past, choose varieties resistant to such diseases.

Learn more about how to avoid growing bitter cucumbers here.

You for reading! You can reach me at gardeningexaminer@gmail.com and can follow me on Twitter at @RobinRipley.

Did you also know I write about fresh foods? You can read my food columns at the D.C. Fresh Foods Examiner.

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