4 Tips for Growing Cucumbers

 Growing cucumbers

Cucumbers are an easy vegetable to grow! Check out our 4 tips for growing cucumbers and getting your best harvest.

Grow cucumbers in your garden

Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) are easy to grow: give them sun, consistent water, and decent soil, and they'll produce large quantities of crisp fruit starting in mid-summer. But here are some tips on how to plant, prevent pests, and grow vertically to get the best yields of these crunchy, refreshing vegetables. You'll have plenty to eat fresh or pickled!

Cucumber Basics

When to plant: Late spring when soil temperatures reach 70 degrees F

Light: Full sun

When to harvest: Once the recommended amount of fruit per seed packet, two months after planting

How much to plant: 2 to 3 plants for fresh eating and 5 to 6 plants for pickling for a family of four.

Problems: Striped and spotted cucumber beetles

Two ways to plant cucumbers

Direct sowing seeds or seedlings I started early indoors. In my Zone 5 garden, I do both to maximize production. Once the danger of late spring frost has passed and the weather warms, I transplant the 4-week-old seedlings into my raised beds. A month later I sow the seeds in empty spaces in the garden. This continuous planting technique ensures an uninterrupted supply of crunchy cucumbers until frost. Gardeners in warmer climates can sow seeds directly in the spring when the soil is warm enough.

Different ways to grow cucumbers

Cucumbers can be grown in any garden, including underground gardens, raised beds, hay bales, or containers. Most varieties produce vines that grow 7 to 9 feet tall. If you're limited in space and want to plant in containers, choose varieties with smaller vines. These are often described as "bush" cucumbers in seed catalogs, and the plants only grow about 3 feet tall.

4 Tips for Growing Cucumbers

One of the greatest joys of summer is wandering through my vegetable garden and sampling perfectly ripe peas, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers. Enjoy a bumper harvest of high-quality cucumbers with these simple tips:

1. Wait for warm weather to plant outdoors

Cucumbers are very sensitive to cold temperatures and soil. Do not move seeds or seedlings into the garden too early. I wait to plant until about a week after the last expected frost date or until daytime temperatures are above 70 degrees F and nights above 60 degrees F.

2. Choose the right site for your garden

Cucumbers thrive when grown in full sun with rich, well-drained soil. I dig 2 inches of compost or aged manure into the garden bed before planting. If your soil is not particularly fertile, you may want to add a slow-release organic vegetable compost to the soil at this time.

3. Water cucumbers regularly

Cucumbers need a constant supply of water to produce lots of fruit without bitterness. Check soil moisture and water deeply when the bottom 2 inches is dry. Aim to water in the morning and try to avoid wetting the leaves, as splashing water can spread disease. To reduce watering, I mulch my cucumber plants with a 2- to 3-inch layer of straw.

4. Harvest often

The key to a great cucumber harvest is to pick the plants often, even daily, once they start producing. If mature fruits are left on the plants, production slows or stops. Do not pull the fruit from the vine once it reaches the size and color specified on the seed packet.