Getty Images / Dmytro Skrypnykov
Theres nothing like a crispcucumberfreshly harvested from your garden, then chilled to perfection.
Theyre so much better when you grow them yourself!
Theyre also one of the easiest vegetables to grow from seed.
Credit:Getty Images / Dmytro Skrypnykov
New compact varieties of cucumbers grow well in containers on a deck, patio or balcony, too.
Cucumbers mature quickly, typically from 40 to 60 days, in a bush shape or on a vine.
The vining types can be trained up a trellis, which theyll grasp with tiny tendrils.
Credit:Getty Images / Barbara Rich
Growing them vertically saves space in your garden, too, and makes them easier to harvest.
They will not tolerate even a light frost.
Plant a few seeds together about an inch deep, spacing rows about a foot or so apart.
Press down to cover the seeds, and water.
To extend the harvest, sow seeds again in a few weeks, up until mid-summer.
When the plants are about 5 inches tall, thin them to preserve the healthiest plants.
Place the trellis now so you wont disturb the plants later.
Also, ensure to weed so that plants wont have to compete for nutrients and moisture.
Cucumbers produce male and female flowers on the same plant.
Male flowers appear first, attached by a slender stem.
Female flowers grow closer to the main vine with a tiny round fruit behind the flower.
Pollinators, such as honey bees, must move pollen from the male to the female flowers.
They will become spindly and do not produce well in shade.
Its especially important to keep them watered when they are setting fruit.
Temperature
Cucumbers grow best at temperatures between 75 and 85 degrees.
They will not tolerate even the slightest frost, so dont plant too early.
Fertilizer
Cucumbers are moderate to heavy feeders.
Give them 5-10-10 fertilizer at planting, then a balanced fertilizer about once a month after that.
The great thing about cukes is that the more you harvest, the more theyll produce!
Dont wait too long.
If you harvest too late, they become yellow, seedy, and bitter.
Plant resistant varieties, or apply afungicide, such as horticultural oil.
To reduce disease risk, avoid overhead irrigation and provide good spacing between plants.
Training plants up a trellis also improves air circulation.
Aphids
These tiny soft-bodied pests cluster together on leaves and stems.
Inspect your plants every other day foraphidsbecause populations can explode overnight.
Blast them off with a garden hose or try an insecticidal soap or neem oil.
Plant a disease-resistant variety oruse neem oil.
Squash Vine Borer
Adultclear-winged mothslays eggs near the base of plants.
Developing larvae tunnel into stems and cause plant wilt and death.
Cucumber Quick Snack
Does not require pollination to set fruit.
Compact 24-inch plants grow well in containers and produce 2 to 2 1/2 -inch long fruit.
Diva
Does not require pollination to set fruit.
Green Light
Does not require pollination to set fruit.
Little 3 to 4-inch cucumbers you dont need to peel.AAS winner.
Lemon
Round, tender, yellow heirloom variety with cucumbers a little smaller than a tennis ball.
Related:How to Use Neem Oil on Plants
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