Quick Reference
When to Start |
Direct seed in May when forecast shows no danger of temps dropping below 45 degrees.
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Crop Rotation |
Avoid following any members of the squash/pumpkin family
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How To Plant |
Plant seeds 1" deep in rows spaced 6-12" away from support
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Spacing and Support |
Start seeds 18" apart on a trellis, or 3' apart if you plan to let them spread out on the ground
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When to Harvest |
The smaller the better. Harvest early and often
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Storage |
Keeps for a week or 2 in the vegetable crisper. For long term pickles and relish works best.
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Cucumbers are 95% water - so why even bother? Well, for us our main motivation is Mike's Great-Aunt Mary. Before we knew how prolific of a producer cucumbers are we planted way too many of them and ended up with more cucumbers than a restaurant with an all you can eat salad bar has ever had at one time. So we decided to make relish because it seemed like a good way to preserve a lot of them at once. Well, anyone who has ever had a holiday dinner at an older person's house knows the greatest generation loves their relish, and once we gave them a taste they kept coming back for more. Of course we use them in salads all summer long but most of all we plant them to keep Aunt Mary and our grandparent's fully stocked for hot dog and beans night.
When To Start |
Direct seed in the garden after fear of frost has passed. Seeds will germinate when the soil is between 60-95 degrees, and optimal growing temperature is 70-80 degrees.
Personally we haven't quite gotten that precise where we are measuring soil temps before planting. Generally speaking we plant our cucumbers around Memorial Day. |
Crop Rotation |
Avoid planting cucumbers in the same spot that pumpkins, zucchini, or any member of the squash family grew in the previous year.
Click here to read about crop rotation and why it is so important It's important to not only avoid planting the same crop in the same spot 2 years in a row, but you also have to avoid plants in the same family as they typically draw on the same nutrients and have issues with the same pests. Click here to learn more about plant families and find a chart showing which ones are related. |
How to Plant |
Direct sow seeds right into the garden when the final frost of the spring has passed. Seeds should be planted fairly deep, about 1" below the surface.
We like to use our finger to poke little holes in the dirt and then just drop 1 seed in each hole. Keep in mind that cucumbers are prolific producers. If you're planting them for the first time, we recommend you consider cutting back what you were planning to do. See how many you get and if you want to go bigger next year go for it, but just from personal experience we get to a point every summer where it is overwhelming. In 2019 we're going to cut it down 50% ourselves and see how that feels. |
Spacing and Support |
On a Trellis: We have had a lot of success growing cucumbers up a trellis made of chicken wire. It allows you to grow a lot of cucumbers in a small space and the vines grow up the fence with little to no help at all. Plant seeds every 18" spaced about 1 foot away from the trellis. You don't want to plant them too close because the trellis will shade the plants and stunt their growth. Once they are about a foot tall they may need some help grabbing on to the trellis and/or untangling them from the plant next to them. After they grab hold of the trellis the plant will do the rest of the work, grabbing on with its little tendrils and wrapping itself around the support as it grows vertically.
On the ground: We would definitely recommend the trellis but if you don't want to build/buy one you can simply grow cucumbers on the ground like pumpkins. Plant seeds in mounds 3' apart and plant 3-4 seeds per mound. Just make sure you have some room for them to spread out because they will choke out anything close by if you let it. If you have a fence it makes for the perfect border crop since it can climb up and over maximizing overall garden space. They also sell some really cool tee-pees, obelisks, and other fancy objects to grow cucumbers on. They would also do great on chain link fences or really anything with a similar pattern for the vines to grab onto. |
Harvesting |
Cucumbers are best when they are young. The bigger they get, the more tasteless they become. If you can keep up when they are small, the more you pick the more you will get. Once the plant has produced several large fruits with fully grown seeds inside, it will stop flowering/producing. So the more you pick, the longer you can prevent it from getting to this stage. It might be tempting to let one get huge to show off or make great jokes about, but resist that urge as it will ultimately be the beginning of the end for that plant.
If you decide to let them spread on the ground, you'll have to keep up with the picking a little more as its more difficult to keep fruits from rotting on the ground or being munched on by some critter. Whatever method you choose, just remember to remove the largest ones as soon as you see them to keep the plant producing as long as possible. |
What to do with way too many of them |
Pickle them: No shortage of methods and recipes out there. Kids love pickles, and they will keep in your refrigerator for up to a year. If you're buying a lot of grocery store pickles today you could easily grow enough cucumbers to not have to buy those for 6 months or longer, and yours will be grown organically right in your backyard.
Relish them: Again there is no shortage of relish recipes out there. It's high vinegar content makes it perfect for canning and has a shelf life of up to a year or more. Someday I might even share my famous relish recipe that I mostly stole from another blog on this site. We will see... Cucumber Water: Apparently that's a thing for fancy people who go to spas. Or slice them up and stick them on your eyes or whatever else they do there. |