Growing cucumbers in your garden
cucumber ( Cucumis sativus ) are so easy to grow : Give them Dominicus , consistent urine and decent grease , and they ’ll raise a great craw of crisp fruit starting in midsummer . But to have the best crop of these crunchy , refreshful veggie , let me give you a few tips on how to plant , prevent pests , and grow them vertically . You ’ll have plenty for eating fresh or pickled !
Two ways to plant cucumbers
Direct sow seedsor transplant seedlings I have started indoors forrader of fourth dimension . In my zona 5 garden , I do both to maximize production . Once the risk of freeze has go by in late leap and the weather condition has warmed , I transplant 4 - week - old seedling into my upgrade bed . A calendar month later I direct sow seed into empty space in the garden . This successive planting technique ensures we have a nonstop supplying of crunchy cucumbers until Robert Frost . Gardeners in warmer climates can lineal - sow seed as soon as the soil is warm enough in saltation .
Different ways to grow cucumbers
you may mature cucumber in any garden includingin - dry land garden , raised beds , pale yellow bales or even container . Most varieties develop vines that grow 7 to 9 foot long . If you ’re short on space and need to plant in containers , select sort with compact vines . These are often described as “ bush ” cucumbers in seminal fluid catalog , and the plant only grow about 3 feet retentive . Learn more about the different type of cucumbers here .
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4 Tips for growing cucumbers
One of the bang-up joyfulness of summer is wandering through my vegetable garden and sampling the absolutely ripe peas , cherry tree tomato and cucumbers . Enjoy the biggest harvest of mellow - tone cucumbers with these bare tips :
Cucumbers are very sensitive to stale temperature and soil . Do n’t rush the seeds or seedlings into the garden too early . I hold back to plant until about a week after my last expected frost day of the month or when daytime temperature get to 70 degree F and nights are above 60 arcdegree F.
Cucumbers flourish when grown in a sunny smear with fat , well - draining soil . I dig in 2 inches of compost or aged manure into the garden bed before plant . If your stain is n’t in particular fertile , you may also wish to add a slow - loss organicvegetable fertilizeronto the soil at this metre .
Cucumbers need a steady supply of water to produce lots of nonbitter fruits . Check soil moisture and water deeply when it ’s dry about 2 inches down . Aim to water in the morning and seek to stave off wetting the leaves as splashing water can open disease . To reduce lachrymation I mulch my cucumber vine plant with a 2- to 3 - inch layer of straw .
The key to a big Cucumis sativus harvest is to plunk often , even daily once the plants set out producing . If overmature fruits are leave on the plants , production slacken or point . Clip , do n’t jerk , yield from the vine as soon as they reach the size and color indicated on the seed packet .
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Dealing with cucumber beetles
cucumber vine are generally easy to develop , but they can flow prey to cucumber beetles . divest and spotted cucumber beetle ( above ) grownup eat holes in the flowers and leaves while the larvae nibble on the roots . Plus , they can transmit bacterial wilt , a pathogen that rapidly kills cuke plants . Leaves , and eventually intact stems , wilting and give out when bacterial wilt tap as you may see above .
Plant resistant cucumber varieties
There are a few thing you’re able to do to deter or reduce wrong from cucumber mallet : Plant resistant cucumber varieties like :
Protect cucumber plants from pests
cover song seedling with a lightweightrow coveror insect barrier netting at planting clip . Remove when the industrial plant begin to bloom to admit for pollination . Useyellow sticky cardsto trap adult beetle . Hang cards just above the trellised plants or bond them to stake for nontrellised ones .
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Cucumber trellis ideas for the garden
Vigorous cucumber vine wander in every direction and can take up a lot of garden space . For this reason I prefer to grow my vines vertically . This allows me to maximise yield in my raised beds but also keep the vines off the soil , reducing insect and disease issues . The fruits of trellis cucumbers are also easier to spot and farm straighter . Here are a few different ways to train your cucumbers .
Trellising cucumbers with metal mesh
My go - to cucumber trellis is a sheet of 4×8 - infantry metal interlock from my local building supply store . This material is inexpensive , durable , and very strong . I have these sheets mounted on wooden bet along the back of my vegetable garden where they wo n’t shade nearby crops .
you may also make a tunnel with two of these panels or a 16 - foot distance of cattle dialog box bent in a U shape . industrial plant cover the exterior of the burrow while the fruit hang down for easygoing picking .
Use twine to trellis cucumbers
Cucumber plants are good crampon , and their tendril well enfold around supports . I farm cucumbers vertically up enceinte gardentwinesecured to overhead metal trusses in my polytunnel . This method also forge well outdoors if you have a nicepergolalike this one to attach the twine to .
Train your vining veggie to grow up twine under a pergola for handy picking and comfortable cleaning in fall . When these cucumbers and greenish beans have finished producing , only cut the string down and throw everything in the compost pile !
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Use cages for bush cucumber varieties
A simpletomato cageis a big way to get bush varieties off the ground and keep foliage level-headed and yield easy to regain . Insert the John Milton Cage Jr. into the container or bed when you seed or transplant .
