When Growing Cucumbers These Methods Work Best

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Growing Cucumbers

If you love cucumbers and want to grow some for yourself, a few tips will help you to have a great crop of this tasty vegetable. The cucumber is a full sun plant so you will need to find an optimal growing area that receives a good many hours of sun per day. The cucumber can be grown on trellises if you are short on space.

Planting the Cucumbers

The best time to begin growing cucumbers is in the early summer because if you plant them before the danger of frost is over, this can damage or kill cucumber plants. Actually the are at their optimum growing when the temperature is around 70 degrees. The soil should be of the type that drains well.

The soil should have compost added to it before the cucumbers are planted. A pH of about 6.5 is great for cucumbers, which is one of the benefits of adding compost.

The use of natural products is the best because they will allow your plants to have the best immune system and this will help when fighting pests that always show up sooner or later in the garden. Mulch is also beneficial for cucumbers because it helps them to retain the moisture they need. When growing cucumbers they may be started indoors about 2 weeks before you are ready to start planting outdoors. The seed can also be planted directly. The soil should be made into hills and 4 seeds planted in each hill. If you grow your cucumbers in rows, plant them about 6 feet apart and the rows should be about 2 to 2 ½ feet apart.

Harvesting Cucumbers

Normally cucumbers are ready for picking within about 60 days. Make sure and read the package when you purchase your seeds and see how long it says for the cucumbers to be ready to eat. Do not let the cucumbers go too long because if they get too large or begin to turn yellow, they will either lose the good flavor they have or they will be bitter.

The stem should be cut about 3/8 inch above where the cucumber is located. The best thing to do when the cucumbers start to show up is to begin picking some. This will help the quality of the cucumbers.

Pests and Disease

There are several pests that can attack cucumbers. One of the worst is probably the cucumber beetle. This pest will attack early on and they are known for spreading bacteria wilt. Early means as soon as seedlings appear. If your plants become infected with bacteria wilt they will die.

Other pests will include mites, aphids and pickle worms. The diseases are angular leaf spot, downy mildew, powdery mildew and anthracnose. The use of organic pesticides is recommended.

When you use chemical pesticides you may also be keeping away the bees that will pollinate your cucumbers. This is often what happens when you have healthy looking vines that end up not producing cucumbers. With a few good tips, you should have a very good harvest of cucumbers.

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