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Planting instructions for cucumbers


How to Grow and Plant Cucumbers

Learn expert tips for growing cucumbers in your vegetable garden. Cucumber is a relatively easy plant to grow and really easy to eat!

A tropical vegetable, cucumbers thrive when the weather is hot and water is plentiful. Growing cucumbers is for warmer weather: Plants are so frost-tender that they shouldn't be set into the garden until soil temperatures are reliably in the 70-degree range (no less than 2 weeks after the last frost date).

Cucumber plants grow in two forms: vining and bush. Vines scramble along the ground or clamber up trellises, while bush types, such as Burpless Bush Hybrid, form a more compact plant. Generally, vining cucumbers yield more fruit throughout the growing season. Bush selections are especially suited to containers and small gardens. You can increase the season's yield of bush varieties by planting several crops in succession 2 weeks apart.

Whether you want a cucumber for slicing or pickling, Bonnie Plants® has a variety to suit your taste. Lemon cucumber offers smaller fruits perfect for a single serving, while Boston Pickling boasts classic heirloom taste. The long Armenian cucumber is a specialty cucumber prized for taste and the fact that a single cucumber yields so many slices. Whichever cucumber variety you choose, you can rest assured that you'll get a strong start with Bonnie Plants, a company that has been around for over 100 years.

Quick Guide to Growing Cucumbers

Soil, Planting, and Care

Cucumbers need warm, fertile soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.8, although they will tolerate a bit more alkaline soil to 7.6. To improve the soil and help create the root environment needed for a big harvest, work several inches of aged compost-enriched Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose In-Ground Soil into the top few inches of your existing garden soil. (Compost or composted manure will work, too.) Plant seedlings 36 to 60 inches apart, depending on variety (check the stick tag). For vines trained on a trellis, space plants 1 foot apart.

In areas where spring is long and cool, you can warm the soil 3 to 4 degrees by covering the hill or row with black plastic.If you do not plant in black plastic, then mulch with pine straw, wheat straw, chopped leaves, or your favorite organic mulch shortly after planting. If the weather is unseasonably cool, you can wait a while to mulch until the ground is warmed by the sun. Mulch is especially important to keep the fruit clean for bush types and vines not growing on a trellis. Straw mulch is also thought to be uncomfortable for slugs and creates an uneasy footing for cucumber beetles, helping to keep them at bay.

If you can, trellis your vines. This keeps the fruit clean and saves space. A 12- to 18-inch diameter cage made from 4- or 5-foot welded wire fencing or hog wire will support 2 or 3 vines. Wire is easy for the tendrils of climbing cucumbers to grab as the plant grows.

Cucumbers grow fast and don't demand a lot of care. Just keep the soil consistently moist with an inch of water per week (more if temperatures sizzle and rain is scarce). Inadequate or inconsistent moisture causes oddly shaped or poor-tasting fruit. If possible, water your cucumbers with a soaker hose or drip irrigation to keep the foliage dry. This helps prevent leaf diseases that can ruin the plant.

For best results, high quality plant food is just as important as starting with great soil. You can fertilize with a water-soluble food, such as Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition, applying it directly to soil around plant stems. Or, you can use a continuous-release fertilizer, like Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition Granules, worked into the soil. Both plant foods feed both your plants and the beneficial microbes in the soil that help them thrive. Either way, be sure to follow label directions.

Troubleshooting

If vines bloom but don't fruit, something is probably interfering with pollination. First, make sure that you see both male and female blooms. Male blooms usually appear first and then drop off, so don't be alarmed if this happens. Within a week or two, female flowers will also appear; each one has a small cucumber-shaped swelling at the base that will become a cucumber. If you're still not seeing those swellings turn into fruit, you may need to do a bit of hand-pollination.

Several pests bother cucumbers. Squash bugs may attack seedlings. Slugs like ripening fruit. Aphids can colonize leaves and buds. Straw mulch helps keep slugs at bay, as can trellising vines to get the fruit off the ground. Vines are also bothered by cucumber beetles, which chew holes in leaves and flowers and scar stems and fruits, but worse than that, they spread a disease that causes the plants to wilt and die. Powdery mildew is a disease that leaves white, mildew-like patches on the leaves. Apply fungicides at the first sign of its presence. To minimize disease spread, avoid harvesting or handling vines when leaves are wet.

Harvest and Storage

You can pick cucumbers whenever they're big enough to use. Check vines daily as the fruit starts to appear because they enlarge quickly. Vines produce more fruit the more you harvest. To remove the fruit, use a knife or clippers, cutting the stem above the fruit. Pulling them may damage the vine. Don't let the cucumbers get oversized or they will be bitter, and will also keep the vine from producing more. Yellowing at the bottom (blossom end) of a cucumber signals overripeness; remove the fruit immediately. Harvest lemon cucumbers just before they begin turning yellow. Although they are called lemon cucumber because the little oblong or round fruits turn yellow and look like a lemon, by the time the fruit turns yellow it may be a little too seedy for most tastes.

You can keep harvested cucumbers in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days, but use them as soon as possible after picking for best flavor. If you don't eat a slicing cucumber all at once, cover the unused portion in plastic wrap to prevent dehydration in the refrigerator. In fact, it's a good idea to wrap your whole cucumbers in plastic or store them in a zipper bag in the fridge to keep them crisp.

Cucumbers grown on a trellis are clean and easy to pick. Use a trellis slender enough for tendrils to grab. Cattle panels work beautifully for this purpose.Set cucumber transplants at the base of your trellis, and mulch after planting unless the soil could use a little more warming. Cucumbers bear male and female flowers. Female blooms have a small swelling at the base, the makings of a fruit.Cucumbers on a trellis are clean and easy to pick. Use a trellis small enough for tendrils to grab.Short vines make this plant ideal for a variety of containers.

FAQs

I read that cucumbers can be planted in hills. How do I do this?

Make a hill before planting the cucumber. Just a small rise in the ground is adequate. Build the hill, or mound, about a foot in diameter and about three inches high; this is to drain water from around the stem. Plant the cucumber in the mound.

Should you stake cucumbers?

Stakes or cages hold plants up from the ground. Cucumber vines have little tendrils that will grab a string or wire and climb up a wire cage or trellis. Staking makes it easier to pick the cucumbers and keeps them cleaner than if they are on the ground.

Which varieties of cucumbers can be grown in containers?

Use our bush-type cucumber because it is more compact and is bred for containers and small gardens. The vines do not grow as long as standard types.

My cucumbers bloomed but failed to set fruit. Why does this happen?

This is a pollination problem. The flowers must be pollinated to set fruit. Did you use a pesticide that might have killed bees that pollinate the flowers? Look to see if any bees are visiting your plants in the morning. This is when they are most active.

Why do my cucumbers taste bitter?

Some varieties grown under stressful conditions — weather that is too warm or too cool, poor soil fertility, or disease — can develop a bitter flavor. The same thing will happen to fruit that is left on the vine too long and is overmature. To help minimize the potential for bitterness, plant varieties that are not prone to becoming bitter, such as Armenian cucumber, lemon cucumber, small pickling varieties (like Boston pickling), or “burpless” slicing varieties.

It is cold in the spring where I live. How do I protect my cucumbers from the chill?

Cucumbers are sensitive to frost. Plant at least two weeks after all danger of frost has passed. You can use plastic sheeting on the ground to help retain the earth's heat. You can also cover plants with a row cover until they start blooming, if needed. After flowers appear you have to uncover them for the bees.

How often should I water my cucumbers?

Water often enough to keep the soil slightly moist all the time. Cucumbers will be small and can taste bitter if they get stressed for water. Mulch the soil around the plants to keep in moisture. It also keeps the fruit clean.

When should I harvest pickling type cucumbers?

Pickling cucumbers should be harvested when the fruit reaches 3 to 4 inches in length; for big pickles let them get 6 to 7 inches long if they are still tender.

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step-by-step instructions, secrets and growing technologies (120 photos + video)

In every garden or cottage you can find a cucumber bed. Everyone can grow such a vegetable, because special skills are not required here. The most basic thing is to know the requirements for growing and the characteristics of crop growth.

Article content

Conditions for growing cucumbers at home

How to grow cucumbers at home? For green gherkins, the main requirements for growing at home are considered to be a sufficient level of light and moisture in the soil layer. These moments are recommended to be observed in full so that all the work is not in vain.

Before growing cucumbers at home, you need to prepare a loggia or balcony, and also determine in which container the seedlings will be placed.

The balcony should be well prepared before growing cucumbers, namely, it is necessary to take care of the cleanliness of windows, insulation of cracks, etc. Pots with seedlings of cucumbers are placed on windowsills with a sufficient amount of light.

Planting cucumbers

To successfully plant cucumbers, you need to take care of the selection of seeds in advance, choose the right planting time.

At the same time, you should know how to care for cucumbers at home. This moment is very important, because with improper care, the plant may die. The main point is the preparation of soil rich in micronutrients. For planting, it is better to choose wooden pots, as they allow air to pass through better.

In apartments, cucumbers can be grown in the usual way by seedlings, or without seedlings. One way or another, the growth of seedlings is carried out without picking. Young cucumbers are quite tender and may die during transplantation.

It should be noted that the soil before planting must be neutralized by any possible means. There are cases when various insects live in the soil prepared for planting, which are harmful to the plant. If this fact is not taken into account, there is a possibility of losing the first cucumber sprouts.

Dates for planting cucumbers

When do you need to grow cucumbers? This question is very important, because every gardening enthusiast must take care of the subsequent actions during the growth and development of plants in advance.

After all the conditions in the apartment are provided for planting, you can start sowing itself. If there is not enough light in the room, it is recommended to reschedule the sowing to the end of February. During this period, there is a large duration of daylight hours.

When planting a vegetable crop at the end of January, it is likely to get the first fruits in early March.

Soil for planting cucumbers

The yield of homemade gherkins will depend largely on the soil in which they are grown.

The easiest way is to buy ready-made soil for cucumbers in the store. You can also use the land from the garden. In this case, it is necessary to prepare it in advance.

Such soil is rich in useful elements and substances, as it is mixed with humus. At home, you can also prepare the soil for planting by mixing peat and sand in a 1: 1 ratio. The resulting fertilizer is then mixed with the ground.

Cultivation of cucumbers at home using seeds

Before placing the seeds in the ground, it must be shed with warm, settled water. When planting, the level of the soil layer should be observed. It should be 5 cm lower from the top edge of the container.

After placing the seeds in the pot, they should be sprinkled with soil about 2 cm above. To create favorable conditions, it is recommended to cover the soil with a film. With the greenhouse effect, the seeds will hatch faster and the first sprouts will appear. It is important to ensure that the topsoil is not dry.

After the first sprouts appear, the film should be removed and the pot placed in the brightest place.

In order for the plant to develop normally and give a good harvest in the future, you should take care of a sufficient amount of soil. It will require no less than a bucket.

Growing cucumbers through seedlings

Large pots are required for planting vegetables in seedlings. Sprouts need to be transplanted after about 25 days, when 2-3 leaves are formed on them.

Before separating the sprouts, it is necessary to shed the soil as carefully as possible. So, getting the sprouts out of the ground, make sure not to damage the root system. The powder is made up to the cotyledon leaves. Enough space must be left to the top of the container so that the soil can be poured in the future. This will help form new roots.

Care is the same as in a greenhouse or open field. Gherkins are water-loving, require a garter. It is recommended to feed the vegetable crop with various fertilizers in the process of its growth. This is especially true for the fruiting period. Proper care will help lead to a good harvest with a pleasant taste.

Photo-instruction for growing cucumbers

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tips on how to grow at home

Indoor plants on the windowsill look great, give comfort and coziness to housing, give a particle of warmth in the cold season, but eventually they become boring. There is an idea - to remove house flowers and grow cucumbers on the windowsill in winter.

Think you can't do it? Growing cucumbers at home is possible even for those who have never had a dacha and still saw cucumbers in the most “wild” conditions only in the market and in stores. The idea is good because it can become a real hobby for all family members.

It is so interesting to watch the growth of plants, to notice new changes in the growing seedlings every day and how great it is to eat a fresh cucumber grown by yourself in winter for the New Year's holiday.

Contents

  1. In which apartment can you harvest cucumbers?
  2. The best varieties of cucumbers for growing at home
  3. Utensils for growing cucumbers on the windowsill
  4. How to grow healthy cucumber seedlings
  5. Secrets and rules of care

In what apartment will it be possible to harvest cucumbers?

Growing cucumbers in winter requires a number of conditions that can practically be met in any city apartment. It is important to adhere to certain rules when building a home garden:

Important to know if you decide to grow seedlings at home! Plant roots on a cold windowsill can reduce growth. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to put a heater under the boxes or pots. As a heater, you can take a board or foam rubber, or any other insulating material.

The best varieties of cucumbers for growing at home

The choice of seeds is one of the most important points when planting cucumbers on the windowsill. The quality of the crop and the abundance of fruiting will largely depend on the correctly selected variety.

To grow cucumbers at home on the windowsill, it is better to use self-pollinating, early-ripening and preferably productive varieties. Some gardeners use bee-pollinated varieties, but these will need to be pollinated artificially with cotton wool.

Now various agricultural companies offer a large list of varieties that can be used for growing at home. Here are just a few of them:

Every gardener has his favorite varieties of seeds that he wants to try indoors. Are varieties that are excellent fruiting in the country suitable for a vegetable garden on a windowsill? Everything is individual, you just need to carefully read the instructions on each specific package.

Utensils for growing cucumbers on the windowsill

To grow cucumber seedlings at home, you need to use small seedling cups and special soil for their germination or peat pots. From improvised means, you can take dishes from yogurt, sour cream and the like.

For growing already cucumber bushes, special deep containers, which can be bought in stores, are suitable. There is no desire to spend money on factory-made boxes, home-made boxes, plastic buckets and even pots will do.

The main thing is that each bush should have at least 5 kg of soil. There should be holes at the bottom of each container so that the soil breathes, the roots do not rot, and excess water drains.

Particular attention should be paid to the composition of the soil. Now the soil can be bought in the store. If there is no possibility or desire to purchase store soil, we make the soil mixture for seedlings of cucumbers on our own:

At the bottom of the container, place a drain of small pebbles or expanded clay up to 5 cm thick, followed by a well-mixed mixture. We fall asleep it in the prepared container, not filling it up by 3-4 cm to the edge.

Take advice from experienced gardeners. It is desirable to spill the mixture prepared at home with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. It must be watered several times with water so that the water is well absorbed.

How to Grow Healthy Cucumber Seedlings

Healthy seedlings are a good start, providing many prerequisites for a good harvest. First you need to check the seeds for similarity by putting them in a warm place on a damp cloth for 1-2 days.

If the seeds germinate well, we can hope that the seedlings will be good. You can germinate all the seeds and choose the strongest ones for planting:

  1. Now let's plant the germinated seeds in the soil for seedling germination, in cups, water them and cover them with a film.
  2. Place the cups in a warm, dark place at 25°C. After 2-3 days shoots will appear.
  3. Then we transfer them to the windowsills in a cooler place - bright and with a temperature of 20 ° C.
  4. When the seedlings of indoor cucumbers grow up to 3-4 leaves, we transplant them into boxes. First, water the earth abundantly in a glass and in a box. We carefully take a glass and crush it with our fingers so that the earth loosens. Carefully transfer the plant from the cup to the box, trying not to damage the roots and leaves.

Pay attention! Indoor cucumbers are very delicate plants, so it is good to plant them immediately in boxes and not to transship them.

Secrets and rules of care

After 4-5 leaves appear, pinch the top well to allow new shoots to form and form a bush. The next time you can pinch the plants at the level of the next 5-6 leaves - then new shoots form. Here, a measure should be observed so that the plant has enough nutrients and strength to form fruits.

Rules for the care of indoor cucumbers:

One of the main problems faced by exotic lovers who dream of growing cucumbers on the windowsill is the great dislike of cucumbers for drafts and cold.

Growing problems and how to solve them: