Some thoughts about growing cucumbers gathered over the years…..
Cucumbers will produce good fruits fairly easy if you follow a couple of basics. First, they are not frost tolerant – must be planted when soil temps are 60+ for best germination. The second is that the soil must also be well fertilized and deeply as cucumbers are voracious feeders. Good drainage helps and cucumbers also require regular watering – infrequent watering will cause fruit to stunt, yellow or deform all together – remember cucumbers are 90% water. Successive plantings work well – 3 weeks after germination of the first patch or row – sow another to ensure cucumbers through to the first frost. Cucumbers are also friendly growers – check out the “companion planting” section on cukes.
Marketmores on Trellis
Many varieties of cucumber can be grown on a trellis or frame type structure – you train the tendril vines up the trellis as they grow. The trellis takes less space in the garden and usually distributes the sunlight more evenly. Cucumbers will send out runner vines and do not trail well over weed block fabric (it gets too hot), this is easily remedied – cover the weed block with a layer of grass clippings from the mower. This helps preserve the watering, holds the soil temp more evenly and allows the vines to travel more.
Usually the larger cucumbers grow, the more likely they are to loose their flavor or even become bitter. Pick them young and slender (they will have less developed seeds and be sweeter) and prompt picking ensures more fruit setting. Another hint is when harvesting – cut the vine just above the cucumber itself rather than detaching it at the flower. It will store better this way and helps the plant not lose additional energy.
Some varieties, like Armenian cucumbers are a light green, creased lengthwise (and they can be exceptionally long) and have an edible skin – they are actually an undeveloped melon! The varieties you normally see in the produce section are the dark green “burpless”or “straight eight” – and some stores will carry the “english” or seedless cucumbers. My favorite variety is “marketmore” for the garden – it will trellis, has abundant fruit and produces fruit at days intervals. The “armenian” variety does wonderfully here, but can overwhelm a garden patch if you are limited on space – although it can be grown on a sturdy trellis or fence.
