Hi I'm Tricia an organic gardener, I grow organically
for a healthy and safe food supply. For a clean and sustainable environment.
For an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Cucumbers are a delicious and easy vegetable to grow in the garden
I'll show you how. Cucumbers are Cucurbits this family contains
watermelon, squash, melons, gourds and pumpkins.
Cucumbers tolerate a broad range of soils but their favorite soil is loose
well drained and with a slightly acidic pH between six and seven.
Before planting the cucumbers I worked some compost into the soil
this will help provide drainage and organic matter. Cucumbers sprawl so they
take up a lot of space.
My cucumbers sprawl right out over the raised bed. If you don't have tall
raised beds you can trellis your cucumbers vertically
so that they take up less space and keep the fruit off the ground.
Vertical trellising also encourages nice straight growth for slicers
and increased light to the plants and air circulation helps prevent some
fungal diseases.
I direct seeded these plants after the danger of frost was passed
and when the soil heated up to about fifty degrees. Plant the seeds a half an inch
deep
plant two to three seeds every foot if you're trellising
if you're not plant four to five seeds in a hill
spaced four to five feet apart. I'm planting Sumter cucumbers
which are disease resistant to powdery mildew
and other mildews and other diseases you should be sure and plant
disease-resistant varieties
for diseases that are prevalent in your area. After your seeds have sprouted
you wanna thin them to about one plant
every foot for the trellis method and for the hill method
three plants per hill. Cucumbers can also be started indoors
about three to four weeks before the last frost. Cucurbits
like cucumbers don't like their roots disturbed
you can start them in trays as long as you have big cells
however they prefer to be started in pots that can be planted directly in
the ground
like the cow pots, the coco pots or the soil blockers.
When your cucumbers start vining and you see the tendrils coming off the stems
thats time to side dress with a little bit of all-purpose fertilizer
you can mulch them as well to help conserve water cucumbers are shallow
rooted plants so it's important to keep them well watered
one of the most serious pests for cucumbers and other Cucurbits
is the cucumber beetles not only do they eat the plants but they can spread
diseases like mosaic virus and bacterial wilt
you can cover your cucumbers with this agribond floating row cover
which will help protect them from cucumber beetles. Make sure to remove the
row cover when the plants start to flower
so that the pollinators can get in and do their thing you can trap out or
monitor the cucumber beetles with these adhesive traps
this trap is attractive to four different species of cucumber beetle
if you find the insects stuck to the trap come out at night
and dig around the stem of the plants to make sure that you don't have any larva
if you do make sure and destroy them. Cucumbers need to be pollinated
they set male flowers which are these skinny ones
and female flowers where the immature cucumber is visible
if cucumbers don't get proper pollination they can grow misshapen
make sure you plant flowers in your garden to attract bees and other pollinators
Harvest your cucumbers in the morning when the turgor pressure is at its highest
turgor pressure is like blood pressure for vegetables
it's what makes them crisp instead of limp you can pick them from two inches
long
up to when they start to turn yellow slicers are usually harvested when
they're one
to one-and-a-half inches in diameter cut the stem about a quarter of an inch or
so
above the cucumber the more cucumbers you pick the more you get
so try to come out and harvest every other day. Cucumbers can be bitter
but that's more based on what kinda variety you're growing rather than any
cultural practices
and peeling them can remove the bitterness so grow your cucumbers
and grow organic for life!