Melinda Myers

Cucumber

Botanical Name

Cucumis sativus

Hardiness

Annual

Height

1 to 6 feet

Width

1 to 6 feet

Flowers

Mid summer to early fall: yellow

Fruit

Wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors

Light

Full sun

Soil

Moist, well-drained, fertile

Planting & Care

• Cucumbers grow best and thrive in warm temperatures. Ideal soil temperature for germination and growth is between 65°F and 90°F.
• Direct sow when danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed. Sow seeds 1 to 1¹/₂ deep, 2 inches apart in rows spaced 5 to 6 feet apart.
• Thin plants to 8 to 15 inches apart. Or plant in hills. Sow 3 to 6 seeds per hill, space hills 3 to 5 feet apart. Thin to 2 to 3 plants per hill.
• For an earlier harvest, start plants indoors 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost date and transplant outdoors when the soil has warmed. Sow 2 to 3 seeds per peat pot or other small container. Thin to one plant per container. Space transplants 1 to 2 feet apart in rows 5 to 6 feet apart.
• Successive plant every 2 to 3 weeks until about 3 months before the first frost date for a continual harvest
• Trellis to save space and improve air circulation
• Adequate moisture is important to cucumber growth
• Mulch the soil to retain moisture and suppress weeds

Problems

Cucumber beetles, aphids, squash vine borer, bacterial wilt, powdery mildew, cucumber mosaic virus

Varieties

• Burpless - long fruit, good for trellising
• Straight 8 - All-America Selections winner, 8" straight fruit
• Fanfare - AAS winner, good disease resistance, high yield
• Diva - crisp, sweet flesh, seedless, produces all female flowers, high yielding, AAS winner
• Saladmore - semi-bush vine, good disease resistance, pick smaller fruit for pickles and larger for slicing and spears, AAS winner
• Pick a Bushel - compact, bush-type, great for containers, great for pickling when harvested early, AAS winner
• Parisan Gherkin - mini cucumber, semi-vining, good for staking in containers, good disease resistance, AAS winner
• Green Light - mini cucumer, high yielding, spineless fruit, all female flowers, AAS winner