Growing cucumbers is the original DIY project. Generations of gardeners have tried just about every growing method to get flawless fruit, from portable planting beds to complicated heating systems. But you don’t need any special equipment to grow perfectly straight cucumbers. Just keep in mind cukes do best when the weather is hot and humid, and the soil is nice and moist.
Cucumbers were valued as a fruit from the very beginning, as long as three thousand years ago in the Himalayas. Just as today, the fruit was prized for its cooling properties and its high water content, which helped travelers stay hydrated on long trips. Cucumbers were also used to soothe insect bites, relieve sunburn, and aid digestion.
If you want to grow the heaviest cucumber, try ‘Mammoth Zeppelin’. These fruits can grow to 3 feet long and weigh more than 20 pounds! Going for the longest cuke? ‘Telegraph Improved’ can grow up to 8 feet long in a greenhouse.
The temperate areas of central Asia may be where the long, sweet Asian cucumbers originated. It’s likely the fruit reached Europe carried by invaders who traveled to Mongolia and brought seeds they collected along the way.
Spanish and Portuguese explorers brought cucumber seeds and pickles with them during their travels to the New World in the 1500s. Many sources credit Christopher Columbus with bringing cucumbers to Haiti for the sole purpose of pickling them.
A traditional recipe for pickling “cowcumbers greene” appears in the Booke of Cookery, the family cookbook Martha Custis Washington inherited in the 1700s. The pickle recipe advised soaking the cowcumbers in salted water for 24 hours, rinsing, and then storing them with dill in a less salty brine. It was important to keep the pickles in a covered earthen pot so “noe ayre come in.”
Cucumbers, whether grown on long trailing vines or on compact bushy plants, can take many forms. Cukes range from the familiar dark green, slightly tapered hybrid slicers to the short, blocky light green heirloom picklers. Some have yellow-green peel and grow quite large while others stay small and round and pale. Some are spiny with deep ridges and others are smooth for perfect slicing. Most home gardeners grow their cucumbers outside, but special varieties including European seedless types are typically greenhouse-grown.
Gherkins, also called West Indian or Burr cucumbers, are a different species (Cucumis anguria). These small, spiny cucumbers originated in West Africa and were transported to Jamaica during the sixteenth century.
Vining cucumbers can be planted in vegetable beds or raised beds. But if you don’t have the space for a tall trellis, you can plant bush-type cucumbers. The plants won’t grow as tall as vining types — or produce as many cucumbers — but they can still win contests. Bush-type cucumbers will grow in a 5-gallon or larger container; a tomato cage works well as a support.
A typical cucumber plant produces more male than female flowers, but it’s the female flowers that set fruit. New developments in cucumber breeding include hybrids that produce plants with a higher proportion of female to male flowers, and plants that produce only female flowers. Here’s a guide to help untangle the terminology when shopping for seeds and plants:
Monoecious: Plants that produce separate male and female flowers on the same plant.
Gynoecious: Plants that have almost all female flowers on the same plant. Gynoecious cucumber varieties need to be interplanted with monoecious cucumbers as pollinizer plants. Don’t worry; seed companies mix in a certain percentage of pollinator seeds with the cucumber seeds.
Hermaphrodite: Each flower contains both male and female parts, so they are self-fertile.
Parthenocarpic: Flowers produce seedless fruit without pollination. Parthenocarpic cucumbers are usually grown in greenhouses.
It’s important to grow cucumber vines up a trellis to keep them healthy and to grow straight fruits. Train vines to the trellis early on, when the seedlings are young.
Growing high-quality cucumbers is sometimes challenging because plants are susceptible to so many of the things gardeners despise: hungry insects, wilt, and molds. If you want to win ribbons for your cucumbers, plant in warm weather, protect young fruits from the dreaded cucumber beetle, train your plants to grow up, and keep an eye out for fungal diseases.
On the other hand, cucumbers can churn out quantity if not always quality. Once the weather warms, cucumbers can grow from seed to harvest in as little time as 50 days. Pickling cucumbers may peak even faster. Select cucumber types that are known to produce prolific crops of uniform fruit in your region.
Time your planting so you can either direct-sow seeds after the soil has warmed to 70°F. Or start seeds indoors in peat pots three to four weeks before transplanting. (If you plant pickling cucumbers, plant some dill, too. You’ll be able to start pickling as soon as the first cucumbers are ready to harvest. In addition to exhibiting fresh cucumbers, you could enter the pickled products category, too!)
Plant in a full sun location, where cucumbers haven’t grown in the last several years, to reduce exposure to soilborne diseases. Cucumbers like a loamy, slightly sandy soil that’s rich in organic matter. A key to successful cucumber growing is to keep plants from drying out.
Cucumbers originated in hot, humid climates and that’s where they grow best. If you live in a cooler clime and are serious about competing with cucumbers, you can try growing them in a greenhouse or a polytunnel.
Most fairs offer two classes of cucumbers: slicing and pickling. Because the cucumber has such a diverse nature, there may be additional classes such as dill cucumbers, English type (burpless), lemon, and gardener’s choice. The bush types are good for smaller spaces; ‘Bush Champion’, ‘Salad Bush’, and ‘Bushmaster’ are good for growing in containers. Here are some top varieties for growing in your garden.
To grow competition-quality fruit, you’ll need to set up trellises prior to planting time. Trellised vines help grow straight, uniform fruit with even color with no yellow ground spots. Research shows gardeners get a higher yield from trellised cucumbers, too. Training vines to grow up helps keep vines safe, reduces the possibility of some disease and insect problems, and makes harvesting easier.
A good trellis for vining cucumbers is 5 to 6 feet tall, with a top and bottom brace and wire or plastic twine tied between the two braces at each plant. Other options include a wire teepee, fence, or lean-to. Bush types don’t need such a tall trellis, but a shorter trellis or plant support will help promote perfect fruit. The goal is to keep vines off the ground and to allow fruit to hang freely, without touching anything that could scratch or damage tender skin.
Train plants to grow up or on the trellis by gently tying or using clips to secure vines to the trellis. To prevent spreading plant diseases, avoid working with plants while leaves are wet.
Select cucumber entries that are crisp, fresh, of medium size, and uniform in shape and color. You may want to slice open a sample to make sure the seeds are still soft. Cut fruit from plants, and take care to preserve the fruit’s delicate skin from nicks and scratches. If you need to harvest a few days ahead of the contest, wrap cucumbers in plastic and refrigerate.
Install either row cover or individual plant covers to protect seeds and seedlings after planting. If cutworms are a problem, add collars to keep seedlings safe. Fertilize at planting with a balanced fertilizer such as diluted fish emulsion or manure tea. Mulch to reduce the need for weeding and to help maintain even soil moisture.
Cucumbers get their cool reputation because the fruit is about 95 percent water. Because of the high water content, plants will need consistent moisture the entire time they’re growing. Water deeply to a depth of about 6 inches, especially while fruit is setting and developing. Try to keep the soil evenly moist but not soggy. To keep leaves dry, water at base of the plant and never on the leaves.
Fertilize one week after plants bloom and every few weeks through the season. Watch for pale or yellowing lower leaves, which may be a signal that plants need more nitrogen. Bronze leaves could mean plants are lacking potassium.
Though it seems counterintuitive, it helps to snip off the earliest flowers that form on vines. This cruel-to-be-kind method encourages plants to grow a healthier root system and more leaves before starting to set fruit, making for more cucumbers in the future.
Some cucumber growers, especially those with small-space gardens, borrow pruning techniques from greenhouse growers to improve cucumber production and control growth. Pruning vining types of cucumbers to a single stem or leader directs energy to growing fruit instead of leaves. The technique is similar to pinching the suckers that form on tomato plants. Experts say pruning can increase yield and improve air circulation between plants.
Use your fingers, a sharp knife, pruning shears, or scissors to remove the lateral growth point (growth node) that sits between the leaf, the tendril, and the fruit. Make a clean cut as close to the main stem as you can without damaging it. Pinch or prune while it’s still small. You’ll also need to trim any new nodes that try to regrow at that point.
Some cucumber growers remove all lateral shoots on vining types. Others prefer to prune off only the first five or six lateral shoots near the base of the plant, or prune up to 4 feet and let the rest of the shoots grow.
It’s important to harvest cucumbers early and often. If you keep picking the fruits, the plants will keep producing. If you leave cucumbers on the vine too long, it signals the plant the end is near and the seeds should start maturing.
As the plant grows up the trellis, pick the cucumbers from the lowest part of the plant first and then work your way up to keep the top growth going. When plants are at their peak, you may need to pick cucumbers every few days; use a knife or pruning shears to make a clean cut from the plant.
It’s best to cut cucumbers from their vines when they’re still young and firm. Watch plants and snip off any cucumbers that are poorly shaped, too large, or turning yellow. These will be unsuitable for showing, and they’ll slow other fruit production. Use these in the kitchen, or toss onto the compost pile.
If your cucumbers are headed to the fair, remove soil with a soft cloth but don’t scrub off the natural bloom. This bloom is the powdery or waxy protective coating on the cucumber’s skin.
Harvest cucumbers early and often, so that the plants keep producing.
One of the major complaints about cucumbers is fruit that doesn’t grow uniformly straight but becomes misshapen with curling, crooks, or nobs. Blame environmental stressors like excessively hot or cold temperatures, low soil fertility, poor pollination, or lack of consistent soil moisture. All of these can affect fruit size, shape, taste, and overall quality. Cucumbers like heat and humidity, but too much can stress plants. Prevent sunscald or sunburn by encouraging a healthy leaf cover for fruit and keeping soil evenly moist.
You can work to eliminate the environmental stressors, or you can follow George Stephenson’s lead. In the mid-1800s, he invented a cucumber straightener using long, slender tubes of glass to ensure perfectly straight fruit.
Most cucumber hybrids are bred to resist common plant diseases. You can avoid potential pitfalls by selecting cucumbers that have multiple disease resistance. Then keep a healthy garden by rotating cucumber crops, providing adequate plant spacing, maintaining good soil moisture (especially after fruit set), keeping leaves dry, and controlling weeds with mulch. Quickly remove plants if you spot an insect infestation or disease. Once vines start to wither, it’s usually too late to do much to save them. Here are some common cucumber enemies and ways to cope with them:
Aphids are tiny pests that show up in clusters and cause damage by sucking sap from plants. Ants crawling on cucumber plants can signal aphids are near, because they’re attracted to honeydew that aphids leave behind. A blast of water from the hose every few days will spray aphids away.
Cucumber beetles chew holes in leaves, runners, and young cucumbers. Delay planting in early spring to avoid the first rush of adults. Protect seedlings early in the season with row cover. Leave the row cover on until plants have grown and started to flower; then remove to allow for pollination. Prevent egg laying with a cover, like newspaper, spread over the soil. Handpick and destroy any of the black-striped or spotted yellow pests. Yellow sticky traps can reduce the need for this unpleasant task.
Spotted cucumber beetle
Throughout history, gardeners have devised intricate systems for extending the growing season for cucumbers, experimented with using different types of fresh manure in so-called hotbeds, and invented special equipment to produce flawless fruits. In Vegetable Culture, a Primer for Amateurs, Cottagers, and Allotment-Holders, Alexander Dean turned his attention to some of the practices used to encourage early ripening for cucumbers. “Originally it was the practice to grow these varieties in frames placed on manure beds, or else in brick pits heated by flues and hot manure,” Dean related. He went on to explain that plan had fallen into disuse “because it is found to be so much easier to grow the plants in low houses heated by hot-water pipes, as in that way a suitable and equable temperature is easily maintained.”
Dean’s wasn’t the final word on growing cucumbers. In his 1892 gardening guide The Horticultural Exhibitors’ Handbook, William Williamson provided instructions for growing many kinds of vegetables for exhibition, including the English cucumber. These “are easily grown in a glass frame set on a hotbed,” he said, although the best way to obtain “clean, straight, and handsome specimens” is by growing them in a properly constructed cucumber-house. This structure should be large enough for plants to be trained on wires near the roof, so “the cucumbers hang down from them, clear of all contact, and fully exposed to plenty of light and air.” He also advocated the use of straightening aids, saying “fine specimens may be obtained with the aid of glass tubes to keep them straight and shapely.”
Williamson’s instructions included when and how to start seeds, how to plant in small hills, and how to maintain the hothouse at a humid and balmy 70°F at night. After three weeks, the fruit “should be thinned to a few of the most promising which are likely to be at their best on the date of the show.” He advised gardeners to remove early cucumbers “to conserve the energies of the plant for the production of exhibition specimens.” He also recommended frequent applications of liquid manure while cucumbers are “swelling.”
Squash vine borer (moth and caterpillar) likes cucumbers, too. Watch for the red-and-black adult, which looks more like a wasp or beetle than a moth. It usually appears in late May through late June. The moths lay eggs that grow into wormlike larvae that attack cucumber stems, causing sudden wilting of part of a vine. Protect with row cover, or plant cucumber cultivars that are resistant.
President Thomas Jefferson enjoyed growing jumbo varieties and once requested mammoth cucumber seeds from another gardener, the former governor of Ohio.
Pickleworm is a frequent nuisance to cucumbers and squash. Pickleworms are the larvae of night-flying moths that lay eggs on flowers and new shoots and buds. The young tunnel into buds, stalks, vines, and fruit. Use row covers to prevent moths from laying eggs, especially at night. Applications of Bt may help control larvae. Destroy infested vines.
Angular leaf spot is a bacterial disease that appears as angular or irregular shaped spots on leaves and fruit. This disease spreads rapidly by rain, hail, and contaminated equipment. Rotate crops, water at ground level to avoid wetting leaves, and avoid working or touching wet plants.
Bacterial wilt shows up as wilting and drying leaves before spreading to the vines. Remove and destroy sick plants. Control the cucumber beetles that spread the disease.
Downy mildew is an airborne fungus that shows up as yellow spots on the top of leaves and whitish patches of fungus underneath. Downy mildew is most likely to be a problem during cool, wet weather, so waiting to plant until warmer weather can help. Plant cultivars resistant to this fungus. Remove infected plants or use a fungicide at the first sign.
Powdery mildew shows up as round white spots on the underside of older leaves, especially during hot, dry weather. Eventually the fruits on infected vines will ripen prematurely and have poor flavor and texture. Give plants plenty of space for air to circulate, provide adequate water, and water at the base of plants to avoid getting leaves wet. Regularly remove dropped cucumber leaves from the soil surface.
Cucumber mosaic virus affects the quality of leaves, flowers, and fruit. New foliage shows up mottled or malformed. Prevent by planting disease-resistant cultivars. Treat aphids that spread the disease, keep beds weed-free, and immediately remove and destroy any infected plants.
The best cucumbers for competing in the pickling class are those specially developed to stay crisp through the brining process. Pickling cucumbers typically ripen faster than slicers, and the harvest can last only a week or two. Ideal picklers are about 6 inches long and less than 2K inches in diameter. Select fruit that’s straight or with as slight a curve as possible. Blunt ends are usually preferred to fruit with tapered ends.
If you’ve had meager cucumber crops in the past, it’s likely plants aren’t having enough sex in your garden. Most female cucumber flowers need pollen from male flowers to help them set fruit. But it isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Early in the season, cucumbers may produce a dozen or more blooms, but these are usually all male — and they’re the ones with the pollen. If the weather is rainy or cold, there may not be enough bees to help with pollination, and without pollination, female flowers can’t produce fruit. This scenario typically results in slower and later production of fruit, and maybe even fewer cucumbers. Even if pollination happens, fruit that sets in cold weather may be malformed.
If you’ve noticed poor fruit set on the cucumbers, take pollination into your own hands. Start early in the morning when pollen is available. Locate freshly opened male and female flowers. Male flowers have short stems and pollen; female flowers have longer stems and a bulb or fruit shape at the base of the flower.
Clip off a male flower and remove the petals. Gently touch or roll the pollen from the male flower onto the stigma in the center of the female flower. Alternatively, you can leave the male flower on the vine and use a small paintbrush or cotton swab to transfer the pollen.
In addition to pollinating by hand, you can try to improve overall pollination in your garden by planting flowers that will attract more bees, like bee balm, black-eyed Susan, cosmos, sunflower, and zinnia. Another option is to select parthenocarpic varieties, which can set fruit without pollination.
