Cucumbers are heat-loving crops that don’t handle cold weather well, and generally don’t like to be transplanted. That’s why it’s best to directly sow seeds outdoors no earlier than 2 weeks after the last frost date of spring, or when soil temperatures are around 70ºF (21ºC). Covering the soil with black plastic mulch a few weeks before planting can speed planting times along if needed.

Although cucumbers grow relatively quickly, some gardeners may choose to plant cucumber seeds indoors for an earlier crop. If you decide to go this route, start the seeds about 3 weeks before you intend to transplant them and only transplant the seedlings outside when nighttime temperatures stay consistently above 50ºF and the seedlings have been properly hardened off.

If you want to enjoy even more cucumbers, you can make successive plantings of seeds every 2 weeks through mid-summer.

Where to Plant Cucumbers

Cucumbers like warmth and lots of light, so select a planting site that gets at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight per day.

These plants also require fertile soil and adding about 2-inches of aged manure and/or compost and a complete fertilizer to the area before planting helps cukes grow even better. Make sure the soil is moist but well-draining and has a pH of around 6.5 to 7.0 too.

Depending on your space, you can grow cucumbers in in-ground gardens or raised beds, or in containers or grow bags that are at least 5-gallons in size. Container planting is best for bush-type cucumbers or vining varieties that are kept tidy with a trellis.

Spacing for Cucumbers

How to Plant Cucumbers

To plant cucumber seeds directly outdoors, sow 2 seeds about 1 inch deep per planting hole and space holes 12 to 18-inches apart in rows that are about 4-feet from each other. Alternatively, you can also plant 2 to 3 cucumber seeds together in mounds or “hills” spaced 1 to 2-feet apart and thin the seedlings to one plant per hill when the plants are around 4-inches high.
To start cucumber seeds indoors, sow 2 seeds 1-inch deep in 4-inch biodegrable pots, water well, and place the pots on a heating mat set at about 70ºF (21ºC) to speed up germination. Once the seedlings emerge, remove the weakest plants so you’re left with 1 plant per pot. When it’s time to transplant seedlings outdoors, harden the plants off carefully, plant biodegradable pots along with your cukes to minimize root disturbance, and water well.
After planting cucumbers, mulch the area with straw, chopped leaves, or another type of organic mulch to keep pests and weeds at bay. If you’re growing vining-type cucumbers, install a trellis when you plant them. I like to grow cucumbers on a cattle panel trellis, but you can also create a simple trellis or support structure with wood or bamboo.

You can also grow cucumbers in containers!

Growing

Watering

Cucumbers are thirsty plants and should be watered consistently with about 1-inch of water per week. Plants need even more water during high heat or if you’re growing them in containers. Remember, inconsistent watering leads to bitter-tasting fruit and may cause issues like blossom end rot.

When watering, allow the water to deeply saturate the soil and do your best to avoid getting the plants’ leaves wet. Damp cucumber leaves are much more likely to develop mildew issues!

Fertilizing

Blending compost or aged manure and a balanced fertilizer into the soil helps cucumbers produce bigger harvests. After that, just side-dress plants with a balanced or high potassium fertilizer, such as tomato feed, when they begin to produce flowers and fruit.

Pruning or Maintenance

Bush-type cucumbers don’t need pruning, but vining varieties do. For these plants, remove any leaves on the lower 6-inches of vine once the plants are suitably sized and pinch off any suckers you see too.

Adding mulch around cucumbers works to retain soil moisture and reduce weeds. However, it’s best to not apply mulches until the soil has warmed to around 75°F.

Seasonal Care

If you’ve struggled with pests in the past, planting cucumbers a little later in the season can help you avoid issues with cucumber beetles and other nuisance insects. You may also want to cover young plants with row covers to reduce pests. Just make sure to remove coverings when the plants produce flowers to allow pollinators to get to work.

Once cucumbers start fruiting, you’ll need to be ready and harvest plants often. Cucumbers that aren’t picked in time quickly turn yellow and bitter!

Cucumbers on the vine. — Photo by barmalini/Getty Images

Harvesting

When to Harvest

Most cucumbers take somewhere between 50 and 70 days to start fruiting when grown from seed. However, harvesting guidelines vary depending on the type of cucumber you’re growing.

Slicing cucumbers are usually picked when they’re about 6 to 8-inches long.
Pickling cucumbers are at their best at 2 to 3-inches in size.
Burpless cucumbers aren’t prone to bitterness and can be left on the vine until they’re up to 10-inches long.
Gherkin varieties are picked very small—1-inch long for crunchy cornichons or 3-inches for larger varieties.

Technically, cucumbers are harvested when they’re still immature and before their seeds harden and the fruits become bitter. Don’t let cukes get yellow. A cucumber is of the highest quality when it’s uniformly green, firm, and crisp — unless you’re growing uniquely colored varieties like ‘Lemon’ or ‘Silver Slicer.’

At peak harvesting time, you should be picking cucumbers every couple of days. They grow quickly and plants stop producing without regular harvesting.

How to Harvest

To harvest, use a knife or clippers to cut the fruit off the plant. Don’t pull on the fruit as this can damage the vine.

Storage

Cucumbers are over 90% water and wrapping them in plastic wrap before you pop them in your crisper drawer can help them stay fresh longer. In the fridge, cukes usually last for about 7 to 10 days.

For longer term storange, cucumbers can also be pickled and canned. I like to preserve some of my cucumbers with lacto-fermation, which produces a zingy and tangy pickle that’s loaded with probiotics but needs to be stored in the fridge. I also can some cucumbers to make dill or bread and butter pickles, which can be preserved with water-bath canning and stored in the pantry when the jars cool.

Although it’s not for everyone, cucumbers can also be frozen and kept in airtight packaging in the freezer for a few months. This changes their consistency, so they’re not ideal for salads and fresh eating. However, you can use frozen cucumbers in place of zucchini in any stir fry dish!

Tip: Yellow cucumbers that have gotten too ripe usually have a bitter flavor, which can be masked by turning them into relish.

Pests and Problems

Like other veggies, cucumbers can be prone to certain pests and diseases that may affect plant growth or reduce harvest yields. Here are a few problems to be aware of and smart solutions appropriate for any organic garden!

Common Problems

Poor fruiting: Cucumbers that don’t fruit or that fruit poorly are usually suffering from a pollination issue. Companion planting flowers and flowering herbs near cucumbers and avoiding pesticides will encourage more pollinators to visit. Keep in mind that cukes produce male flowers first, followed by female flowers, and both male and female flowers need to be open before pollination can take place.
Blossom end rot: Often caused by irregular watering, blossom end rot can produce mushy spots on cucumber ends. Less commonly, this problem can result from calcium-deficient soil.

Common Pests

Cucumber beetles: These small, striped beetles nibble holes in leaves and flowers, rasp fruit, and can potentially transmit diseases like bacterial wilt. Thrwart them by planting cucumbers later in the season, covering young plants with row covers until they produce their first flower buds, and companion planting cucumbers with pest-repelling flowers and herbs. If infestations have settled in, handpick the beetles into a bucket of soapy water.
Squash bugs can produce chew holes in leaves, transmit plant diseases, and damage cucumber fruit too. Check the undersides of leaves for the yellow to bronze egg clusters and crush them with your fingers. Handpick adults into a bucket of soapy water or lay boards on the soil and check underneath the boards each morning for hiding squash bugs!

Plant Diseases

Powdery mildew: A fungal issue, powdery mildew leaves a powdery gray to white coating on cucumber leaves and can stunt plant growth. Avoid this problem by spacing cucumbers out properly, watering at the soil line, and treating plants preventiatively with a spray made from 40% milk and 60% water.
Anthracnose: Another fungal problem, anthracnose can cause spotting on cucumber leaves and produce sunken, dark spots on stems and fruit. The best solution is to destroy infected plants, choose resistant varieties, rotate crops annually, and avoid overhead watering.

Types

There are two main types of cucumbers: vining cucumbers, which grow on vigorous vines and require trellising, and bush cucumbers, which have a more upright habit and are better for pots. You can also choose between slicing cucumbers, which are ideal for salads, and pickling cucumbers that retain the best crunch when canned. Here are just a few of my favorites:

‘Boston Pickling’: this vining heirloom is prolific and bred especially for pickling.
‘Burpless Bush Hybrid’: a bush variety that’s slow to bitterness and good for small gardens, pots, or pickling.
‘Shintokiwa’: My favorite slicing variety, this Japanese heirloom yields long straight fruit with a fresh, crisp flavor.

Vegetables

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com, the digital home of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. She leads digital editorial strategy and publishing across a wide range of Almanac sub...

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Comments

Add a Comment

Sarah Perreault Fri, 08/31/2012 - 12:12

No, do not eat the yellow cucumbers. They are over-ripe and should be discarded or added to your compost pile.

Anonymous Sun, 08/19/2012 - 04:54

My cukes are about 8" long but from the very first one I harvested the skins are so thick they are impossible to chew. This is the first time this has happened - what could it be?

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Sun, 08/19/2012 - 15:40

Sometimes it depends on the variety. Cucumber skins can be smooth and thin, or thick and rough.

Anonymous Wed, 08/15/2012 - 23:45

I am growing Chicago pickling cucumbers but almost all of the cucumbers are mishapen ; either fairly straight or with a sharp bend in them with the part of the cucumber that is past half way or the is shriveled up and skinny. The plants are in full sun but about 5 feet from a lilac hedge. Is there anything I can do ?

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Thu, 08/16/2012 - 11:01

Misshapen fruit usually happens from incomplete pollination. The bees need to return and again and again. Sometimes, the later fruits will be a proper shape. In terms of the "shriveled" issue: If the female flowers bloom before there are male flowers to supply pollen, they will dry up or produce small fruits that drop off and die. Again, this is often corrected later in the season once the both flowers are blooming and there is plenty of pollination. Lack of pollination can be related to lack of pollinators (i.e., bees) or some rainy, interruptive weather. You can always hand pollinate.

Anonymous Fri, 08/10/2012 - 13:52

SOme of my cucmbers are thin, green, and yummy. I harevested some LARGE YELLOW cukes. Are they safe to eat? Cut one open, lookes like normal cucumger in the middle)

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 08/14/2012 - 14:12

If your cukes are yellow—and they are not supposed to be (they are not a yellow variety, such as "lemon cucumbers"), they are probably overripe: the chlorophyll that makes them green has begun to fade. The color may also signal a virus or that they had too much water. Examine the plant for other signs of disease and/or consider your recent watering habit and the weather. Yellow cukes may look fine, but they are likely to be bitter tasting. By the way, a cuke that has little yellow on the bottom portion that gets little sunlight is probably okay. We hope this helps! –Almanac editors

Anonymous Fri, 08/03/2012 - 07:55

My cucumber plant has started to produce very pale cucumbers with a slight hairy, furry light green skin as well as the normal cucumbers with the original dark shiny skin. Why is this happening?! Th pale ones are ok to eat, they are just sweeter and denser then the normal ones.

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 08/06/2012 - 10:57

A yellow cucumber is usually over ripe. But a pale cucumber can also be caused by a virus, too much water, or a nutrient imbalance. Try adding some aged manure or compost to the soil around the plants.

Anonymous Thu, 08/02/2012 - 12:28

My cucumber plant is growing tall. have little ones but they don't seem to grow any bigger then 2 inches, do I need to prune the plant? this is growing in pots

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How to Plant and Grow Cucumbers