Sowing the Seeds of Success: A Beginner's Guide to Growing Cucumbers

Growing Show-Stopping Cucumbers: A Beginner’s Guide

As a pickling enthusiast, I can attest that there’s nothing quite like biting into a crunchy, flavorful cucumber, fresh from your own garden. If you’ve never tasted a homegrown cucumber, make this the year you do. The experience will change your feelings about the ones sold in supermarkets. By sowing your seeds this month, you’ll be picking cucumbers from July into autumn.

Ridge cucumbers, also known as outdoor cucumbers, can thrive without a greenhouse. These cucumbers may not look like the ones you find in supermarkets, but they pack a punch when it comes to flavor and nutrition. The rough skin is edible and rich in vitamins A, K, C, and B, as well as potassium and fiber.

“The flavor of a homegrown cucumber is unparalleled, and the experience of biting into one will change your feelings about the ones sold in supermarkets.”

To grow successful outdoor cucumbers, you’ll need to provide them with a spot that receives plenty of sun and shelter. They can tolerate light shade, but need something to climb up. If you have indoor space, such as a polytunnel or unheated greenhouse, you’ll have a greater choice of varieties.

Cucumbers need a warm and sunny spot to thrive.

Sowing seeds from mid-April onwards will ensure warm nights for the young plants. They need heat to germinate, around 20C, and don’t like being transplanted. Sow two seeds per 9cm pot, and remove the weaker seedling once they have their first true leaves. Plant out when all threat of frost is over and they have at least three or four leaves.

Thin out seedlings to give them room to grow.

Cucumbers are made up of mostly water, but young plants will rot or sulk if overwatered. Instead, water little and often. Once the first flowers appear, start feeding your cucumbers. I give mine nettle and comfrey tea, and, after eight weeks in the pot, a handful of organic chicken manure pellets.

Cucumbers need regular feeding to produce a bountiful harvest.

Old-fashioned greenhouse varieties need the male flowers picked off because the cucumbers become bitter and misshapen if pollinated. The F1 ‘all female’ hybrids have done away with male flowers but need very warm conditions and thrive best if the night temperature doesn’t fall much below 20C. The mini cucumbers ‘Passandra’ or ‘Mini Munch’ are good examples.

Outdoor types are open pollinated by bees, so there’s no need to worry about removing male flowers. If I had to grow just one variety, it would be ‘Parisian Pickling’ because it makes a great pickled gherkin – or let it grow bigger for salads. For an unusual-looking cucumber, try the heirloom ‘Crystal Lemon’ or paler ‘Crystal Apple’.

Experiment with different cucumber varieties to find your favorite.