Cucumbers: How to Grow and When to Plant in Your Backyard or Patio Garden!

By CarrieGrowing Food, Growing Guides
Cucumbers blog post
Whether you plan to use them for pickling or slicing, cucumbers are a great plant to start out your garden with. If you wait for the weather to warm up and give them good soil, full sun, and sufficient moisture, they’ll flourish! Pay attention for the cucumber beetle though, a yellow and black insect that looks like a ladybug.

How to Grow:

Sow seeds directly into the soil outdoors after your last spring frost in the spring and throughout the summer up to 12 weeks before your first fall frost. You can see specific dates for your location using our FREE iOS, Android, and Universal Web App.

Sow 2 seeds per square feet about 1 inch deep. You can can place a trellis by the squares for the vines to help to save space and grow vertically. Make sure to plant in a space that has full sun. Take care to notice what plants are around the area as well, see the companion plant section below. It will take approximately 4-8 days for your seeds to sprout. Provide your cucumber plant with weekly watering increasing water amounts in periods of extreme heat.

Companion Plants:

Companion planting is a vital part of organic gardening. Companion plants assist in the growth of others by attracting beneficial insects, repelling pests, or providing nutrients, shade, or support. There are also plants that do not like being next to each other. Some plants get too tall and can provide too much shade for your plant. Sometimes certain plants attract the same pests, so it is important to try and separate these. Herbs are especially great companion plants because they help to repel pests from your other plants!

         GoodBad
ArugulaKohlrabiBasil
Banana PeppersLeeksCantaloupe
Beans (Bush & Pole)LettuceMarjoram
Bell PeppersMarigoldsPotatoes
Bok ChoyMustard GreensRosemary
Brussel SproutsNasturtiumsSage
CabbageOkraWatermelon
CatnipOregano 
CauliflowerPeas 
ChamomileRadish 
CornSunflowers 
DillSweet Peppers 
Hot PeppersTarragon 

See companion plants for 70+ foods in our FREE iOS, Android, and Universal Web app!

Pests:

Pests can be one of the most difficult challenges you face in the garden. We strive to grow food without the use of pesticide and luckily there are natural solutions for most of these nasty pests! The pests listed below are common ones for cucumbers:

Learn more about pests and beneficial insects in our FREE iOS, Android, and Universal Web App!

Harvesting:

You will begin to be able to harvest your cucumbers approximately 50-70 days from first sprout. Harvest continually once they reach pickle size. Don’t allow any cucumbers to turn yellow or grow too big, or the plant will stop producing. Be careful harvesting because it’s easy to damage the vine stems.

How to Prepare:

Before using them, wash them and scrub them with a brush. They can be served fresh, sliced for sandwiches, added to smoothies or juices, and even pickled! Frozen cucumber slices also make a tasty addition to a glass of water with some lemon.
 

Learn more about growing over 80 different foods, including how to manage various pests in our FREE iOS, Android, or new Universal Web App!

cucumbers

 

 

5 thoughts on “Cucumbers: How to Grow and When to Plant in Your Backyard or Patio Garden!”

  1. Pingback: How to Grow & When to Plant Honeydew Melon Fruit in Your Backyard Garden - From Seed to Spoon
  2. Pingback: How to Grow & When to Plant Arugula! - From Seed to Spoon Vegetable Garden Planner Mobile App
  3. Pingback: How to Grow & When to Plant Sunflowers! - From Seed to Spoon Vegetable Garden Planner Mobile App
  4. Pingback: May: What Food We're Growing in Our Backyard Urban Garden! - From Seed to Spoon Vegetable Garden Planner Mobile App
  5. Pingback: How to Grow & When to Plant Garlic in Your Backyard or Container Vegetable Garden! - From Seed to Spoon Vegetable Garden Planner Mobile App

Leave a Reply