Planting Guide and Seed Saving Notes for Cucumbers
Planting Guide and Seed Saving Notes for Cucumbers
Cucumber (Cucumis sativis)
These crisp juicy fruits seem to sit around lazily on the ground, just waiting to plucked because nothing quenches the thirst on a hot day in late July quite like a cucumber. While most people are familiar with the common dark green slicer cukes, they actually come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and even colors. Any cucumber can be pickled, but some varieties are bred for uniformity and girth and are specifically labeled for pickling. Slicers, which are mostly eaten fresh, are thinner and longer with some that can even grow up to two feet if given the opportunity.
Nutrients: vitamins A, C, K, B6, folate, thiamin, potassium, magnesium.
How to Start Cucumbers from Seed
Bed Preparation
Cucumber is a frost sensitive annual that prefers full sun and rich, well-drained soil. As a heavy nitrogen feeder, cucumber benefits from a side dressing compost, aged manure, or organic fertilizer during the growing season.
Planting
Direct-seed outdoors once the danger of frost has passed and soil temperatures have warmed to at least 60˚ F. Seeds can also be started indoors 3-4 weeks before the last frost date. Plant seeds ½-1" deep and either in rows (2" apart in rows 3-4 feet apart) or in hills (3-6 seeds per hill, hills spaced 3-5 ft apart). Seeds will sprout in 4-13 days. Thin to 8-15" inches apart in rows or 2-3 plants per hill. To extend your harvest, succession plant every 2-3 weeks until mid-summer.
Provide adequate moisture (1-2" per week) during flowering and fruiting for good fruit formation and to prevent bitterness.
Harvest
Cucumbers are ready to harvest in approximately 55-65 days. Harvest frequently to encourage more fruit production.
Seed Saving
Cucumbers will cross readily with other cucumbers of the same species, so isolation by distance, time, or barrier is necessary. Let the fruits over-ripen on the vine, they will get huge and turn yellow. Leaving on until the vines are dying is a good way to get very mature seed. Pull the cukes and bring them inside to allow to ripen further in a dry, dark place. When the cucumbers begin to soften, scoop out the seeds and put into a jar filled with an equal amount of water to seed mass. Let the seeds ferment for about 3 days, then pour off the scum and any floating seeds that will not be viable. Rinse the remaining seeds in a colander, then allow to dry on screens or several sheets of newspaper for at least three weeks.