Specialty Cucumber Seeds - Lemon

Minimum Seeds per Packet: 30

Packet Weight: 1g

Planting Season: After Last Frost

Sowing Method: Direct Seed or Transplant

Seed Depth: 1/2"

Direct Seed Spacing: 2-3"

Soil Temperature: 60-90 ℉

Days to Sprout: 7-14

Mature Spacing: 12"

Sun Requirement: Full Sun

Frost Tolerance: Frost Sensitive

Days to Harvest: 65

When to Seed Cucumbers

Cucumbers are a warm season, sun-loving crop that should be direct seeded or transplanted out after all danger of frost has passed. 

Where to Plant Cucumbers

Choose a spot with full sun and deep, nutrient-dense soil. They can be left either to vine out along the ground or supported on trellises. Using a trellis can increase the available square footage in your garden so keep this in mind when selecting a spot. Bush-types can even be grown in containers! 

Growing Cucumbers

Cucumbers can be direct seeded or transplanted, but they have sensitive root systems so transplanting can sometimes result in crop failure. Sow seeds ½ inch deep and two inches apart. As they grow, thin your seedlings to their mature planting distance of 12 to 18 inches. Keep rows three to four feet apart. If trellising, the rows can be a little closer together. Mulch can help hold in moisture and keep weeds from competing with your cucumbers as they’re getting established. They’ll need one to two inches of water per week. This is even more important as the plant starts to flower and fruit. Stressed plants can result in bitter-tasting cucumbers. As flowering begins, regularly fertilizing with a gentle liquid fertilizer every two weeks can help support fruit production. 

Harvesting Cucumbers

The more you pick cucumbers, the more fruit they’ll produce. Check your plants everyday and harvest your fruits at the optimal size for the variety. Use sharp shears to clip the stem of the cucumber rather than pulling on the vine.

Cucumber, Cucumis sativus
Pollination, insect; Life Cycle, annual; Isolation Distance, ½ mile

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.