Cucumber
Which cucumber and where?
Where to grow cucumber depends a lot on the variety you choose. Snake cucumbers require a lot of heat and are only suitable for greenhouses and glazed balconies. Outdoor cucumbers can be grown in pallet collars or outdoors.
Cucumbers can also be grown indoors on a windowsill, if you choose a variety that does not need to be pollinated. Whatever variety you grow, wait a good while before planting out. The outside temperature should be at least 15 degrees when you set out your seedlings. If you are growing snake cucumber in a greenhouse, it should be up to 20 degrees.
Pre-cultivate cucumber
Sow in small pots or the growing tray at the beginning of late April or early May. Use nutrient-poor seed soil and keep the soil moist. After 1-2 weeks, when the seedling has looked up a few centimetres, it’s time for retraining. Carefully move the seedlings to larger pots, which you have prepared with more nutrient-rich soil. Now it’s important that the plants get plenty of light – so place them in a sunny window or under plant lights.
Planting out can usually be done a week or so into June. As mentioned, the temperature should be above 15 degrees and the risk of frost must be over. Harden off for a few hours a day on sunny days for a week.
Growing cucumbers indoors and on the balcony
For your cucumber to thrive and bear fruit, the pot should be at least 10 litres and have drainage holes. For best results, you should also add some type of fertiliser. However, if you don’t want to have fertilised soil indoors, you can make do with continuous watering. Place where the cucumber gets plenty of sunlight. Choose a variety that does not require pollination.
Grow cucumbers in pallet collars or outdoors
Prepare with cow or chicken manure. If you use compost soil or have access to bokashi compost, this is also very helpful. Don’t plant too deeply – then there is a risk that the plants will suffer from rot. About 5 plants per square metre is fine.
Care and maintenance
Cucumbers are not difficult to care for but require plenty of water. If the plants dry out, there is a risk that they will not produce enough fruit or that the fruit will go bad. If you’re going away for a week, it’s a good idea to set up some kind of drip irrigation, or ask a neighbour to water.
Fertiliser water regularly too. Cover crops with grass clippings will help against evaporation, but watch out for slugs – they love cucumber plants.
Harvesting outdoor cucumbers
During July, we usually harvest a couple of cucumbers for our breakfast sandwich or salad every day. Even pickling varieties (the smaller varieties that can be grown without a greenhouse) are young enough to eat as they are. They make excellent snacks for sun-weary children.
Towards the end of summer, we often find (to our delight) that we are almost drowning in cucumbers. That’s when it’s a good time to put a bunch away for future use. Our favourite is a pickling with chilli, vinegar and spring onions – it goes well with Asian food. Of course, it also works well with a classic 1-2-3 pickle, which you can then enjoy with autumn meatballs.
Harvesting snake cucumber
Snake cucumbers are nothing to skimp on. Make sure to enjoy them while you have the chance to eat them fresh and invite friends and family over for dinner. They’ll be sure to want to come back.
Author: Johanna Damm
Fact-checked by Erik Hoekstra
Last updated 2022-10-14