cucumbers are a classic garden staple. They’re easy to grow and are so icon as a pickling food we just call them pickles. While most cucumbers have very similar growing conditions, the plants themselves actually come in many varieties each designed for specific types of growing and specific uses for the cucumber. We’ll discuss general growing tips for cucumbers as a whole, but we’ll also give a breakdown of the major differences in varieties that will play into how you plant your cucumbers for your home garden.
How to Grow Cucumbers Quick Reference
| Preferred Soil Type | Well Drained, Loose sandy loam |
| Soil pH | 6.5 to 7 |
| Watering Requirements | 1 inch per week |
| Fertilizer Recommendation | 5-10-10 (low nitrogen) |
| Light Conditions | Full Sun |
| When to Plant | After temperatures reach 65F |
| Ideal Temperature | 75F to 85F |
| Days to Grow | 50 to 70 days |
| Average Yield | ~10 cucumbers per plant |
Types of Cucumber
Cucumbers are actually part of the Cucurbitaceae family which also houses gourds, squash, and luffa. Despite being part of that family, cucumbers are often eaten raw with minimal preparation or as pickles. This division in preparation is one of the major ways that the cucumber is divided up. These two major groups are commonly called slicing or pickling cucumbers depended on their best use.
Use Type: Slicing vs Pickling Cucumbers
Slicing varieties of cucumbers can grow to be around 12 inches in length and are best enjoyed raw as part of a salad or sandwich. This group includes the humble garden cucumber, but still comes in many different varieties often distinguished by their country of origin.
Pickling cucumbers are often about half the length of their slicing cousins, coming in at about 6 inches long. Their skin is also typically much thinner and their seeds are much smaller. This makes them much better for storing in jars which is the typical manner in which pickles are made. Some varieties buck the trend of being small and get quite wide and stout and are closer to what you might call a deli pickle. Not idea for jarring at home, but still desirable due to being shorter and more manageable to work with.
Plant Type: Bush vs Vining Cucumbers
Beyond being slicing or pickling cucumbers plants can also be designated as bush or vining. This distinction is based on the amount of space that the plants take up. The bush varieties of cucumber don’t actually grow as a bush, but they are quite short and only take up a few feet of space. Vining cucumbers on the other hand can have vines growing up to 15 feet long!
While hearing how much space vining cucumbers take up may make you lean towards using bush cucumbers for your garden, we would encourage you to reserve your judgement. Using a trellis, vining cucumbers can still be very space efficient. On top of this you can also use cucumbers that vine in companion planting to help shade the soil of taller plants which helps with both water retention and keeping roots cool.
No two gardens are alike so be sure to think carefully about how much space you have before you decide on a variety.
Pollination Type: Monoecious vs Gynoecious Cucumbers
Beyond their use in the kitchen and space in the garden cucumbers are also divided by their pollination type. Monoecious plants carry both male and female reproductive parts in the same plant. Gynoecious plants have mostly female flowers which require special care to pollinate.
To ensure the gynoecious cucumber varieties can be pollinated every packet of seeds tends to contain a standardized variety of a monoecious cucumber to ensure that successful pollination can occur in your plants. These seeds may be in a separate packet or dyed a different color to ensure that you plant at least one of these to help your cucumbers get pollinated.
The reason you would plant gynoecious cucumbers in the first place is because they often produce far more fruits than monoecious species. The higher yields are desirable, but require you to grow multiple plants to ensure pollination. If you want a lot of cucumbers and have the garden space it certainly can be worth it, but if you are growing a smaller garden and have room for only one plant you’ll need to pick a monoecious variety to ensure your crop produces.
Specialty Varieties of Cucumber
If these three major divisions of cucumber weren’t enough, there are also specialty types of cucumbers that divide them into smaller categories. Burpless cucumbers have thinner skin and are reportedly less bitter. These plants have smaller seeds and are reported have less of the substance cucurbitacin which can cause indigestion. We’ve never had a problem with this, but it worth mentioning that this is one of the specialty traits that many people look for.
You also get cucumbers that don’t look like cucumbers at all. Some are think and curly. Others look like tiny watermelons. You can even find cucumbers in a variety of textures. There are too many types of specialty cucumber to address in this article alone, but just know there are plenty to choose from when it comes time to pick out seeds.
If this is your first time growing cucumbers we recommend sticking to more common varieties which will have less restrictive growing conditions.
Cucumber Growing Requirements
Cucumbers are not picky plants by any means. They’re relatively easy to grow if you have the space or setup for them. We’ve grown them very successfully in both rural and urban homestead environments and almost never have problems getting a fair crop even out of the most restrictive of conditions.
That said, the better you treat you cucumber plants the more cucumbers you’ll bring in and the better they will taste.
When to Plant Cucumbers
Cucumbers are a warm season plant that does not do well with frost or highly variable temperature. When planting from seed make sure that cucumbers go in the ground after the temperature is consistently above 65F.
If you want to start your seeds indoors, which we recommend for most garden plants, plant 3 weeks before the temperature is expected be consistently at or above 65F. When starting cucumber seeds indoors we recommend using a heat mat to keep the soil around 70F and providing the seedlings with a full sun window or grow lights for 6-8 hours a day.
If you are going to try and harvest cucumbers throughout the growing season, you can stagger the planting of your plants by a week to two weeks. This will allow you to stagger your harvests throughout the year and have fresh cucumbers for a longer period of time. This is really only suitable if you are planning on growing more than a few plants at once and works best with monoecious varieties.
Soil Conditions for Cucumbers
Cucumbers like a well draining high organic matter soil that stays fairly moist, but not wet. Ideally you want to plant cucumbers into a garden that has had two to three inches of compost added to it and been well tilled to around 6 inches deep. The soil should have a pH of 6.5 to 7.0 and shouldn’t be too dense or clay bound.
How to Sow or Plant Cucumbers
Sow or plant your cucumbers outside between and inch deep into the soil and space plants three to five feet apart in a full sun area for vining plants that will be on the ground. If you are using a trellis with your vining cucumbers you may reduce the spacing to a foot apart, but you must ensure the plant are able to climb the trellis properly.
For bush varieties of cucumbers space the plants directed on your seed packet. Some can be planted very close together, but we always recommend you avoid overcrowding if it is at all possible. Dwarf bushing cucumbers take the least amount of space, but may not be able to use a trellis, so be sure to give them the space they need to produce.
How to Water Cucumbers
Cucumbers need about an inch of water a week for their entire growing season. Seedlings planted outside may need to be watered more frequently, but they should never be in standing water. Ensure that soil stays moist, but don’t drown the plants.
Young seedlings outside may need row covers initially to prevent too much moisture loss and to help avoid common garden pests.
Fertilizing your Cucumbers
Cucumbers should get a decent amount of nutritional support from fertilization to keep them producing maximum yields after flowers form you can spray around your crops with liquid 5-10-10 fertilizer once every three weeks or alternatively side dressing with well processed compost. Do not over fertilize your crops as too much fertilizer can change the pH of your soil or stunt the growth of your cucumbers.
Harvesting Cucumbers
Cucumbers are extremely easy to harvest. When fully grown, around 10-12 inches for slicing cucumbers or 4-6 inches for pickling cucumbers, simply pick the fruits from the vine. If you feel the vine is still firmly attached and you don’t want to hurt the plant you can remove the cucumbers with garden shears.
How many cucumbers does a single plant produce?
On average cucumbers produce about 10 fruits per plant. They can produce more, especially if you are harvesting them as soon as they are ready to be picked, but expecting about 10 per plant is a safe bet. This rule of thumb of 10 per plant holds for most plants in the Cucurbitaceae family. Some plants have been bred to have higher yields, so be sure to check the information provided with your seed packets to have a more accurate count of what you can expect to grow.
Cucumbers are A Great addition to any Garden
Cucumbers are one of those staple crops you can rely on to be a real winner in the garden, both easy to grow and extremely versatile. Pickles are one of those fantastic food preparations that both keeps for a long time and really tastes better when grown fresh. If you have the space for them cucumbers of any variety are good move for your homestead garden.
Cucumber Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to grow cucumbers?
cucumbers take between 50 and 70 days to grow on average.
When are cucumbers ready to harvest?
Slicing cucumbers are ready to harvest when they are 10 to 12 inches long. Pickling cucumbers are ready to harvest at any size, but typically are full sized at 4-6 inches long.
How much water do cucumbers need?
Cucumbers should be watered once a week with about 1 inch of water. Avoid over watering cucumbers and check your soil before watering.
Do cucumbers need a trellis to grow properly?
No. Cucumbers can grow just fine without a trellis, but when a trellis is used they can take up significantly less space and be much easier to care for and harvest.
How can you tell is you’ve over watered cucumbers?
When cucumbers are over watered you will notice leaf yellowing. If you see leaf yellowing occur, check your soil. If it is too wet wait to water again until it is nearly dry.
How many hours of sunlight do cucumbers need a day?
Cucumbers need at least 6 hours of full sun a day. If they are planted in areas that get less sun than this their growth will be slowed and they may produce less.
Can cucumbers tolerate frost?
No, cucumbers are a warm weather plant and need temperatures to be consistently above 65F before planting. outside.
When should I start cucumbers indoors?
Cucumbers can be started indoors roughly three weeks before you expect temperatures to be consistently above 65F outside, at which point they can be transplanted to your outdoor garden.
Do cucumbers cause indigestion?
Cucumbers can cause indigestion if you eat too many of them. They contain a substance called cucurbitacin which can cause indigestion and gives cucumbers their bitter taste. “Burpless” varieties of cucumber contain lower levels of cucurbitacin and are less bitter and less likely to cause indigestion. Burpless cucumbers still contain some cucurbitacin and can cause indigestion if you eat too many of them in one sitting.
Do cucumbers tolerate dry soil?
No, cucumbers need moist soil to thrive. While many people over water their cucumbers you should never let the soil completely dry out and should try to keep it fairly moist. The recommended amount of water for cucumbers is roughly 1 inch of water per week.