10 Tips for Growing Cucumbers, because every salad needs a home-grown cucumber and I love making cucumber water and cucumber martinis.
10 Tips for Growing Cucumbers:
Plant where they will get full sun but in hot climate afternoon shade is best.
Space plants 3’ apart and rows 4-5’ apart.
Add plenty of compost and aged manure to soil when planting. After vines and first flowers develop follow with side dressing of compost and manure.
If yellow leaves appear, your plant may need more nitrogen.
Trellising helps to keep fruit available for quick harvesting.
They need between 1 and 2 inches of water per week, keep the soil slightly moist at all times. Water deeply about once or twice a week and more often if you’re gardening in sandy soil.
Cucumber beetles will attack plants and spread wilt. Cover plants early with row covers, but once flowers for you must remove for pollinators.
Your soil should have a pH between 6.0 and 7.0.
The more you pick cucumbers, the longer they will produce.
To harvest your cucumbers it is best to use a knife or shears. Grasp the fruit and cut the stem 1/4 inch above it.
Additional Tips:
Harvest your cucumber varieties; American slicers are generally best when harvested at 6 to 8 inches long; Middle Eastern types such as ‘Amira’ at 4 to 6 inches; most picklers at 3 to 5 inches; and Asian varieties at 8 to 12 inches.
If your cucumbers taste bitter, remove the ends, that seems to be where most bitterness is contained.
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