Cucumbers are an easy vegetable to care for and bear a lot of fruit if grown properly in the garden. Read this article to learn how to grow plump, delicious cucumbers in your garden.
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Part 1 of 3: Preparation Stage
Step 1. Wait for the soil to warm up
Cucumbers are very sensitive to cold temperatures, and even frost will kill cucumbers, especially if the plant is already in critical condition.
- In general, cucumbers should be planted in April or May, depending on the season in which you live and when the weather has started to warm up. A more specific way to determine when to plant cucumbers is to pay attention to the date of the last coldest weather. Just in case, wait up to two weeks from that date.
- The soil temperature is at least 18.2 degrees Celsius. Don't forget, the soil temperature can be slightly cooler than the air temperature.
Step 2. Choose a sunny location
Cucumbers grow best in the sun during their growing season.
- Sunlight is very important as a source of nutrition for cucumbers through the process of photosynthesis.
- Sunlight is also important for regulating soil temperature. Soil that continues to be exposed to the sun will be warm so that the cucumber seeds can germinate.
Step 3. Remove all weeds
Dig up weeds from your garden before planting cucumbers. Apart from being unsightly, weeds also absorb valuable nutrients contained in the soil.
- For best results, pull out the weeds by hand and pull out as many roots as possible. If the roots are left alone, the weeds will likely grow back.
- Avoid using herbicides. Organic chemicals and herbicides can reduce the quality of soil for growing crops, including cucumbers.
Step 4. Fertilize the soil
Spread and mix a granular fertilizer with garden soil to improve its overall quality before starting to grow cucumbers there.
- Use a small garden shovel or fork to loosen the soil before applying fertilizer or anything else. By loosening the soil, the fertilizer will mix well and create ideal conditions for cucumber root growth
- Compost is the best type of natural fertilizer for cucumbers. Mix into the soil to a depth of 5 cm and cut and work gradually into the soil to a depth of 15, 24-20, 32 cm.
- If you use chemical fertilizers, choose a slow-release granular fertilizer and follow the dosage on the label instructions.
Step 5. Balance the pH of your soil
Ideally, the pH of the soil should be neutral or slightly alkaline. Thus, the pH of the soil should be as close to 7 as possible.
- Test the soil pH with a pH test kit that can be purchased at gardening stores and supermarkets.
- If the soil pH needs to be raised, apply Kaptan or agricultural lime.
- If the soil pH needs to be lowered, use sulfur or aluminum sulfate.
Step 6. Improve soil quality
If the soil is too dense or sandy, it will be difficult for the cucumbers to grow roots and may die or at least produce edible cucumbers.
- The ideal soil for cucumbers is loose, light, and sandy, because this soil is faster and does not cool easily.
- Improve the quality of the clay by adding organic matter. Increase dense, heavy soil with peat, compost, or rotting manure.
Part 2 of 3: Cultivation Stage
Step 1. Choose the best variety for your garden
In general, there are varieties of vines and shrubs. The vine varieties are more commonly grown, but the shrub varieties are easier to care for in confined spaces. There are also varieties of slicing (sliced) or pickling (pickled). Slicing cucumbers should be planted if the fruit is to be eaten after harvest. However, pickling varieties are best planted if you want to pickle.
- Varieties of slicing tendrils include burpless, marketmore 76, and straight 8.
- Slicing bush varieties include the bush crop, fanfare, and salad bush.
- Pickling varieties include the bush pickle and the Carolina. The second should be treated as a vine.
Step 2. Start with seeds
Cucumbers have a fragile root system so it is best to seed them directly instead of by transplanting them.
- Perform seed transfers only when necessary. If you wish to start cucumber planting earlier in the season, start indoors and care must be taken to handle the plant during transplanting.
- Start a nursery indoors in small pots placed on a heating mat or in grower light. Seeding should be done 4 weeks before the plant is transplanted.
- When transplanting cucumber plants, shake the entire structure out of the pot and soil. The soil will protect sensitive roots when transplanting cucumber seedlings. If you want to transplant a cucumber with bare roots, the plant will most likely die.
Step 3. Moisten the soil
Use a plant sprinkler or hose to moisten the soil before planting the seeds.
- Adequate moisture is essential at all stages of cucumber growth. Moisten the soil before planting to prevent the seeds from being washed away by water pressure.
- If the soil is completely dry, add about 2.5 cm of water to the soil using a plant sprinkler or hose.
Step 4. Press the seeds into the soil
Press one or two seeds to a depth of 1.25 cm or 2.5 cm from the soil surface.
- Plants should be 45.72-91.44 cm apart (either as seeds or seedlings). It should be noted that shrub varieties can be spaced somewhat more closely than tendril varieties.
- Otherwise, you can space the seeds 15, 24-25, 4 cm apart and sparse them when the plant is 10 cm tall. At that point, the seeds should be separated by 45, 72 cm.
Step 5. Prepare the trellis
Most cucumbers, especially the vine varieties, will need vertical support as they grow. Prepare after planting the seeds so you don't bother later.
- Cucumbers will grow horizontally, but if grown vertically the airflow and sun exposure of the plant will increase so that the yield will be good later.
- You can use a cage trellis, sticks, fence, or almost any other vertical object.
- Guide the vine to your trellis. As the plant grows, guide the vine to the trellis by carefully wrapping the cucumber vine along the trellis.
Part 3 of 3: Care and Harvesting Stage
Step 1. Add mulch when the shoots have sprouted
Covering the soil with mulch will limit the amount of soil nutrient-absorbing weeds that can return while keeping the soil warm and suitable for cucumbers.
- Organic mulch, such as straw and wood chips, should be applied once the shoots have sprouted and the soil has warmed enough. Plastic mulch can technically be applied immediately after planting seeds.
- Dark mulch is very good at keeping the soil moist and warm.
Step 2. Give water regularly
Cucumbers need lots of moisture throughout their entire life cycle.
- Water at least weekly using a hose or planter. Add water to at least 2.5 cm at a time.
- If not, install a drip irrigation system to regulate the flow of water for more consistency. This is very beneficial because it can keep the leaves dry and limit the risk of disease from fungi.
- It should be noted that sufficient humidity is very important when the fruit has started to appear.
Step 3. Fertilize every two weeks
Use a light liquid fertilizer every two weeks to maintain good soil quality for plants.
- If you don't want to use granular fertilizer when preparing the soil, fertilize the soil with liquid fertilizer directly every two weeks. Do not let the artificial fertilizer hit the leaves or fruit of the cucumber plant.
- If the soil was fertilized before planting cucumbers, the fertilizer should be repeated when shoots appear on the vine and flower buds begin to appear.
- If the cucumber leaves turn yellow, you will need a high nitrogen fertilizer.
- However, it should be noted that plants should not be over-fertilized as this can stunt fruit growth and reduce yields.
Step 4. Protect the plant with a net
It's not just you who want to taste the fresh fruit of cucumbers at harvest time, many pests around your area have the same intention. Nets and fences will prevent large pests from damaging your plants.
- The mesh links must be strong enough to prevent the entry of small rodents such as mice and rabbits.
- The use of nets is especially important in the early stages of planting, when animals are tempted to dig seeds and shoots out of the soil. At this stage, the plant should also be covered with a small basket.
- It should be noted that the netting should be removed when the plant is too tall or large to cover.
Step 5. Watch the plants for pests and diseases
You may need an organic insecticide or fungicide to kill insects and fungi.
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Pests to watch for include:
- Cucumber beetle
- white fly
- Aphid
- Spider mite (spider mite)
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Common illnesses to watch for include:
- Bacterial wilt (baker wilt)
- Mosaic virus (mosaic virus)
- anthracnose
- Downy mildew (feather dew)
- Powdery mildew (powder dew)
- Mosaic
- scabs
Step 6. Harvest cucumbers when they are young
Cucumber fruit size is approximately 15, 24-20, 32 cm long. Cucumbers can usually be removed from the vine without using a sickle.
- Pickling cucumbers are usually harvested when they are 5 cm long and dill cucumbers are harvested when they are 10-15.24 cm long.
- Cucumbers that are too large and turn yellow can be a bit bitter. Never allow cucumbers to turn yellow in the vines.
- At peak harvest times, you may harvest cucumbers every few days.
