A popular addition to sandwiches and crunchy salads, cucumbers might sound like a daunting vegetable to grow in your garden, but it is easier than you might think. This vegetable can be grown from the start of spring right up to the end of summer, and will be ready to harvest in 6 to 8 weeks!
What you will need:
Cucumber seeds
Fresh compost
Wessex® Fruit & Veg Topsoil
Trellis
Small flower pots
Sow seeds indoors
To start off, plant 2 seeds 3cm (1 inch) deep in small plastic pots, or you could even use polystyrene or cardboard cups. Plant them in a general purpose potting mix and water well. To germinate, cucumbers need temperatures of at least 20 degrees, so while they start off indoors you could place them on the windowsill or on top of your boiler cupboard to ensure the soil is nice and warm. Leave them indoors for 2 to 3 weeks.
While the seeds germinate...
During the germination process, you could start to collect any grass clippings and kitchen waste such as vegetable peelings or egg shells to make a fresh compost. This will give the new plants lots of nutrients and ensure they have the best chance of growing lots of cucumbers. Collect this into a tub and buy some multi-purpose compost to go alongside it, as well as some topsoil. Start to plan where you are going to create your vegetable bed for cucumbers. This should be a spot that gets around 4 to 6 hours of sunlight during the day. Once you have picked your spot, dig in the soil and compost.
Keep the best seedlings
Once the seedlings start to appear (this should happen in 2 to 4 weeks), remove the weakest plant to leave just one cucumber plant per pot, ensuring the plant is always in moist soil.
Transfer outside
Once the plants have reached around 4 inches tall, you can move them from their indoor pots to your outdoor soil beds. Cucumbers do best in rich, fertile soils, so dig in well-rotted compost, and use fresh compost if you have some. Set plants around 45cm (18 inches) apart and place them next to your trellis; this is what the cucumber plants will use to grow upwards. Once they have been planted, water generously so the moisture reaches around 3 inches deep into the soil and compost to get to the roots.
As an option, you can use fertiliser on your plants to encourage growth and boost nutrients; these are easily found at garden centres. You can start using this as soon as you have planted your vegetables, every 2 weeks.
Nourish with water
Make sure you water regularly for the best results! Stick your finger into the soil, and if it is dry beyond the first joint of your finger, you will know they need a top up. Try to water around 1 inch at least once a week, watering only the roots and avoiding the leaves to prevent the plant from picking up diseases. Once veg starts to appear, you will need to up the watering to around a gallon a week.
Harvest
In around 6 weeks, cucumbers should start to appear on your plants. These will be around hand-sized vegetables; letting them grow too big will mean they start to taste bitter towards the ends. It is best to pick them while they are still small and tender by cutting through the stalk with a sharp knife. As soon as the vegetables start to appear, you will want to check the plant every day, looking underneath the large leaves in case any cucumbers are hiding.
Toss into a salad and enjoy!
These vegetables are best enjoyed as soon as you have picked them. Store in the fridge for freshness and consume within 1 to 2 weeks.
