Gardening Tip - How To Grow Cucumbers

How To Grow Cucumbers

The versatile cucumber (cucumis sativus) is tasty pickled, in a salad, as a salad, in a sandwich, or just eaten raw. How to grow cucumbers depends largely in part on how you plan to eat them. Cucumbers come in over 120 varieties that range from small picklers to large slicers and from dark green to the yellow of the lemon cucumber. They come "burped" or burpless, seeded or without seeds.

Originating in India where they have been cultivated for over 3,000 years, the cucumber is a quick growing subtropical vine. In fact, many varieties of cucumber are ready to harvest after 50 days. However, some gardeners shy away from learning how to grow cucumbers because of their peculiar pollination habits. The traditional cucumber produces both a male (staminate) and a female (pistillate) blossom. Male blossoms appear first and soon drop from the vine without bearing fruit. However, the vines soon bloom again with both male and female flowers and continue blooming throughout the growing season. Cucumber vines bear fruit in abundance as long as you harvest them before they reach full maturity.

Relatives of squash, melons, and pumpkins, there are a variety of ways to learn how to grow cucumbers. Grow them in hills, in rows along a wire trellis, or train your cucumber vines to climb a wall or wooden trellis. In addition to growing directly in the garden, cucumbers make an attractive container plant. The cucumber is an appealing plant with lovely blossoms that permeate the air with the heady fragrance of - what else? - cucumbers!

When getting ready to learn how to grow cucumbers in your garden, it's best to prepare the soil about a month ahead of planting them. Cucumbers are not good at competing for space and nutrients. Remove weeds and spade in rich organic material. You'll have plenty of time to do this, since cucumbers are subtropical vines that prefer the sunny days and balmy nights of summertime. Seeds need about an 80F temperature to germinate, but then will do so in four to five days. Although seeds can be planted directly into the garden, cucumbers can also be started indoors for transplanting. If you use peat pots to start the seed, you can bury the whole pot in the garden lessening the risk that you'll damage the tender vines.

Once established, in addition to keeping the fruit cleaner, a layer of mulch in your cucumber patch minimizes weed growth and helps your soil retain moisture. Although cucumbers hate wet feet and won't grow in standing water, the more moisture they can absorb the juicier and sweeter they will be.

Harvest cucumbers at whatever size you like, as long as you don't wait for them to turn yellow (unless they are a yellow variety). Once they begin to turn yellow, they're past their prime. Flavor turns bitter and the fruit begins to dry out. Besides, frequently picking your cukes will promote more prolific blossoming resulting in larger harvests.

About The Author

Hans is gardener and owner of Gardening-Guides.com and Patio-Furniture-Ideas.com.

Car Insurance Rates | Dental Insurance | Health Insurance | Home Owner Insurance | Life Insurance Quote

| 1 |

Landscaping Of Hindu Religious Places
Traditionally Hindu tepmples were located either on hills or forests or river banks.In ancient times, the temples were constructed in such locations faraway from human habitations for providing a calm, peaceful and pleasant environment and also for ensuring a close bond between man and nature.Hindu temples are generally associated with trees such as Ficus benghalensis, Ficus Religiosa, Aegle marmelos,Azardirachta indica, Temple tree, Bauhinia spp, etc, Herbs such as Vinca rosea, Nerium spp etc.The gigantic trees like ficus spp and some other trees are closely associated with temples since time immemorial.The mixed fragrance, the flowers and the leaf litter on the ground gives a pleasent experience to a pilgrim o...(related: Gardening Tip)

How To Grow Cucumbers
The versatile cucumber (cucumis sativus) is tasty pickled, in a salad, as a salad, in a sandwich, or just eaten raw. How to grow cucumbers depends largely in part on how you plan to eat them. Cucumbers come in over 120 varieties that range from small picklers to large slicers and from dark green to the yellow of the l...(related: Gardening Tip)

How To Choose Water Garden Plants
So. The water garden bug has bitten. You've dug and leveled andsweated and said words you hope that no one else has heard. Nowit's time for the fun part ? picking out your water gardenplants!Plant varieties within these four categories are what you need toeyeball: deep-water, marginals, oxygenators, and floaters. (Ifyou think these words are big and weird, just thank your starswe're not talking medicine.)After you've dili...(related: Gardening Tip)

New For 2006 - Granite Flexible Preformed Rock Ponds
Traditionally, preformed ponds are large shells, which are extremely burdensome and difficult to transport. For example, a typical preformed pond kit would come in a box that is 60" x 48" x 24", which is too large for many car trunk sizes. Liner kits, on the other hand, present many difficulties for the beginner pond gardener. Since every liner pond shape is different, pond gardeners must customize their own pond and ensure that it is level, and that it does not have excessive wrinkling.Recently, Algreen Products Inc. has helped leverage both these problems by introducing a flexible preformed pond. The folding preformed/liner hybrid is created with a proprietary blend of materials, which allows it to hold a customized shape. Yet it is easily transportable, since a...(related: Gardening Tip)

What Is The Right Plant And Where Do I Put It?
Know if your plants are disease-susceptible. Your choice of plants used in your garden is as important as the soil that you put those plants in. Select plants that are disease resistant and they will be much more easy to maintain and will give you the look you are wanting. Food for...(related: Gardening Tip)

5 Secrets To Growing Beautiful Roses
A rose is a rose is a rose - and there are few things in the garden more beautiful. There are 5 secrets I want to share that will help you to grow healthy roses.1. Sunshine: Plan to put your rose bush in a spot where it will get as much sun at least 6 hours of sunshine a day.2. Water: Drops of water on the leaves can cause burning, and lead to black spot disease so always water from und...(related: Gardening Tip)

Want A Garden, But Don?t Have Enough Dirt Or Space? Hydroponics Gardening Is The Answer!
Hydroponics gardening is the perfect solution for anybody who wants a garden, but does not have enough space or dirt. Hydroponics gardening is, simply put, a method of growing plants using a nutrient solution instead of dirt. With hydroponics gard...(related: Gardening Tip)

Early Spring Garden Guide: What To Do In The Yard And Garden Now
Can't wait to get back to the garden? Use this handy spring garden guide to get started. Believe it or not, the key is avoid getting too impatient and doing certain jobs to...(related: Gardening Tip)

Fleur De Lotus: Purity In A Sullied World
Rising from a muddy pond, a lotus flower blossoms. Such epitome of purity in a turbid environment has sparked off much inspiration in ancient oriental literature and Buddhist teachings, shaping a repertoire of odes to the graceful demeanour and refreshing fragrance of the lotus.HistoryThe lotus has played a vital role in the creation of the world, according to Egyptian mythology. Before the universe came into being, there was an infinite ocean ...(related: Gardening Tip)

The Difference Between Large And Small Ponds
If you think that a large pond is simply a small pond that "grewup", you're in for some pond maintenance problems. Let's startoff my defining the terms that we'll be using here. A large pondis anything over 1,000 gallons (5,000 liters). A pond that holdsover 4,000 gallons (20,000 liters) is a very large pond.Large ponds require a whole different level of financial and timecommittment than small ponds do. You'll need larger and moreefficient pumps and filters as well as the additional plumbingthat those devices require. You'll probably also spend a lot morefor plants and fish as well as higher main...(related: Gardening Tip)