Growing CucumbersGrowing Cucumbers provide a tasty water crisp snack that make growing them in your vegetable garden an enjoyment. They are one of the only fruits (it is a fruit because it has edible seeds) that cannot be frozen or dried.
However, they can be eaten fresh or pickled. My favorite kind is bread and butter sandwich slices. Growing cucumbers is easy. They grow and multiply like rabbits when they are water correctly and the weather does not get above 92 degrees. Cucumbers come in two types: pickling and slicing. You will need to make sure that you buy the right type.
One thing to be careful of when around cucumbers and other types of plants like it is to watch for snakes and scorpions. They tend to hide in the plants for the coolness they offer.
Of course you do not grow gherkins--this comes by the pickling process you use. Instead you pick them when they are small. There are also some known as baby dills. And there is relish. Growing cucumbers depends on what you want, some for salad, or pickling or small babies, will depend on what variety you plant. I have grown all three and made my own pickles. Some stores will sell a packaged formula for making pickles. When picking your variety make sure you look for the type that are not bitter. Cucumbers have a tendency to be bitter, but new hybrids have been grown without the bitterness.
Also high heat for extended periods of time can cause the fruits to be bitter. This was my case this year. I got a few good ones but then it got hot quickly. So far this year we have had 36+ days with temps over 100. Over watering can also cause your plants to produce bitter cucumbers. We want the soil to stay moist and not be soaking wet. Seeds are usually grown in hills of three or four plants. I usually just grow mine in a row, two together and about 12" between each set. They will need a lot of room to grow but can also be put on a trellis. I plan on letting mine grow up the fence. Cucumbers can be started indoors and transplanted. They can also be directly sown into the ground. However, you probably will not find any plants at the store, only seeds. They like a pH around 6.5 to 7.
Once the cucumbers start growing they will produce and produce until the end of the season. At the end of the season, chop the plants up for the garden or put them in the compost pile or on the yard and mulch them with your mulching lawnmower. Generally they are ready to pick in 50 to 70 days. Most grow to eight inches long. They will turn to seed and taste bitter if left on the vine too long. And once fruit goes to seed then the plant tends to stop producing. Check them daily. They are a fast grower.
The picture below is of a cucumber. This is about the size we are looking for unless we planted a pickling type.
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