5 Tips for Successfully Growing Cucumbers and Getting Juicy Vegetables

How to grow cucumbers and get a crisp, juicy harvest?

To get crisp and juicy cucumbers during harvest, you first need to successfully grow them. To do this, you can follow these 5 tips.

Sow cucumbers at the right time

Before sowing or planting a vegetable plant, it is important to first know  its planting period.  Concerning cucumbers, you can sow them  between March and May.  Moreover, cucumbers appreciate sunny exposure  and a temperate climate.

From March, sow cucumbers under heated cover, putting 2 or 3 seeds per pot,  exposed to a temperature of 20°C.  After the seeds have sprouted, you can transplant the vigorous plants into the open ground,  only from mid-May,  at the end of the frosts. Keep a spacing of 1 m between the plants.

Note that cucumbers do not like cold and frost. If you want to sow them directly in the ground,  do so only after the frost,  usually around mid-May. Plant up to 3 seeds per pocket, i.e. per hole, also keeping a spacing of one meter between the plants.

Mastering Watering Cucumbers

Cucumbers like moisture, but  they don’t like soggy soil.  That said,  keep the soil around your  cucumber  plants moist , but not too much, to prevent root rot. Don’t water with cold water, as this can make your cucumber bitter.  Instead, use lukewarm water to get sweet cucumbers.

Water your cucumbers generously when planting, and then maintain  a regular watering frequency.  Water stress can also make your cucumbers taste bitter. Try not to wet the foliage when watering, to avoid fungal diseases. You can also add mulch around the base of the plants to keep the soil cool.

Pruning cucumber plants

Pruning plants is important, it helps protect them from disease, promotes healthy and vigorous growth, and stimulates fruiting or flowering. That said, it is important to prune your cucumbers  to optimize their growth  and obtain a good harvest. To do this, pinch above the 2nd ^leaf  , once the plants develop 4 leaves. This will cause two new stems to form. Pinch these at the 4th ^leaf  , as soon as they have 6 leaves. After the cucumbers have formed, keep only 4 leaves per stem.  Note that pinching a plant means pruning  the end of the stem, removing its growing tip.

Fertilizing Cucumbers

Cucumber is a greedy vegetable plant  that appreciates rich soils,  particularly in nitrogen and potash. Fertilize the cucumber during planting and throughout the growing season. Note that it is also advisable to fertilize the soil during the fall  preceding planting,  in order to prepare it for growing cucumbers. To do this, you can add decomposed manure to the soil.

During cucumber cultivation, regularly add nettle manure to stimulate plant growth and also  to strengthen their resistance to disease.

Harvesting Cucumbers at the Right Time

To get tender cucumbers, it is important to harvest them  as soon as they are ripe.  Waiting too long will cause the seeds, and therefore the cucumbers, to harden. That said, you can harvest cucumbers as soon as the plants  reach about ten cm,  usually between 3 and 4 months after sowing. Picking cucumbers while they are still young will allow you to have crunchier and juicier vegetables.

With these 5 tips, you will successfully grow cucumbers and obtain crunchy and juicy vegetables when harvested.