Secrets to grow more cucumbers than ever before
Cucumbers, like tomatoes, are on every gardener's planting list. Maybe it’s because they taste like one of the salads or because you can imagine a jar of pickles at home in your future. Despite the challenges, there are many tips and tricks to get consistent and plentiful yields. Know about your first seeds before sowing, and the beautiful, green cucumber harvest is yours.
1. Choose the type that suits you
This is not a planting tip because it is just a plain old garden feeling. To enjoy your cucumbers, you have to choose the cucumbers you want to eat. Does it cut the cucumbers you like English or European cucumbers? Looking for something as exotic as lemon cucumbers, Persian or Japanese (curry) cucumbers? Socrates, Kirby, Korean, Watermelon Kerkins, Amika - If you do not know what cucumbers you need in your garden, grab some seed lists and plan some time with plant guides. Choosing your cucumber variety can also tell you how you want to preserve your abundant harvest. Keep this in mind when choosing the right type for your garden.
2. Knowing and sowing cucumber seeds
Another important growing condition to remember is that cucumbers need a warm season with adequate sunlight. Not too much sun, not too little. Quixote is prone to frost and mild frostbite. In addition, they do not tolerate foggy, wet summers. To start them indoors, plan to sow your seeds 4-6 weeks before your average last frost date.
Cucumbers germinate very quickly in a week. They are especially fast when heated by the sun or by an indoor heat mat. This feature makes them fun to grow, and you can almost see them emerging from the soil. So, get the kids involved in growing cucumbers too, which is fun and educational.
3. Movable transplant surgery
If you have decided to sow your cucumber seeds directly, you can skip this step automatically. However, if your seeds are sown in pots, this alternative tip is for you. The biggest mistake you can make when planting cucumbers is to move them to the garden too quickly. Quix can not take cold or possible frost.
4. Supplemental planting with cucumbers
When growing your cucumbers in the garden, you will need some companions. Friends who help protect against bugs and bacteria. These “friends” can come in the form of plants if you are willing to implement sub-planting techniques for your best cucumber harvest. You may take a moment to read the long edition on Cucumber Supplementary Planting or take my word for it and check out the quick list of Cucumber Benefiting Guys below:
Having said all that, you are either sub-planting or not. For some gardeners it works like a treat, for others, it feels like too much time and effort. The good thing is, you can grow cucumbers anyway. How many cucumbers you can grow depends on your soil, fertilizer, and irrigation methods.
5. Soil quality + composting + mulch
What kind of soil do cucumbers like to grow? A loose, sandy clay is their best choice. But you have to remember that their roots grow deep. With numerous branching roots around the two-foot zone, their single root can extend three to four feet below the soil surface. So, underground, they take up a lot of space.
Now, your brain may be hard at work trying to figure out if cucumbers can grow in your rock or clay soil. The short answer is yes, of course, you can. Cucumbers may surprise you with higher yields in clay soils, however, they will produce the earlier crops in sandy soil (the ground heats up faster).
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