What Is The Best Time Of Year To Plant Cucumbers?

Cucumbers are a delicious fruit that adds crunch and a sweet flavor to any dish. Luckily, if you love cucumbers and want to add them to your garden, you'll soon realize how easy they are to care for. They'll thrive as long as you have a lot of water and sun to give them. You'll need to choose between two forms of cucumber plants. Depending on how your garden is set up and how much space you have available, you'll either grow cucumber vines or bushes.

Bonnie Plants explains that cucumber vines are perfect for someone who wants their plant to produce a lot of fruit and has enough room for a trellis. These varieties will grow along the ground and up anything they can. Although, if you prefer your garden to be planted in pots, you should choose from the bush varieties. They are more compact and can live happily in a container. Once you've chosen between vines and bushes, you need to think about what you plan on doing with your cucumbers. If you want to pickle them, go for Boston Pickling. Lemon Cucumbers are the best variety for small fresh, tasting fruits. After you have your seeds, it's time to know when to plant them.

The best time of year to plant cucumbers is early springtime. Depending on your location, the exact time may be different. However, tracking the last frost date is the easiest way to know when to open your seeds. Cucumbers need warm weather because they can't grow or germinate in cold soil. The University of Minnesota Extension recommends waiting until the dirt in your garden is consistently at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit. You can find the temperature by putting a soil thermometer 1 inch into the ground. The weather usually gets warm enough to support germination two weeks after the last frost.

If you want to start your cucumber plants earlier than this, you have two options. The first is to cover the soil and freshly sowed seeds with black plastic mulch. Adding this layer will work as insulation to keep the ground warm while germination occurs. Although, don't forget to cut slits for airflow. Another option is to sow your seeds indoors and transplant them once the weather gets warmer. Then you'll be able to start your cucumber plants as early as four weeks before the last frost in your area. You'll need to time it right so your plants don't outgrow their containers while they're still inside. As soon as the last day of frost passes, you can move them into your garden.

How you plant your cucumber seeds affects how they grow. No one wants to make a mistake and ruin the amount of fruit they produce. The most crucial step is choosing the right location for your cucumbers. They prefer lots of sunlight and warm weather, so pick an area in your garden with around 6 to 8 hours of direct light daily. Next, you'll want to provide your seeds with fertile soil that's moist but well-draining. Adding about 2 inches of manure or compost for every 6 inches of soil will give your plants enough nutrients to grow. The Old Farmer's Almanac also recommends checking that your soil has a pH of 6.5 to 7.0. A low or high pH won't allow your plants to grow to their full potential.

When it's time to sow your seeds, check the back of the packet for your variety's exact needs. Cucumbers usually need about 3 to 5 feet of space between them unless you have a trellis for them to climb. Then they only need to be placed 1 foot apart. Sowing them in mounds will give you the best chance of success. To do this, put two to three seeds about 1 inch deep. When your seedlings are 4 inches high, you can thin them out, leaving one plant in each mound.