for eTwinning project "Food2explore"

1. HOW TO GROW CUCUMBER
For eTwinning project „Food2explore“

2. PREPARATION

3. Wait until the soil warms up.
Cucumbers are exceedingly sensitive to cold
temperatures, and even a mild frost can kill
them.This is especially true when the plants
are in their most vulnerable stages.
• Generally, cucumbers should be planted in
April or May, depending on the region you
live in and when the weather begins
warming up. A more specific way to
determine when to plant your cucumbers
would be to pay attention to the date of the
last frost.To be on the safe side, wait until
at least two weeks after the last frost date.
• The temperature of the soil should be at
least 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3 degrees
Celsius). Note that the soil temperature can
be a little cooler than the air temperature.

4. Choose a sunny location.
Cucumbers grow best when given full sun
for the entirety of their growing process.
Sunlight is important as a source of
nutrition for cucumber plants, which make
full use of the process of photosynthesis.
Sunlight is also important for the sake of
temperature regulation. Steady sunlight
will mean consistently warm soil, which the
seeds need in order to germinate.

5. Remove any weeds.
Dig weeds out of your garden before you
plant your cucumbers. Aside from being
unpleasant to look at, weeds rob the plants
of valuable and limited nutrients. For best
results, pull the weeds up by hand, yanking
up as much of the root as possible. If you
leave the root of a weed behind, there is a
strong likelihood that the same weed will
continue to grow.
Avoid the use of herbicides. Chemical and
organic herbicides alike can make the soil
unsuitable for plant growth overall,
thereby making it as inhabitable for
cucumbers as it is for weeds.

6. Fertilize the soil.
Spread and dig some granular fertilizer into
the soil of your garden to improve its overall
quality before you begin planting cucumbers
there.
Use a trowel or small rake to chop up the soil
before adding fertilizer or anything else to it.
By loosening the soil, you allow these
additives to mix in more thoroughly while
also creating ideal conditions for your
cucumbers to take root in.
Rich compost or aged manures are the best
natural fertilizers for the use of cucumbers.
If you use an inorganic fertilizer, choose a
slow-release granular fertilizer and follow the
label instructions to determine how much to
add to the soil.

7. Balance the pH of the soil.
Ideally, the pH of your soil should be fairly
neutral to slightly alkaline, so it should have a
pH level as close to 7.0 as possible.Test the pH
of the soil with a pH testing kit, available
through many garden supply centers and
hardware stores.
If you need to increase the pH of your soil, add
agricultural lime.
If you need to decrease the pH of you soil, add
sulfur or aluminum sulfate.

8. Improve the soil quality.
If the soil is too dense or too sandy, the cucumber
plants could struggle at the root level, causing the
plant to die or, at the very least, fail to produce
any edible cucumbers for the season.The ideal
soil of cucumbers is loose, light, and sandy, since
these soils get warmer quicker and stay warm
more easily.
Improve clay soil by adding organic material.
Improve dense, heavy soil with peat, compose, or
rotted manure.

9. PLANTING

10. Choose the best variety for your garden.
In general, there are vine and bush varieties.
The former is more common, but the latter may
be easier to confine if you have limited space to
work with.There are also slicing or pickling
varieties.The slicing cucumbers should be used
if you plan on eating the cucumbers after
harvesting them, but the latter should be used
if you plan to pickle them.Vine slicing varieties
include the burpless, marketmore 76, and
straight 8.
Bush slicing varieties include the bush crop,
fanfare, and salad bush.
Pickling varieties include the bush pickle and
the Carolina, the latter of which should be
treated as a vine plant.

11. Start from a seed.
Cucumbers have very fragile root systems, so seeding
the garden directly is much more preferable than
transplanting previously started plants.Transplant
seedlings only when necessary. If you want to start
your cucumbers earlier in the season, you may do so,
but you will need to start them indoors and be
extremely careful about how the plants are handled
during transplanting.
Start seedlings indoors in small starter pots placed on
heat mats or under grow lights. Seedlings should be
started about 4 weeks before you intend to transplant
them.
When transplanting the cucumber plants, wiggle the
entire structure out of the starter pot, soil and all.The
soil will protect the sensitive roots as you transplant
the cucumber seedling. If you attempt to transplant a
cucumber that is bare-rooted, the plant will not likely
survive.

12. Moisten the soil.
If the soil is dry, use a watering can or hose to
moisten it before you add the seeds.Ample
moisture is vital at all stages of growth. By
wetting the soil before you plant the seeds,
however, you reduce the risk of washing the
seeds away with the force of the water.
If the soil is completely dry, add about 1 inch
(2.5 cm) of water to the soil patch using a
watering can or gentle hose.

13. Push seeds slightly into the soil.
Push one or two seeds 1/2 inch to 1 inch into the
top of the soil (1.25 to 2.5 ml).The plantings
should be about 18 to 36 inches (45.72 to 91.44
cm) apart, regardless of whether you are
planting seeds or seedlings. Note that bush
varieties can be spaced a little closer together
than vine varieties.
Alternatively, you can space the seeds 6 to 10
inches (15.24 to 25.4 cm) apart and thin your
seedlings out once they reach 4 inches (10 cm)
tall. At that point, you should consider thinning
them out so that they are 18 inches (45.72 cm)
apart.

14. Prepare a trellis.
Most cucumbers, especially vine varieties, will
need some sort of vertical support as they
grow. Getting this ready after planting the
seeds may save you trouble later on.
Cucumbers will grow horizontally, but
growing cucumbers vertically will improve
the airflow and sunlight exposure, thereby
increasing your overall yield.
You can use a cage trellis, stake, fence, or
nearly any other vertical structure.
Guide the vines onto your trellis.As the
plants get bigger, guide it onto your prepared
trellis by gently wrapping the vine tendrils
along the trellis.

15. CARE AND HARVEST

16. Add mulch once seedlings sprout up.
Covering the soil will limit the number
of nutrient-depriving weeds that can
return while also keeping the soil nice
and warm for the cucumbers. Organic
mulches, like straw and wood chips,
must be applied after the plants have
already sprouted and the soil has
sufficiently warmed up. Plastic
mulches can technically be applied
immediately after you plant the seeds,
though.
Dark mulch is especially good at
keeping the soil warm and moist.

17. Water regularly.
Cucumbers need plenty of moisture
throughout their entire life cycle.Water deeply
at least once a week using a gently hose or
watering can.You should provide at least 1
inch (2.5 cm) of water each time.
Alternatively, install a drip irrigation system to
regulate the water flow more consistently.This
is especially beneficial because it keeps the
foliage dry, thereby limiting the risk of fungal
diseases.
Note that adequate moisture is especially
important once the fruit begins to set.

18. Fertilize every two weeks or so.
Use a mild liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks to
maintain good soil quality for your hungry plants. If you
did not use a granular fertilizer when preparing the soil,
you should directly fertilize the soil with a liquid feed
every two weeks. Do not get inorganic fertilizer on
plant leaves or fruits.
If you fertilized before planting your cucumbers, you
should fertilize again once runners appear on vines and
flowers begin to bud. If you prefer organic fertilizers,
use compost or ages manure.
If the leaves turn yellow, you need a high-nitrogen
fertilizer.
Note, however, that you should not over-fertilize your
plants. Doing so can stunt the growth of your fruits and
limit your yield.

19. Protect the plants with netting.
You are not the only one hoping to enjoy
a batch of home-grown cucumbers; wild
animals living in your areas might get
interested once they catch a whiff, too.
Netting and fences can prevent many of
these larger pests from causing problems.
The netting should be made from a fine
mesh in order to effectively keep out
small critters like rabbits and chipmunks.
Netting is especially important during the
early stages, when animals might be
tempted to dig seeds and sprouts out of
the soil.At this stage, you could also
cover the plants with a small berry
basket.
Note that you should remove the netting
once the plants get too tall or large to
stay closed in.

20. Watch out for pests and disease.
For insects, fungi, and other small pests and diseases, you may
need to use some type of organic insecticide or fungicide.
Common pests include:
Cucumber beetles
White flies
Aphids
Spider mites
Common diseases include:
Bacterial wilt
Mosaic viruses
Anthracnose
Downy
Powdery mildew
Mosaic
Scab disease

21. Harvest the cucumbers when young.
Slicing cucumbers should be about 6 to 8 inches (15.24 to 20.32 cm) long. Cucumbers
can usually be twisted off the vine without the use of shears. Pickling cucumbers
should be harvested at 2 inches (5 cm) and dills should be harvested at 4 to 6 inches
(10 to 15.24 cm).
Cucumbers that get too large or too yellow can become bitter.You should not allow a
cucumber to turn yellow on the vine.
At peak harvesting time, you will likely end up picking cucumbers every few days.

22. Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Cucumbers