Episode 109: Cucumbers

Socrates, a burpless cucumber variety growing in a greenhouse on a string trellis.
Photo by Hilary Dahl for our newest how-to gardening book, Grow More Food

Everything you wanted to know about cucumbers but were afraid to ask. We dig into the history of the cucumber, it's botanical curiosities and why you should start succession planting them.

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Show Notes and Terms:

Cucumbers / Cucumis sativus

Part of the plant you eat: The fruit. Officially, the cucumber is classified as a pepo, which a type of berry.

Days to maturity: 45-65

How to plant: Sow seeds indoors as transplants 2-3 weeks before planting out. Wait until the temperatures are 65°-70° before planting out. Cucumbers can be direct sown when soil temperatures reach 70°. Plants should be spaced 12-18” apart. If you’re direct sowing, place seeds every 6” and thin once seedlings germinate.

Ideal germination temp: 70°

Hardiness: Hard frost will kill cucumber plants

Cucumber growth habit: Cucumbers varieties come in both bush and trailing growth habits.

Fertilization needs: Fertilize at planting and every 2-3 weeks with a liquid fertilizer.

Main categories of cucumbers:

Slicing

Pickling

Burpless

Also mentioned in this episode:

Linnaean taxonomy

Parthenocarpic plants

String trellising cucumbers:

In addition to a new season of the podcast, we also have a new book coming out soon called “Grow More Food.” It’s a revised version of our earlier book “High-Yield Vegetable Gardening” but with over 200 new photos, updated illustrations and loads of new information, it’s available for preorder now everywhere you buy books online.

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Have a topic you’d like to see us dig into on the podcast? Send us an email at eb@seattleurbanfarmco.com

More resources From the Seattle Urban Farm Co:   By Colin McCrate, Brad Halm By Colin McCrate, Brad Halm  Past podcast episodes and recent blog posts:

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Have a topic you'd like see us dig in to? Send us a note at eb@seattleurbanfarmco.com

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