How to Grow Cucumbers

These tender plants will produce a great crop, but you do need to keep them nice and warm, well watered and you may find they take over the greenhouse unless you let them climb…

Grow them in a Greenhouse or Polytunnel:

They will do best in a greenhouse or polytunnel, as they need the warmth. They thrive in humidity, so watering in the morning is a great idea as it will create humidity during the day.

No Greenhouse?

If you don’t have access to a greenhouse/polytunnel, then we’d recommend planting them in the most sheltered part of your garden, ideally next to a brick or stone wall which will reflect heat back and keep them a bit warmer during the nights. If you are planting them outside, please don’t plant them out until the weather is warm – it is best to grow them in pots on a windowsill until then.

Give them rich soil and keep them well watered

Cucumber plants will thrive best in rich soil – add plenty of compost when you plant them, and a handful of wormcast fertiliser will really help. You can give them a liquid feed or wormcast tea fortnightly once they start fruiting. Try to keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged.

Let them climb

Plant cucumbers 30cm apart. You can train them upwards very easily and they will naturally climb, by wrapping their tendrils around supports. Just stick a bamboo cane in the ground alongside them when you plant and loosely tie the stem to the cane with twine. You may need to tie in a couple more times as the plant grows. Once it reaches head height, pinch off the growing tip.