Burpless cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) are perfect for salads and sandwiches, and you can even pickle them. They have quite a thin skin and smooth fruits which means you don’t have to peel them and they have the best flavor.. In fact, there’s nothing nicer than going out to the garden and picking fresh, crisp, ripe cucumbers right off the vine. Then, you can bring it into the kitchen, slice it up thinly and place it in a bowl with some cherry tomatoes. Toss the two together, drizzle with some balsamic vinegar and a dollop of mayonnaise and let your taste buds go to town.
Once you’ve tasted homegrown outdoor cucumbers, you’ll definitely want to grow them every year and this couldn’t be easier. I don’t have a greenhouse, so I’ve never grown greenhouse cucumbers but I would imagine that they’re just as good when picked fresh off the vine. Burpless cucumbers can be grown just the same as most other types of cukes. They’re a vining plant, so you’ll get the best results if you give them a support structure to climb up.
Plus, a nice compost-enriched well-drained soil or one with added organic matter will work well. And, don’t forget to give them plenty of water. Even those with small gardens can grow these nutritious fruits by using supports and growing the vigorous vines vertically.
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When To Plant Your Burpless Cucumbers
Even if you plant them early, they’ll wait for the weather and the soil temperatures to warm up before putting on some good growth. This year, I planted mine in early spring. It’s now very early summer and they’re starting to fruit. I think the large amount of rain we’ve had over the past couple of weeks and the warmer weather have helped.
For those in cold climates, you want to wait until two weeks after the danger of frost has passed before planting your cukes in the garden. They are frost-tender and won’t survive if they get hit. Luckily, we don’t get frost where I live, even though it does get quite cold in winter.
To get a head start, you can easily just sow seed indoors three to four weeks before the last frost date is due and the little plants should be large enough for planting out in the garden when the risk of frost is over.
When growing cucurbits such as cucumber, squash and pumpkins, remember that they need to be pollinated if you want the fruits to develop. I have a rambling patch of nasturtiums growing behind my veggie beds for exactly this reason. Even though the nasturtiums need a fair bit of cutting back so they don’t grow all over the vegetables, I find them particularly useful for attracting bees to my garden. Plus, of course, they’re edible too.
How To Plant Your Cucumbers
I like to grow my cucumbers from purchased seedlings to give them a head start. Prior to planting, I topped up the fertile soil in the bed with some nice matured compost about a month before. I then put in my cucumber support which is just a piece of wire mesh attached to a stake at either end. The mesh has quite large holes so I can gently poke through the growing tips to help support the plants. Plus, the plants do put out tendrils that will cling to the wire on their own.
When ready, I planted the seedlings, watered them and let them do their thing. As I said, it did take a few weeks for significant growth to happen. That’s about the only difficult thing when growing vegetables – waiting for some signs of a promising harvest. Because I added compost to the soil, I haven’t given my little cukes any additional feed yet.
Although they love the sun, cucumber plants will start to droop a little if the midday sun hits them. That’s why it’s a good idea to water them early in the morning so that the soil is nice and moist. But if your garden gets a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight daily in the morning, you should be fine.
It’s also a good idea to add a layer of mulch over the soil around the base of the plant as this will help to insulate the roots. It will also keep the moisture in better. My preferred mulch is pea straw but you can use any type of straw or even pine needles if you have access to them. I just love the pea straw because it’s easy to spread and also puts nitrogen into the soil as it breaks down.
Make Sure You Give Your Plants Plenty Of Support
As the vines grow and the fruits develop, you’ll need to provide your plants with a nice sturdy support system. I’m hoping that the little support structure I’ve built is going to be strong enough. You can now also get bush burpless cucumbers that require less space but these would still benefit from some support, especially when the fruits start to grow.
Alternatively, you could even use tomato cages for your cucumbers, both the vining and bush types. This will help to keep the fruits clean and off the ground and make them easier to harvest.
Feeding Your Plants
Cucumbers are pretty heavy feeders, which is another reason I like to provide them with a liquid feed because they can use this straight away as a nutrient hit. Fortified liquid seaweed is my favourite because I like to use organic products whenever possible.
When looking for a liquid seaweed product, make sure you get one that also has a balance of added nutrients, like Neptune’s Harvest Fish & Seaweed Fertilizer. It contains a nutrient ratio of 2-3-1 which means it has 2% nitrogen, 3% phosphorus and 1% potassium. Most regular liquid seaweed products don’t contain added nutrients but are useful as soil conditioners and keep plants strong and healthy.
Keeping Your Plants Well Hydrated
Ensuring that your cucumbers get plenty of soil moisture is something I can’t stress enough. In hot summer weather, you might find that you have to water your plants once or twice a day. They’ll need at least an inch of water (2.5cm) a week. Ideally, you want to use a soaker hose that gets the water right down to the roots and keeps the leaves dry. These are relatively inexpensive and easy to install.
However, if you have the means and the time, installing a drip irrigation system would be the best way to keep your plants well-hydrated. Add to this a timer on your tap and all you’ll have to do is to turn on the water and remember to turn the tap off again once the timer has finished. Or, you can go high-tech and invest in a watering computer that does everything for you.
Cucumber Pests And Diseases
I find that I don’t have too many problems with my cucumbers but I do sometimes have issues with powdery mildew in the garden. This appears like small white blotches on the leaves. Many seasoned gardeners swear by applying a solution of milk and water in a spray bottle to combat this. However, I generally just cut the infected leaves off and put them in the rubbish. Ensuring that there’s good air circulation around the plants should also help to keep fungal diseases at bay.
Another problem you might face is an infestation of cucumber beetles that will chew through the leaves and stems. Ideally, you want to use a natural control on these such as neem oil or diatomaceous earth. You’ll also find that many newer cultivars are pretty much disease resistant.
When To Harvest Your Cucumbers
There’s really no secret to harvesting cucumbers and harvest season can begin as soon as the cukes are large enough. You’ll find that the more you harvest cucumbers, the more fruit they’ll produce, so just keep picking them regularly. Don’t worry if you’re picking small ones at first because baby cucumbers can be quite tasty.
Also, cucumbers that get too large may become bitter so regular harvesting is important for fruit quality. Use a pair of secateurs, kitchen scissors or a sharp knife to cut them from the vine so that you don’t damage the plants.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you find your cucumbers are producing lots of flowers and you can see tiny fruits that just end up turning yellow and falling off, it means that your plants aren’t being pollinated. If there’s a lack of bees visiting your garden, you might have to resort to hand pollination. Just take the male flowers and rub the pollen onto the female flowers. Or, you can use a small paintbrush to do this. The male flowers will appear first and then you’ll see the female ones with the tiny fruits at the base.
Yes, all cucumber varieties can be grown in containers. Just be extra vigilant with the watering and feeding and add supports to keep the plants off the ground. Make sure you choose a large container to accommodate the plant’s growing root system.
There can be many causes of bitter cucumbers but the most common ones are that they haven’t received enough water or fertilizer or that they’ve been left on the vine for too long. You’ll find that burpless cucumbers are much less likely to be bitter.
Cucumbers will grow in direct sunlight but they will benefit from some partial shade in the afternoon to stop them from wilting too much.
Final Thoughts
Growing burpless cucumbers in the garden is relatively easy as long as you pay particular attention to their needs. As long as you give them ample amounts of water and fertiliser, you should be able to reap the rewards of a great crop all through the growing season.
