How to Sow Cucumber Seeds

In the spirit of World Cucumber Day on June 14,  Tanya shows us how to sow cucumber seeds and grow these versatile vegetables successfully. If you follow these step-by-step instructions, hopefully there will be some fresh cucumbers in your garden this spring!

Steps:

1. Place either seedling mix or coconut husk in a small terracotta pot – any pot that is 12cm in diameter or more is perfect.

2. Don’t fill the pot all the way to the top, leave a space of about 1-2 cm from the rim of the pot.

3. Gently firm down the planting medium with your fingers.

4. Take about 7 cucumber seeds and space them evenly over the surface of the medium.

5. Cover the seeds with a 1cm layer of growing medium.

6. Give the seeds a good watering and place the pot in an area that gets loads of good light. Seeds should germinate in about 7 days.

7. Watering will need to be done daily until they germinate, after germination the watering can be cut back.

8. When your little guys have reached a height of a 5 – 7cm and produced leaves, you can successfully transplant them out into your garden in full sun.

Tips for growing cucumbers:

• Cucumbers grow best in full sun and in fertile, well-composted soil. Add a generous amount of compost to the bed before planting your seedlings.
• When the plants are 60 cm high, pinch off the growing points to encourage side shoots, as most of the fruit develops from this growth.
• As the plant grows it can be pruned to keep it under control, but only once it has developed sufficient fruit (about 12 fruit per plant).
• Water well during hot and dry periods – cucumbers are not drought tolerant
• Feed with a balanced fertiliser, like 2:3:2, or a liquid fertiliser 2-3 times during the growing season.
• Fertilise if you see yellow leaves – the plants will recover quickly after feeding

LEARN MORE: Get more tips for growing cucumbers and learn how to make your own cucumber trellis.