It is easiest to direct seed cucumbers into the garden 2 weeks after your last average frost date. Cucumbers like a soil temperature of 65 F. or higher. Plant seeds 1/2 to 1 inch deep in hills or rows. Plant 6 seeds to a hill and thin out to 4 plants per hill or 6 inches apart in rows.
You can start seeds indoor and set plants out, but be careful not to disturb the roots. Cucumbers take unkindly to that. It is best to start them in a peat pot that you can directly plant into the ground without disturbing the young plants.
To save space, either provide a trellis that the plants can climb or plant among a corn crop that the cucumbers can climb for support.
Full sun in well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Likes a pH between 6.0- 7.0
Cucumbers are heavy feeders. Make sure your soil is rich in organic matter and after fruit sets, side-dress with a blended fertilizer high in phosphorus. You can also spray every 3 weeks with a seaweed or fish emulsion.
The best way to deal with pests is to prevent them by placing floating row covers over where you plant. However, you must remove the covers as plants start to flower in order for them to be pollinated.
Striped cucumber beetles are one of the most common pests. The adults and larvae both will chew leaves, stems and fruit and spread disease to the plants. The best way to deal with these pests is to use row covers to prevent access. Parasitic nematodes may help some and, as a last resort, spray with pyrethrum.
Sudden plant wilting may be the result of squash vine borers moths. They are orange and black moths that lay eggs on the plants and then the larvae feed on the plants. Again, prevent with row covers or inject infested stems with BTK.
Wilting of these plants may also be caused by bacterial wilt. You will recognize this disease by the white sticky ooze from a cut stem. Curling leaves and yellow spots to leaves may indicate cucumber mosaic. Neither mosaic nor bacterial wilt is curable. Prevent by buying seeds resistant to the diseases. If either disease does occur, destroy plants.
Powdery mildew also is common to cucumbers. It appears as a white powdery growth on leaves. Avoid powdery mildew by watering in the AM and spraying weekly with 1 tsp. baking soda to a quart of water.
Pick when fruit is still green and only moderate size. The cucumbers will be sweeter and if the fruit yellows or gets too large on the vine, the plant will stop producing.
| 4 ounces couscous | 3 cups tomato juice |
| 1 large cucumber-peeled and seed removed | 1/3 cup red wine vinegar |
| 2 large tomatoes-seeds removed | 1 T. olive oil |
| 1 green pepper | 1/4 t. Tabasco |
| 1 medium onion | salt and pepper to taste |
| 3-4 gloves garlic-crushed or minced |
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