Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. There are a number of varieties ranging from green slicers, small picklers, light green, yellow and white, not to mention the “burpless” cultivars and novelty dwarf bush plants.
Planting
Sow seeds directly into the ground when soil and air temperatures are around 60 degrees F in an area that gets 6-8 hrs of sun. Warm soil is necessary for good germination. Plant seeds either in a hill or row To plant a hill, mound up soil to make a 12′ circle plant 4-6 seeds 1/2-1″ deep. The hills should be 2-3 feet apart in each direction. Thin seedlings to 3 plants per hill. For row planting, thin seedlings to one per foot. Add compost to soil to help retain moisture and provide nutrients. You can have a second planting 5 weeks after the first for a fall harvest. Cucumbers should produce 50-60 days after seed planting. 
Care
Cucumbers are shallow-rooted and require uniform moisture at least 1″ of water per week throughout the growing season. Water deeply. Hot, dry conditions will produce bitter and poorly shaped fruit. When seedlings are 1 ft. tall and begin to vine, side-dress with compost or a nitrogen fertilizer and mulch to maintain even moisture. Provide a sturdy support such as an A-frame trellis or plant next to a fence for cucumbers to climb on. It will make the cucumbers easier to find and is a more efficient use of space. 
Harvest cucumbers every other day. Pick when they are uniformly green, firm and crisp. If left on the vine too long the fruit will become fat, yellow and bitter and will slow down new production. The more you pick the more you get. Do not handle plants when wet.
Pests:
Cucumber beetle is a yellow or greenish yellow beetle with black spots or stripes that feed on the leaves and blossoms. The beetle infects the plant with bacterial wilt which causes the plant to wilt and die when half grown. Cucumber beetles are attracted to stressed plants. Preventative: Cover the seedlings with floating row cover until flowers emerge and when the beetle is present spray with Rotenone , Carbaryl or Pyrethrins.
From the reader archive
Useful reader questions
Bitter cucumbers I have healthy plants & loads of cucumbers. The very first cukes (1st pick) were great! They greened up nicely and had a great taste with the exception of the skin which is easily remidied. When pickled the taste is…
Read Tin discussionI am thrilled to have someone to ask for help. I live in louisville kentucky and have a small garden in the ground beside my deck. Planted 2 small cucumber plants several weeks ago…they are really starting to vine and have lots…
Read sherri discussionNot fruit on cucs I’m growing cucumbers from seed for the first time and have discovered that although the vines themselves are quite healthy the fruit wither at about 2 in and turn black. After reviewing other comments and seeing one from…
Read Evangela discussionNot blooming My cucumber plants are taking a long time to grow. I finally got about 5 yellow flowers but they are dying. The leaves are more yellow in color. My garden is brand new, used a very good blend of garden…
Read Laura Patel discussion
I am growing cucumbers for the first time,the plants are coming on really healthy looking and no pests on them,but there doesn’t seem to be any sign of flowering on any have you any idea why this is.thanks.
Why are my straight cucumbers curling. They are suposed to be straight 12 to 14 inches long and they are all growing in a circle ??
Cucumbers are flowering alot, but no cucumbers?
What is wrong?
I am growing burpless hybrid cucumbers. But they are not turning the dark green color. I know you should pick them before they turn yellow, but they don’t seem to green up very well.
my cucumbers are growing great and have lots of flowers, but my leaves are turning yellow……is it because of the root not getting enough water???????
All the leaves? or older leaves? Do they have spots on them? You don’t mention feeding them. Cucs need additional fertilizer when they start to vine and keep the soil moist for good fruit formation. One *source recommends spraying the plants with kelp when the first blossoms appear.
*Rodale’s garden
Bitter cucumbers
Our plants are producing bitter cucumbers- what causes this?
Just wanted to add to the information regarding . Reading the comment s left above, in regards to minimizing the bitterness in some cucumbers, be sure to pick the fruits early in the morning before the heat of the day sets in.
I am planting cucumbers for the first time.The variety on the package said pickle bush.They are now in full bloom and are the size of pumpkins how are they to be used?
Just wanted to add to the information regarding . Reading the comment s left above, in regards to minimizing the bitterness in some cucumbers, be sure to pick the fruits early in the morning before the heat of the day sets in.
Thanks, that’s a good idea
I am growing cucumbers and squash, and tomatoes. All my plants leaves are turning brown a bit and have some holes in them. Is this a disease or bugs, etc.
I am growing cucmbers for the first time. I live in the Bahamas, so I kept the cucumbers in pots & growing up a trellis on a verandah with part sun. I am pleased to report that I have already harvested one lovely tasting cucmber & are looking forward to some more soon! I found them to be very easy to grow.
My cucumbers are blooming nicely, but I seem to have many more male than female blooms. Also, the very young fruit is not looking well. They went from a pale green (the same color as the stem)to a yellowish brown color. On these, the blooms also look unhealthy, i.e., they have turned brown and are beginning to fall off
What am I doing wrong?
I live in Southwest Missouri and, even though I’ve planted resistant bush variety cucumbers, at least one plant seems to have succumbed to mosaic virus anyway. Although I’m still picking, I expect to have to pull it soon. Once I do, can I do a second planting of cucumbers to harvest later?
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My cucumber plants are doing okay with lots of flowers and also what seems to be tiny little cucumbers (less than 1/2 inch long). Some have whithered and die, others are starting to look yellow/brown. Also some of the leaves are turning yellow. It gets watered twice a day (morning before the hot sun and after 4pm) and I see plenty of bees in the area. There’s no sign of other insects. The plants get at least 8 hours of full sunlight. What can be the cause of the death of my potential cucumbers? Is it normal for the some to die for others to grow?
Thanks for your help,
Lasia
Fail to set fruit
My cucumber plants look great, nice green leaves and stems, but once the cucumber gets about 3/4″ to 1″ long they turn yellow and get soft, and eventually drop off. This happened in my main garden for 2 years so I got a new pot, new potting soil and fertilzer, but it’s happening again. What is the problem?
IF I DONT HAVE ANY YELLOW BLOSSOMS, SHOULD WE USE NITROGEN FERTILIZER? DOES THAT SPEEDING UP THE GROWING PROCESS?
Watering the garden
HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH WATER FOR CUCUMBER AND TOMATO PLANTS? I AM AFRAID I AM EITHER UNDER- AND/OR OVER-WATERING!
Cucumber beetle
I LIVE IN NW Florida my cucumbers were doing great and it seemed like overnight them and everything around them wilted and died. I had sunflowers, squash, swiss churd planted next to them what could have happened? We do have been having high humidity could that have caused this? P.s they are planted in a raised bed.
thanks
I live in East-Central Alabama. Lots of red clay but have a mix of soil for my cucumbers. Some of them seemed to have gone straight from white to yellow. They are not lemon cucumbers but some are even shaped like a lemon. I’ve read all over the i’net that they are probably lacking some nutrient but nowhere have I found what nutrients they need. Can you help?
I thought at first that the pack could have been mislabeled; however, there are a couple that are growing longer like a regular cucumber. Still yellow but a normal cucumber shape. Would that happen with lemon cucumbers?
My cucumber plants are doing great, however i worry that the leaves arw so big that the actually cucmber will not grow. I have them in above ground garden bed and the soil is great. Should i cut off some leaves from the vines to give more sunlight? Please help!
Bitter cucumbers
I have healthy plants & loads of cucumbers. The very first cukes (1st pick) were great! They greened up nicely and had a great taste with the exception of the skin which is easily remidied. When pickled the taste is fine, BUT the rest of the cukes are inedible unless pickled. We have had a very hot summer, but we have kept our plants evenly watered. Normally when I have made all of the pickles I need for my family and to share, we get to enjoy eating our cucumbers in salads with other home-grown veggies. This year, as soon as we finished making pickles, we have pulled up otherwise healthy plants because we cannot use the cucumbers and certainly cannot share them. The roots smell like the cucumbers taste. Even though our plants are healthy and even though there is no sign that they were “munching” on our plants we did find a lot of squash beetles under the plants on one end.
What could have caused these healthy evenly watered, apparently evenly pollinated cucumbers to be bitter? BTW – these were burpless and this is not the first time I have grown the same kind.
hello! I live in Hawaii. I had a healthy plant which was producing cukes and lots of flowers. All of a sudden, the flowers are brown and the plant looks like it’s dying. I noticed little bugs and eggs on the underside of the plant. I sprayed it with an organic soap spray which decreased the amount of bugs. Do you think the plant is dying because of the bugs? Or is it too hot?
No fruit set
Aloha, I am growing cukes, all looks good, great vining, super green leaves, real big plants, lots of flowers, and tons of tiny fruits maybe 1″ long, but none develop into real cukes. Its only been maybe two months but these plants are huge and healthy looking except for the lack of real size cukes. Any ideas?
Powdery mildew
I live on the west coast of central Fl and am growing cukes for the first time. I read the wonderful comments about the heat and no fruit problem which answers one question thank you, however I have a powder on my leaves and I wonder if this is a fungus. I am using a self watering box and the plant is large leafed and otherwise healthy looking at 52 days old. I have a trellis system so nothing is touching the ground. Weather conditions are hot humid and no rain for weeks. should I spray with something or is this normal? Thank you for any help for the first timer here!
Problem: Cucumber leaves turning yellow.
I’m harvesting my burpless cucumbers…which is producing well shaped, nicely green 7 to 9 inch cucs, which I fertilize weekly with Miracle Grow plant and veg food, and water regularly. Please advise potential reasons why leaves are demonstrating somethings wrong. Thanks!
i have been growing cucumbers for a while and this year I grew armenian cucumbers. MY beit alpha cucumbers grew, flowered, and produced heavily and still flowering. On the other hand, Armenian cucumbers grew well, and has been only producing male flowers for at least 2 weeks, I can’t see a single female flower on any of the plants, all male flowers…any thoughts? the care that I provide to beit alpha cucumber plants is the same which I provide for them ( including watering, fertilizer), and there are plenty of insects( bees and butterflies around) …any thoughts why there are only male flowers despite weeks of flowering ?
HELP, I am growing Burpee’s cucumber variety called picklebush and they are growing great, but they are not turning green. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to get them to turn green. They are a very pale yellow.
All male flowers
My lemon cucumber plant is about 5 feet tall and has had abundant male flowers for over 2 weeks. However, no female flowers have developed. I’m growing the plant in a trellised container. The plant seems to be healthy with large green leaves and has no fungus or insect issues. Is there anything I can do to encourage the blooming of female flowers?
I just moved to SE TN, and started my first southern garden. My cucumber plants look good,,but the fruit itself is not turning green. It is very light green to white. It is also very skinny in the middle of the cuke. Does it need some kind of fertilizer to green the fruit up?
Hi, I planted some Armenian Yard Long cucumbers around the beginning of May. I started it of in my Dad’s propagator for the first few week or so and then I moved it into my sitting room, in front of the window. It usually gets about 8 hours of sunlight per day and I always make sure to water it once or twice per day with Miracle Grow. However while the plant is getting bigger and bigger and is almost three times the size of the one my Dad is growing in his greenhouse there are still no flowers or cucumbers on it. not only this but some of the leaves, about half of them, are turning yellow and dry.
can anyone help?
sounds like you have armenian yardlong cucumbers. My dad grows them too
Not blooming
My cucumber plants are taking a long time to grow. I finally got about 5 yellow flowers but they are dying. The leaves are more yellow in color.
My garden is brand new, used a very good blend of garden soil and compost. I do see what I think may be garden roaches. My plants get plenty of sun. No other signs of insects except little flying gnats.
Any suggestions on why my flowers aren’t blooming? I’m also seeing this distress with some of my tomatoes and zucchini. It’s been very, very hot in the mid west. I water once a day.
When I staarted my cukes this year I had just a few seeds in a lot of pkgs so I did the logical thing, divided them into four piles and planted them in 4 pots thinking they were probably not going to do well because of the ages of the seeds. Wrong!!! They all came up and we planted them in 4 hills, now all my cukes are getting big, then have a very small curlie bottom end. Should I pull them out, cut off half of the vines or just let them go?? They are very tasty, just really look strange this has never happened to me before, as long as there is no bugs or viruses I’m ok with them.
thanks so much.
My first time growing cucumbers didnt know there was so many diff kinds i am not sure what kind i have i have 3 plants 2 are small and producing short fat cucumbers turning green quick small pickle size. The other plant is huge and growing huge i mean monster cucumbers but not turning green. I water every night when sun goes down what is the issue. I have treated with 7 dust for bugs and do miracle grow but not to often i follow the directions on it.
I’m growing cucumbers in pots. The blossom develops cucumbers but as it grows turns black. What is wrong? How often should I water them. They are on my patio and I live in Arizona.
I am thrilled to have someone to ask for help. I live in louisville kentucky and have a small garden in the ground beside my deck. Planted 2 small cucumber plants several weeks ago…they are really starting to vine and have lots of bright yellow flowers but no cucumbers yet…not to worried as seems early yet for it yet but concerned because the leaves seem ti be turning pale green. The plant looks healthy otherwise. I am watering every morning and we seem to br having our share of rain here also. when I water I pour buckets of water over the deck down to the plant.could it be because the leaves are getting wet or could I be over watering?I have also not used any fertilizerthere was some mention of kelp spray what I read is that a fertilizer?there are one or two leave I have a small hole in them. I do not see any bugs but have been trying to pick off the leaves with any hole. Please help
Not fruit on cucs
I’m growing cucumbers from seed for the first time and have discovered that although the vines themselves are quite healthy the fruit wither at about 2 in and turn black. After reviewing other comments and seeing one from another commenter in AZ I think the problem in probably the heat and lack of pollination. My question is if the vines are healthy now in August, will they be able to flower and produce again in a few months?
The bottom of my leaves are turning yellow. The top remains healthy but I have yet to see the bottom leaves growing back. Quite disappointed to see holes in the middle where the top flourished.
What’s wrong.
Problem: I have been picking beautiful green cucumbers but in a few short days they turn yellow so throw them away. What’s happening ?
This is my first time growing cucumbers. We had over 20 inches of rain in a two week time and my cucumbers grew super fast and never turned green. A pale yellow to white in some cases. I hate to throw away 10 cucumbers if I can use them. Can I use them to make pickles or just wait and try again next spring?