Growing Cucumber

cucumis sativis : Cucurbitaceae / the gourd family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
S             S S S S S
T T             T T T T
P               P P P P

(Best months for growing Cucumber in Australia - temperate regions)

  • S = Plant undercover in seed trays
  • T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • P = Sow seed

September: Bring on in pots

  • Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 61°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 16 - 24 inches apart
  • Harvest in 8-10 weeks. Cut fruit off with scissors or sharp knife.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Nasturtiums, Beans, Celery, Lettuce, Sweet Corn, Cabbages, Sunflowers, Coriander, Fennel, Dill, Sunflowers
  • Avoid growing close to: Potato, Tomatoes

Your comments and tips

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30 Mar 20, anon (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
You can probably grow most things in a pot and in a hothouse. Just grow things to their season.
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17 Feb 20, Rebecca (Australia - temperate climate)
New to veggie gardening. Is it too late to plant cucumber seeds? I can see from the calender this the last month. Also with a raised veggie garden will mushroom compost be the best?
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18 Feb 20, anon (Australia - temperate climate)
This website is a guide, it is not spot on about everything. It tells you to apply local information. Gardening is a lot about trying different things but the times to plant are what they consider the best time to achieve the best results. If it says to plant Nov to Feb then you could probably plant Oct to Mar. I find mushroom compost to be very expensive for what is in it. Any kind of compost will do, manures, grass/leaf compost, seaweed, worm poo/tea, any organic matter that has broken down. An easy way is to put grass clipping/ straw etc as a mulch (only about 50mm thick) around your plants, as the plants grow the mulch will be wet and start to break down, by the time the crop is picked it is half way to compost, then dig it into the soil.
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12 Jan 20, Ann O'Hara (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
I usually grow very good cucumbers and usually Lebanese variety. This year my plant is covered in cucmbers but instead of starting off green I have an abundance of tiny yellow cucumbers on my vine. What causes this?
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13 Jan 20, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Phone an agricultural depart, nursery, or some agri supply company and ask if they have an agronomist. Could be some trace element deficiency.
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06 Jan 20, Kathy Hutchinson (Australia - temperate climate)
it s Jan 6th is it too late to plant apple cucumbers plz
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09 Jan 20, anon (Australia - temperate climate)
Plz read the calendar notes at the top of the page.
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16 Dec 19, Barabara (Australia - temperate climate)
Why do my cucumbers die and drop off when they are about 1 cm long please? They are neither under nor over watered. I dug cow manure into the bed 6 weeks before planting and have not fertilised further. The plants are very healthy and have many flowers and baby cucumbers on them.
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17 Dec 19, anon (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
You need bees to pollinate the female flowers, looks like you don't have any in your area. You can do it by hand, google it. Try planting some bee attracting flowers/shrubs in your yard to bring the bees to your place next time. From my experience only a small % of female flowers end up pollinated and grow into full size fruit.
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19 Dec 19, Barbara (Australia - temperate climate)
Thank you. I do have plenty of bees. It is my understanding that if the cucumbers have formed then the pollination has occurred. Am I wrong? I do have plenty of 1 cm cucumbers on the bushes.
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Have you had a lot of humidity (higher than usual) lately ? If so, your plants may be having a hard time transpiring. Transpiration is the process of releasing moisture (like sweating and evaporation rolled into one). Plants suck up water through their roots and move the water up through their stems and into their leaves, where they release the water (transpiration). Only about 5-10% of the water they intake is used for growth - the rest is released into the environment. The movement of water facilitates the movement of nutrients. So if the movement of water is SLOWED due to really high humidity (and this mostly happens in greenhouses when they are not properly ventilated) plants start to show signs of nutrient deficiencies of all kinds (maybe blossom end rot in tomatoes despite having plenty of bio-available calcium in the soil). That is to say; you could have a lot of misleading signs like: blossom end rot, or nitrogen deficiency (honestly I'm not sure which nutrients need the most water to be moved).....but the take away is the signs could be really confusing, and appear totally illogical. This only happens in high humidity situations; again like an improperly vented greenhouse, or if somehow you have managed to trap the humidity in your space...... this is a long shot.....but I lived on the Gold Coast (Broad Beach area) 30+ years ago...... and I still remember how humid it could get... especially further North. Clearly, some plants are better at moving the water in high humidity situations....tomatoes tend to have difficulty in very high humidity. Ensuring proper air flow may be helpful.

- Celeste Archer

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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