Fresh and zingy, Cucumbers are the taste of summer! Cucumbers are tender climbing or scrambling plants, for growing in a greenhouse or a warm sunny site outdoors, either up supports or trailing on the ground. With enough warmth and plenty of moisture, they’ll produce lots of tasty, crunchy, refreshing cucumbers from mid-summer onwards. When trained up supports, they take up little ground space, so can be grown successfully in compact gardens, patio containers or small greenhouses.

Sow Cucumber seeds from March to May for indoor cropping and for transplanting later on. Sow 2 cucumber seeds on their sides at a depth of 1cm in a 7.5cm pots of free-draining, seed sowing compost. Place in a propagator or seal container inside a plastic bag until germination. Protect the emerging seedlings from direct sunlight to avoid scorching. Prior to transplanting, discard the weaker of the 2 seedlings.

Grow Cucumber plants on until they are large enough to be transplanted. Keep the compost moist. When cucumber plants are well grown, transplant them at a spacing of 2 plants per growbag or 45cm apart in a warm, humid greenhouse.

Outdoor varieties may also be direct sown outdoors from May to early June. These should be gradually acclimatised to outdoor conditions before transplanting into warm, well drained, humus rich soil in full sun, with shelter from winds.

Plant outdoor cucumbers in single rows at a distance of 90cm apart.

Water well after planting until cucumber plants are fully established.

Ensure cucumber plants are supported with trellis or canes as they grow.