From sowing at the beginning of March to harvesting in summer, a few months pass in which cucumbers have to be separated from time to time. What should you pay attention to when cutting cucumbers? And why bother at all? Good answers to these questions can be found here.
What should you pay attention to when cutting cucumbers?
When cutting cucumbers, you should prune the cucumber plants, pinch out the first flowers, trim back side shoots and cut off ripe cucumbers. Cutting promotes plant growth and increases crop yield.
There are 5 reasons to cut cucumbers:
- Pruning the cucumber plants
- Cutting back for a 2nd harvest
- Pinching out the side shoots
- Pinching out the first flowers
- Cutting off ripe cucumbers
If you want to harvest as many cucumbers as possible, you can only leave one main shoot standing. The first flowers can also be removed. This stimulates the plant to produce more flowers and fruits.
Cut back once – harvest twice
Cutting back after the first harvest also works well with cucumbers. In years with good climatic conditions, the fruits of these varieties ripen by the end of June. After cutting back, they quickly produce new flowers again. This way you can effortlessly harvest delicious cucumbers twice a year.
Does it make sense to pinch out the side shoots or not?
It is not necessary to pinch out the side shoots on the leaf axils of cucumber plants. You can remove the side shoots up to a height of 60 centimeters and only keep up to 6 fruit sets from the others. In the case of side shoots, the shoot is cut after the first leaf and fruit set. As soon as the main shoot reaches the greenhouse roof, it is pulled over the last tension wire, tied down and only removed after about 30 centimeters.
If there is a good supply of nutrients, there will be increased formation of side shoots with more fruit. Later cutting cucumbers should be limited to occasionally shortening the shoot tips, thinning out too many shoots and removing yellow leaves. It is controversial whether minimization brings a higher return overall. Many organic gardeners' hair stands on end when they are pruned!
Cut ripe cucumber pods correctly
Whether cucumbers, snake cucumbers, pickling cucumbers or mustard cucumbers – always use a sharp and clean knife to harvest cucumbers. The fruits cannot simply be torn off by hand without damaging the entire vine. Those who harvest in the morning get cucumbers with the highest vitamin content. In addition, the plant has longer time to dry the cut.
Tips & Tricks
If cucumber plants don't branch and just want to grow high, there may be a lack of sun. Don't just trim the top, move the plants to a sunnier spot.