Outdoor cucumbers are among the most popular vegetable plants among garden owners. They taste refreshing, have few calories but are full of vitamins and minerals. Cucumbers in the open air - this is something you should pay particular attention to when growing cucumbers outdoors.
How do you successfully grow outdoor cucumbers?
When growing cucumbers outdoors, you should pay attention to the variety you choose, only plant them outdoors after mid-May and place them in a sunny, wind-protected location. Good neighbors are beans, garlic, kohlrabi, spinach and dill. The harvest takes around 6 weeks.
The right outdoor cucumber for every taste
Generally high-yielding varieties are the F1 hybrids with a long harvest period. Some are also free of bitter substances and resistant to mildew. For example, you can choose between the following types of cucumbers and pickles:
- Rimoni F1 – cucumbers – bitter-free, edible peel.
- Delikateß – mini cucumber for salad or pickling.
- Monastery cucumber (Monastyrski) – salad cucumber, robust, can be stored for a long time.
- Footland grapes – early ripening, delicious pickling cucumber.
- Sikkim cucumber - cucumber, Indian variety, very aromatic.
- Lemon cucumber – snack cucumber, small, round, white flesh.
To obtain resistant, more robust plants, you can graft cucumbers yourself or purchase grafted cucumber plants.
Outdoor cucumber cultivation in greenhouses and outdoors
As long as the ground is below 15° degrees, outdoor cucumbers hardly grow. To ensure they grow in size more quickly, simply place them in a warm, humid greenhouse until the outside temperature rises. They can go outdoors in mid-May. However, the heat-requiring plants should slowly get used to the outside climate. Grow at a distance of 60 centimeters in the prepared bed or container in a sunny and wind-protected place.
Growing outdoor cucumbers on the balcony
You can grow outdoor cucumbers on the balcony in a bucket or pot that is at least 20 liters in size. Fill the planter with substrate or potting soil, plant cucumbers, attach them to a trellis and place them in a sunny, wind-protected location.
Finally harvest time
It takes 6 weeks for outdoor cucumbers from cultivation to harvest. Cucumbers from the bed are most aromatic when you harvest them in the morning. If the peel begins to turn yellow, the cucumbers are overripe. Harvest the outdoor cucumbers now at the latest so that smaller specimens can continue to ripen.
Good and not so good friends
Whether in the greenhouse or outdoors – good friends are beans, garlic, kohlrabi, spinach and dill. Not so good: peas, cabbage, beetroot and celery.
Tips & Tricks
Outdoor cucumbers in particular are heavy feeders and remove nutrients from the soil. That's why it makes sense to spread a biological long-term fertilizer around the plant.
