The Great Cucumber Challenge

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Score 2 points if you manage to eat or pickle at least 80 percent of your cucumbers.

STEP 3: CREATE A GREAT LAYOUT

You can plant cucumbers in hills or rows in any sunny, well-drained spot where you can work in a gallon of compost for each plant. You can fit three plants in a 2-foot-wide hill. The vines will intertwine and easily cover a 6-foot square space (mulch it if you can), or you can reduce their spread by providing a short trellis. Trellised cucumbers are often prettier than those that grow on the ground, and you can use your trellis to support a row cover (see Step 5) if the trellis has no sharp edges. 

If you plant your cucumbers in rows and let them run over the ground, allow 5 feet of mulched running space between rows, and thin plants to 14 inches apart. With long-vined varieties, you’ll need a 5-foot trellis that allows easy access from both sides, or you can make an overhead trellis and marvel at foot-long fruits dangling at eye level.

Score 2 points for devising a great planting plan that works out well for your cucumbers, and for your garden.

STEP 4: KEEP A CALENDAR

You can grow cucumbers from seeds sown in warm soil, or you can set out three-week-old seedlings. In early summer, when days are getting longer, cucumbers grow quickly and produce their first fruits in keeping with the variety’s days-to-maturity rating. They slow down when days get shorter, so add a week of growing time for cucumbers planted in July, and two weeks for plantings made in August.

Score 2 points for writing down your planting dates and anticipated harvest dates on a calendar. Lose 1 point if your pickling cucumbers ripen while you are away on vacation.

STEP 5: CONTROL PESTS ORGANICALLY

Several insects can damage cucumbers, but none are as threatening as striped cucumber beetles. The beetles themselves are no more than bothersome, but they carry and transmit bacterial wilt, a disease which gums up the tissues that carry water through the cucumber vines and causes the plants to die of thirst. The best way to prevent this problem is to exclude cucumber beetles and other insects with a floating row cover. Install the cover as soon as you set out plants or thin seedlings, and use hoops or some other type of support to hold the row cover several inches above the cucumbers. Tuck in the edges, and sneak a peek every few days to make sure it’s still a pest-free zone. Most cucumbers produce male flowers at first (some “gynoecious” hybrids are all female), and those yellow-orange flowers are a powerful attractant to striped and spotted cucumber beetles. Wait until blossoms number in the dozens to remove the row covers, allowing pollinators to do their work.

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