How to Grow Cucumber
Cucumber At a Glance
Difficulty
Moderate
Category
Fruit
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Tender
Cold Hardiness
Survives to 5°C
Plant Family
Cucurbitaceae
Growing Season
Warm Season
Plant Lifecycle
Annual
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Sow 1 to 2 weeks after your last spring frost, once the soil is warm, at least 18°C (64°F), since cold, wet soil rots the seed. Push 2 seeds 2 cm deep every 30 cm along a trellis or fence. They sprout fast, in 3 to 7 days: keep the strongest seedling at each spot and snip off the other.
Cucumbers grow fast and give their first fruit in about 50 days. Grown up a trellis they take little room, stay clean and grow straighter, which makes them great for small spaces and big pots.
When To Start
First chance to plant
10 Days After Last Frost
Last chance to plant
60 Days Before First Frost
When should you plant Cucumber?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Cucumber Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Cucumber Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Sow cucumbers outdoors now that the soil is warm
1 week after your last frost· every year
Pick cucumbers young and often to keep them coming
55 days after your last frost· every year· optional
Did you water your cucumber seedlings today? Keep the top of the soil damp until they are up and growing.
About 1 days after you plant it
How are your cucumbers doing? Give the vines something to climb as they start to reach.
About 24 days after you plant it
Cucumber check! Pick them young and firm, and check every day or two.
About 40 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your cucumber.
About 50 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Cucumber's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Expect sprouts in 3–7 days
Growing Tips
- 1Give cucumbers full sun, at least 6 to 8 hours a day.
- 2Plant them in loose soil with plenty of compost mixed in.
- 3Water deeply at the base a few times a week so the soil stays evenly damp, because dry spells make the fruit bitter and misshapen.
- 4Feed with worm castings or compost tea every 2 to 3 weeks once the first flowers open.
- 5Give the vines a trellis or fence to climb and guide the tips onto it as they grow.
- 6Striped and spotted cucumber beetles chew young plants, so cover them with row cover until they flower, then uncover them so bees can reach the flowers, and pick off any beetles you see.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~50
Days to Maturity
75 cm
Mature Height
91 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
60 days
When to Pick
Pick young, firm fruits
How to Harvest
- 1Pick cucumbers young and firm, before they turn yellow or the seeds get hard.
- 2Pick slicing kinds at about 15 to 20 cm long, pickling kinds at 5 to 10 cm, and round lemon cucumbers when they are pale yellow and about the size of an egg.
- 3Cut them off with scissors or pruners, leaving a short piece of stem, rather than pulling on the vine.
- 4Check the plants every day or two in summer, because one cucumber left too long slows the whole plant down.
- 5Store cucumbers in the fridge and eat them within about a week.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Cucumbers cross with other cucumbers through bees, but not with squash or melons, so grow only one kind or keep kinds about 800 m apart if you want seeds to match. Armenian cucumber is really a melon, so it crosses with melons instead of cucumbers. Hybrid F1 seeds will not grow true, so save only from a variety that is not a hybrid. Leave a cucumber on the vine until it turns yellow or orange and soft, scoop the seeds and jelly into a jar with a little water, and let it sit 2 to 3 days to ferment off the jelly. Rinse the seeds, dry them on a plate for about a week, and store them labelled in a cool, dark, dry spot, where they keep about 5 years.
Seed Production
Still have a question?
Ask your coach about your cucumber.
This page covers what we thought to write down. Your cucumber will do something it never mentions, and that is the day a coach beats a guide. Ask Coach Lumen one question right now, free, no account.
