How to grow cucumbers
Savour the taste of summer with your own home grown cucumbers. Cucumbers are an essential ingredient for adding to sandwiches, delicious salads, and those long, cool summer drinks on the patio.
You don’t need a greenhouse to grow them as there are indoor types and outdoor varieties available. But it’s worth checking that you have the right type for your garden before you start sowing. You can grow cucumbers in the ground, in growbags and even in containers. View all of our cucumber seed varieties.
Different types of cucumber
mophead hydrangea
Growing cucumber plants is really quite easy once you understand that there are two main types available, and these need different treatment to produce a good crop. So to keep things simple, here are the main differences between greenhouse and outdoor cucumbers.
Greenhouse cucumbers
If you’re lucky enough to own a greenhouse then it’s well worth growing cucumbers indoors. Greenhouse cucumber plants produce long, smooth fruits similar to those that you find in the supermarkets. Greenhouse varieties don’t need pollinating - in fact, you should remove any male flowers to prevent pollination happening as this produces fruits with a bitter flavour. You can even buy ‘all female’ F1 hybrid varieties such as Cucumber ‘Flamingo’ which only produce female flowers, so you won’t need to worry about male flowers at all!
Outdoor cucumbers
Outdoor varieties are called ridge cucumbers. These varieties tend to be shorter with a rougher skin but have the advantage of being able to crop outdoors, so they are perfect for gardens without a greenhouse. Ridge cucumbers produce male and female flowers, and these need to be pollinated. This is not usually a problem though, as the insects outdoors will do the job for you.
Some ridge cucumbers are suitable for growing in the greenhouse if you prefer, but most gardeners would rather use their precious greenhouse space for greenhouse-type cucumbers. It’s important to never grow ridge cucumbers in the same greenhouse as an ‘all-female’ Greenhouse type as this will lead to cross-pollination, which can produce bitter fruits.
If you’re feeling adventurous you can even try growing white and yellow cucumbers or even ball shaped varieties. Some are ridge cucumbers while others need to be grown in the greenhouse. Always check before you sow them
 |
| Greenhouse cucumbers |
Savour the taste of summer with your own home grown cucumbers. Cucumbers are an essential ingredient for adding to sandwiches, delicious salads, and those long, cool summer drinks on the patio.
You don’t need a greenhouse to grow them as there are indoor types and outdoor varieties available. But it’s worth checking that you have the right type for your garden before you start sowing. You can grow cucumbers in the ground, in growbags and even in containers. View all of our cucumber seed varieties.
Different types of cucumber
mophead hydrangea
Growing cucumber plants is really quite easy once you understand that there are two main types available, and these need different treatment to produce a good crop. So to keep things simple, here are the main differences between greenhouse and outdoor cucumbers.
Greenhouse cucumbers
If you’re lucky enough to own a greenhouse then it’s well worth growing cucumbers indoors. Greenhouse cucumber plants produce long, smooth fruits similar to those that you find in the supermarkets. Greenhouse varieties don’t need pollinating - in fact, you should remove any male flowers to prevent pollination happening as this produces fruits with a bitter flavour. You can even buy ‘all female’ F1 hybrid varieties such as Cucumber ‘Flamingo’ which only produce female flowers, so you won’t need to worry about male flowers at all!
Outdoor cucumbers
Outdoor varieties are called ridge cucumbers. These varieties tend to be shorter with a rougher skin but have the advantage of being able to crop outdoors, so they are perfect for gardens without a greenhouse. Ridge cucumbers produce male and female flowers, and these need to be pollinated. This is not usually a problem though, as the insects outdoors will do the job for you.
Some ridge cucumbers are suitable for growing in the greenhouse if you prefer, but most gardeners would rather use their precious greenhouse space for greenhouse-type cucumbers. It’s important to never grow ridge cucumbers in the same greenhouse as an ‘all-female’ Greenhouse type as this will lead to cross-pollination, which can produce bitter fruits.
If you’re feeling adventurous you can even try growing white and yellow cucumbers or even ball shaped varieties. Some are ridge cucumbers while others need to be grown in the greenhouse. Always check before you sow them
No comments:
Post a Comment