Cucumbers

Outdoor cucumbers are called ridge cucumbers as this variety tends to be shorter and have a rougher skin than those commonly bought in supermarkets, however they still taste just as delicious. Outdoor cucumbers are also suitable to grow indoors if this is the only space you have, no matter where you grow them you will be helping to reduce your carbon footprint as you will no longer be buying plastic wrapped cucumbers from the supermarket.

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.

What to do

How to sow seeds

• Sow in early spring if you plan to grow plants in a heated greenhouse or in mid-spring for unheated greenhouses or to go outdoors. 
• Fill a 7.5cm (3in) pot with seed compost and make a 2cm (0.7in) hole with a dibber. 
• Push two seeds on their side into the hole. Cover, water and label.
• Put in a propagator to germinate.

Aftercare

• Seeds should germinate within a week - when seedlings are 2cm (0.7in) tall, remove the weakest of the pair. 
• Keep plants moist and stake with a small garden cane to provide support. 

Planting out

• If growing indoors, plant two cucumbers in a growing bag at the end of May and support with a garden cane attached to the ceiling of the greenhouse. 
• If your greenhouse is heated, plants can go into bags from March.

• Plant outdoor cucumbers in early summer. A week or so before planting, acclimatise plants by putting them in a cold frame. 
• Alternatively, stand in the shelter of a shaded wall and cover with fleece. Prepare the soil well, adding plenty of well-rotted manure and space plants 90cm (35in) apart. 
• After planting, the top of the rootball should sit at the same level as the surface of the soil.

Training

• Regularly secure stems of indoor varieties to the cane and once it has reached the roof, pinch out the tip. 
• Pinch out the shoots from side branches holding fruit, leaving two leaves after each. All female varieties produce fruit on the main stem, so remove laterals altogether. 

• Allow outdoor varieties to trail across the ground like marrows. 
• When plants have five or six leaves, pinch out the growing tip and allow side branches to grow. If stems do not bear flowers, pinch out at the seventh leaf.

Removing flowers

• Many varieties have both male and female flowers on the same plants. 
• Both should be left on outdoor varieties, but pinch off the male flowers when they appear on indoor varieties to prevent the fruit from becoming bitter. 
• The flowers are easy to tell apart - the female flower has a swelling beneath it that will become a cucumber. Alternatively, choose all female flower varieties. 

Watering and feeding

• Cucumbers must be kept moist, but not soaking, to prevent a check to the fruit.
• Once the fruit appears, give them a boost by feeding every fortnight with a fertiliser high in potash.

Harvesting

• Remove fruit by cutting off with a pair of secateurs or a sharp knife.
• Outdoor picking usually finishes by mid-September, while harvesting indoors can go on into mid October.

Growing indoors

Transfer young plants to 25cm (10in) pots of good potting compost in late March (heated greenhouse), late May (unheated greenhouse). Keep the compost evenly moist – little and often is the best way. You can also use growing-bags but plants will need to be carefully watered and looked after.

Train the main stem up a vertical wire or cane. Pinch out the growing point when it reaches the roof. Pinch out the tips of sideshoots two leaves beyond a female flower (recognisable by tiny fruits behind flower). Pinch out the tips of flowerless sideshoots once they reach 60cm (2ft) long.

Keep the humidity high by watering the floor and, once planted out, feed every 10-14 days with a balanced liquid fertiliser.

Growing outdoors

Either sow seeds or plant out young plants in early June, ideally under fleece or cloches. Any fertile garden soil in full sun is satisfactory.

Dig in up to two bucketfuls of rotted organic matter, such as garden compost, and rake in 100g per square metre (3½oz per square yard) of general purpose fertiliser.

Pinch out the growing tip when the plants have developed seven leaves. The developing sideshoots can be left to trail over the ground or trained up stout netting. Pinch out the tips of flowerless sideshoots after seven leaves.

Don't remove the male flowers, and keep the soil constantly moist by watering around the plants – not over them.