Ease of Raising:
|
2/5 - Weekly check-up
|
Water:
|
4/5 - Daily
|
Sun:
|
5/5 - Full sun, no shade
|
Training:
|
2-4/5 – Moderate (on trellis)
|
Fertilise/Feeding:
|
3/5 – Moderate (monthly)
|
Time to Harvest:
|
3/5 – Moderate
(2-3 months from seed)
|
Frost Hardiness:
|
1/4 – Very
Tender (cannot take light frost)
|
Uses
|
Culinary, Pollinator attractor
|
Most Problematic Nemesis:
|
Powdery Mildew
|
Container Plant:
|
Can be, but preferably train up a trellis
|
 |
| Poisonous cucumber Cucumis trigonus |
Cucumbers are not a particularly important food crop, but
they do bring some interest to food dishes and provide refreshing taste to
summer salads. Cucumbers can be eaten raw and sliced into salads, pureed into
soups or chopped and cooked into Indian-style vegetable dishes. Additionally,
young parts of the plant (leaves, shoots, seeds and roots) are also consumed as
food. Cucumber do very well in hot climates, with plenty of water for fruit
set, and new cultivars are highly productive and only require one or two plants
to provide enough for a family.
History
The present day cucumber is thought to have its origins on
the foothills of the Himalayas from the wild Cucumis hardwickii. The plant has been cultivated in India for 3000
years, from Cucumis hystrix, and was
introduced to ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. Several varieties of cucumbers
can be found worldwide today with three main varieties; slicing, pickling and
burpless cucumbers.
Science
Stuff
Cucumbers (including gherkins and melons) belong to the same
family as the squash and pumpkins, the Cucurbitaceae, but cucumbers belong to a
different genus, namely Cucumis. The
most widely cultivated species of cucumber is Cucumis sativus. Several wild cucumbers are also available, but are
not commercially grown, specifically the native African cucumbers. Here is a
quick run-down of each;
Cucumis
sativus – three main varieties. Slicing cucumbers are eaten raw and
unripe (green). These are mainly used in salads and cooked dishes. Pickling
cucumbers are pickled for flavour and are shorter and thicker than slicing
cucumbers. Burpless cucumbers are sweet, nearly seedless and have a thinner
skin. This makes them more popular for raw consumption, but need to be grown
in a greenhouse to prevent pollination by insects.
 |
| Cucumbers, slicing, pickling and burpless Cucumis sativus Muu-karhu, Gruepig, Ariya shookh Wikipedia |
Cucumis
metuliferus – the African horned cucumber. This is a round variety with
large spines. It is eaten when fully ripe (bright yellow-orange) and is
supposed to have notes of banana, melon and citrus – but I highly disagree (see
later for more details J).
 |
| African horned cucumber Cucumis metuliferus Forest & Kin Starr Wikipedia |
Cucumis
hirsutus & Cucumis quintanilhae
- two African varieties, but largely undescribed.
Cucumis
hemifructus – another African species, known as the ‘Aardvark
cucumber’.
 |
| Aardvark mother & baby Orycteropus afer Scotto Bear Wikipedia |
Cucumis
melo – that’s the melon. Not fond of melons, but I imagine the
growth requirements are largely the same as cucumbers.
 |
| Melon Cucumis melo Seth Vidal Wikipedia |
Cucumis
anguria – the burr gherkin. A West
African species that cannot be interbred with the commercial gherkin, but it
can be eaten and pickled.
 |
| Burr gherkin Cucumis anguria Eugenio Hansen Wikipedia |
Cucumis
myriocarpus – the paddy melon, a mostly inedible species from Spain.
 |
| Paddy melon Cucumis myriocarpus Golden-elm Wikipedia |
Cucumis
zeyheri – an African species, very bitter and inedible. Also known
as the wild cucumber or bitterappel (again Afrikaans for “bitter apple”).
As you can see, most of the other cucumber species are
bitter and inedible. This is due to a compound found in cucumbers, known as
cucurbitacins. The cucurbitacins are cytotoxic (causes death to cells) and are
often poisonous to livestock, we (humans) perceive this as a bitter taste.
Cucurbitacins are species related, where Cucurbitacin C is found in Cucumis sativus, and Cucurbitacin A in
other species of Cucumis.
The burpless cucumbers are parthenocarpic, meaning that they
can produce fruits without pollination/fertilisation. This prevents the
production of Cucurbitacins that results in bitter tasting fruits and hence
they are grown in greenhouses to prevent pollination. The varieties of slicing
cucumber that I have (and the African horned cucumbers) do not produce fruits
without pollination. Thus I will be discussing cucumber pollination hereafter.
Growing Cucumbers
Cucumbers are grown outdoors in regions with warm
climates. In temperate or colder
regions, cucumbers are grown indoors under glass- or greenhouses (and thus it
would be better to get the burpless varieties, since pollinators are not
available).
.JPG) |
| Cucumber plant Cucumis sativus |
Cucumber seeds are sown directly into the ground, or can be
started indoors and moved out to the garden once the plant has 3-4 leaves and
the threat of frost is over. Seeds should be sown in soil that has reached at
least 16oC (60oF), this means well into spring or started
indoors under a cloche (this can be an overturned transparent plastic bowl or
bottle).
There are two main ways to grow cucumbers:
1 cucumber) Over the soil. This is where the cucumber vine
is left to trail over the ground. Problem with this is that fruits either rot on
the wet ground or they become hard and yellow on the side that is in contact
with the ground. This can be prevented by placing straw or plastic underneath
developing fruit.
2 cucumber) Trellis. Many different trellises have been
fashioned for cucumbers both in pots and directly in the garden. I have my
trellis propped diagonally against the wall with enough space between the wall
and the trellis for the cucumber vine to grow and bear fruits. This negates the
soil contact issue and also saves soil space for some other vegetables!
The cucumbers will start to produce 1-2 months after sowing.
Many standard cultivars are very prolific and two plants produce about 6
cucumbers (a good 30-25cm) every two weeks. You can also stagger the crop, by
planting the second set cucumber(s) one month after the first or after the
first set has started to flower.
I do not limit the amount of cucumbers on a plant, since
they have such a quick turnaround time for fruit set and increased soil
fertilisation (every two weeks) during fruiting should help it along. Pinch out
the growing tip (with your fingernails or cutters), two leaves after the first
fruit – this will encourage a more bushy nature with more fruiting side-shoots.
The first flowers produced are males, after which female
flowers emerge (small cucumber behind the flower). If you have a lack of
pollination (our bees only have eyes for the basil flowers! L) –
then the flowers need to be pollinated by hand. The female flowers are easily
pollinated by using a soft paint brush, scoop out some pollen (yellow dust)
from the male anthers and deposit on the female stigma. The male anthers have a
single yellow structure, whereas the female sigma is a light yellow three-lobed
structure, see Squash for more details on hand pollination. For burpless varieties, remove the males, since the females develop
fruit without pollination.
 |
| Cucumber flower The one on the left is not pollinated and died. Cucumis sativus |
The fruits will hang from the trellis as they swell, you can
support them with thick twine tied around the stems several times- this
prevents stem breakage.
.JPG) |
| Cucumber fruit Cucumis sativus |
Other Cucumber
Tips
Cucumbers, as with squash and pumpkins, are susceptible to
powdery mildew. Efforts are being made to breed more resistant varieties.
Prevention of powdery mildew is to keep the leaves dry, so water at plant
stems, and you can also spray some of my organic control as prevention.
 |
| Powdery Mildew |
Harvesting
& Storing
Cucumbers can be harvested when small (10cm) or fully
swollen (30cm). Some cucumbers have spines, but these are easily removed by
scraping with a butter knife. Cucumbers do not keep well after harvest. The
shelf life can be extended by refrigeration (in a plastic bag with a few drops
of water to prevent shrivelling), will keep for about a week.
Seed Collection
& Storage
Cucumber seeds are harvested from botanically ripe fruits.
This is the same for squash. Botanically ripe cucumbers are yellow and mushy,
bitter and inedible! The seeds are extracted and the pulp washed from the
seeds. You can also ferment the seeds, but all I manage to get is germination
and not fermentation – so pick mushy fruits that have already done that for you
J. The
seeds can be stored in labelled glass jars for up to 5 years.
My Cucumbers
I have the Starke Ayers Ashley variety – produces thick, up
to 30cm cucumbers and is very prolific. Some spines are present.
African horned cucumber – I decided to try this. The plants
grow very well –trailing all over the place, but they are slow to produce
fruits. The fruits are horrible – very bitter – I was not impressed especially
after being lied to about how nice they are! They do have a large ornamental
value, for those interested in some strange looking plants, but as an edible
crop - no.
 |
| African Horned Cucumber Cucumis metuliferus |
 |
| Wild cucumber Cucumis sp. (likely Cucumis zeyheri, Bitterappel) |
Last note, I had some lemon cucumber seeds, but got confused
about whether I planted them or not. Thought that some of the African ones were
lemons until they started fruiting – oh the horror! J Anyways – will try the lemons again next season and report back.
So stick to Cucumis
savitus!
- Update 13 Nov 2013 -
I have finally gotten some lemon cucumbers growing!!! BUT they aren't all good to eat, some of them are bitter! Not as much as the African ones, but there are one or two that come out bitter. Besides I don't taste the difference between them and normal cucumbers (maybe a bit sweeter?) - so I decided to stick to my Ashley! J
______________________________________________________________________________
- Update 13 Nov 2013 -
I have finally gotten some lemon cucumbers growing!!! BUT they aren't all good to eat, some of them are bitter! Not as much as the African ones, but there are one or two that come out bitter. Besides I don't taste the difference between them and normal cucumbers (maybe a bit sweeter?) - so I decided to stick to my Ashley! J
 |
| Lemon Cucumber Cucumis sativus |
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