Is it time yet? With everything changing so quickly, it is hard to tell. It certainly needs to be heating up for cucumbers, and although that is the case in many parts of Australia right now, it is still a little early here - I had a fire on yesterday, and there was frost this morning, so I may have to wait another few weeks for certainty.
But for those that are wanting to get into it
- Make sure you have a few good days coming up, to let the roots grow and the plant settle into its new home.
- Put them in a location where they will get plenty of sun, and also shelter from the wind. If you are still waiting for it to warm up, you can place a plastic sleave over each one until the weather is ready.
- Cucumbers also like plenty of water and moister, which makes them sweet – not enough water turns the fruit bitter.
- You can creep them along the ground, but the old wives tell us that if you do that and step on the runners or the tips of them, that turns the fruit bitter also!
- So choose your location, and if you prefer them to climb, build the frame, the Tall Mini or the Tall Tomato (it really should be called the Tall Climber), are both perfect, then dig a hole to fit the plant, loosen the soil in it, plant and back fill.
- Cucumbers love calcium, so add some of that for each plant.
- And then just attend to them, training them up the frame, until they are ripe and ready to eat.
Enjoy
Peter