Is it time yet? With everything changing so quickly it is hard to tell. Cucumbers certainly need things to be heating up and although that is the case now for many parts of Australia, it is still a little early here and 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. Or just use the frame as a hot house, easy!
- 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. And who will argue with them!
- So, choose your location, and if you prefer them to climb, build the frame, the Tall or Giant frame works well, or bespoke one using the Supreme, then dig a hole to fit the plant, loosen the soil in the hole, plant and back fill.
- Cucumbers love calcium, so add plenty of that for each plant if you have any.
- And then just attend to them, training them up the frame, until they are ripe and ready to eat.
Enjoy!
Peter.