Harvesting History

The Cucumber – A Little History and Some Growing Instructions

It is generally agreed that cucumbers originated in India and have been under cultivation for at least 3000 years. From India, the pant was introduced into China and then into the West. Both the Greeks and the Romans knew and grew the cucumber. With the possible exception of some gherkins grown in the West Indies, they were not indigenous to the New World, but they quickly became popular after the European explorers introduced them. Benjamin Watson in his book Heirloom Vegetables states, “In 1535 Jacques Cartier mentioned seeing large cucumbers being grown in what is now Montreal, and in 1539 DeSoto found Indians in Florida growing cucumbers that were ‘better than those of Spain’.” In a 1848 Catalogue, it was described as 3 varieties, two principally used for pickling (then the most popular use for cucumbers) and one used for slicing.
Cucumbers are usually classified as either pickling or slicing varieties, but many varieties can be used as both. The fruits vary enormously in size and shape, but the color is usually a shade of green – from dark to the palest greenish white. Lemon cucumbers, however, are streaked with bright yellow.
Cucumbers will not tolerate any frost. Seed can be started indoors, 3-4 weeks before the last frost date, but seeds and seedlings should be exposed to bottom heat and kept in the sunniest window possible to prevent the plants from getting leggy. Seeds can also be direct seeded once the soil temperature has warmed to 70 degrees. Seed should be planted ½ inch deep. Cucumbers do best when planted in hills, four plants to a hill, with hills 4-6 feet apart. If direct seeding plant 8 seeds per hill and thin to 4 plants 12 inches apart. Cucumbers can be grown on fences or in containers with trellises.
Cucumbers require lots of water, but are very susceptible to root rot when young. It is best to water in the morning. Cucumbers do best in rich soil that is then fertilized when the plants are still young and upright. Once vines have reached 4 feet, the size of the vine can be controlled and fruiting encouraged by pinching off the fuzzy growing tip. It will not hurt the plant and it will increase the number of fruits produced. Cucumbers should be harvested as soon as they reach the recommended size. Giant cucumbers, white cucumbers that have yellowed and green cucumbers that have turned pale will all have a bitter taste. The sweet taste of cucumbers occurs only when they have just ripened.