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Cucumber

Cucumis sativus

In a typical UK garden, sow indoors late March to late April, sow outside early May to early June, plant out early May to early June, and harvest late June to late October.

When to sow, plant and harvest

Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.

Sow indoors
late March to late April
Sow outdoors
early May to early June
Plant out
early May to early June
Harvest
late June to late October
Spacing
30 cm apart, rows 90 cm apart
Square foot
2 per square (30 cm squares)
Sowing depth
2 cm
Ready in
40 to 55 days from planting out
Grows to
1.5 m
Hardiness
Tender: killed by any frost
Sun
Full sun
Crops for
About 10 weeks

Growing tip

Keep the soil evenly moist to avoid bitter fruit, and pick often so more follow.

Neighbours

Keep apart from

Squashes are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works

Guides

When to plant

Cucumbers sown in April are cropping by midsummer

Sow cucumbers indoors from late March to late April, one seed per small pot. Plant into a greenhouse from early May, or outside from late May to early June once nights are warm. You can also sow outdoors from early May. Plants crop from late June into October.

More squashes

Where these figures come from

Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For cucumber, we used:

Grow cucumber with VegLog

Add cucumber to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.