Growing cucumbers is a rewarding experience. Nothing is quite as satisfying on a hot day as that juicy crunch when you bite into a fresh cucumber.
These delicious vegetables can be a little tricky to grow, especially in cool climates, but there’s no looking back once you find the varieties and practices that work for you. Here are some tips and tricks on growing cucumbers.
Planting Cucumbers
When you are choosing from varieties, you always look for seeds that are adapted for your climate. With cucumbers though, there are additional differences to consider.
Do you want cucumbers for pickling or eating fresh? Tender or tough-skinned? Bush-growing or a vining variety? You will need to read the seed catalog to find the varieties best-suited for your garden and kitchen purposes.
黄瓜是一种温暖季节的植物,在大多数气候条件下,你可以在室内或温室里种植。当室外温度上升到60华氏度以上时移植黄瓜。你应该在准备移植黄瓜前一周左右开始种植黄瓜。
Direct Seeding Cucumbers
因为黄瓜的根非常敏感,你可能不想冒险在移植过程中干扰它们。按照种子袋上的说明直接播种可能是更好的选择。
如果你生活在气候较凉爽的地区,使用直接种子,但想在生长季节提前开始,试试我最喜欢的黄瓜小窍门之一:把种子放在一个塑料升瓶中,把瓶底切掉,或者放在一个塑料沙拉配料容器中,在容器上开洞以便通风。这就像是你的幼苗的微型温室。
As always, be sure totest and amend the soilin your garden beds before planting to ensure the best crop performance. Cucumbers likevery neutral soil pH, right around 7, so depending on your area you may need to adjust the soil with lime.
Maintaining Cucumber Plants
Cucumbers are quite sensitive to cold. If you’re growing in a climate, or time, when the nights may be cool, you will need to protect your crop. You should consider using ahoop house,or row cover, to give your cucumbers a little extra protection from the cold.
如果你种植的是藤蔓型黄瓜,应该使用棚架。棚架会占用更少的空间,让黄瓜远离地面。
黄瓜茎的粗糙、多刺的质地阻止了许多昆虫和害虫,比如蛞蝓。不幸的是,小动物,如老鼠,仍然喜欢咬多汁的水果,如果它躺在地上。
Cucumbers have delicate roots, so instead of using a stake directly beside the plant, make a wider base and trellis the cucumbers with rope or wire.
Powdery Mildew And Other Cucumber Diseases
Cucumbers are vulnerable to severalbacterial and fungal diseases,like powdery mildew, which are common in late-season plants. Don’t be alarmed if you have mildewing leaves, especially later in the fall.
An early response can control the spread of the fungus, and prolong your plants’ productive lives. At the first sign of diseased leaves, cut away infected portions and destroy them. Don’t put the diseased leaves in your home composting system, because they can infect other plants that way.
At the end of the growing season, pull outdiseased plants而不是把它们翻回土壤。After you have finished, sanitize your equipment and work boots.
一如既往,实行良好的作物轮作以帮助控制病虫害。当你计划轮作时,黄瓜在cucurbit family有西葫芦、南瓜、西瓜等南瓜和葫芦。这些植物也很容易受到白粉病等疾病的影响,所以一定要在最近种植这些作物的地区轮种黄瓜。
Harvesting Cucumbers
Cucumbers are easy to harvest and can be picked at any size, although they may become over-ripe if left too long in the sun. A cucumber is too ripe if it begins to turn yellowish, and takes on a tangy flavor.
Overripe cucumbers are still safe to eat, so don’t despair if you miss the optimum window for your cucumbers. Cucumbers that are overripe taste terrific with a dressing, like in my Dad’s favorite, cucumber salad(see recipe below).
大多数种类的黄瓜都有小刺或刺,这可能会导致刺激或像碎片一样卡在皮肤上。
If you have a particularly prickly variety of cucumber, wear gloves when you harvest. The cucumber spikes will wipe off easily with a clean rag when you wash your harvested cucumbers (Though you should always wash vegetables you bring in from the garden).
Storing Cucumbers
把黄瓜放在冰箱里可以让它的寿命更长。在冰箱里,黄瓜可以保存几个星期,尽管它们可能会因为冰箱太干而干瘪。为了防止黄瓜失去脆嫩多汁的口感,把它们放在一个密封的塑料袋里。
Of course, the classic way to preserve cucumbers is to pickle them! Each cucumber variety will pickle differently. Pickling cucumbers are drier and less juicy, which helps them retain their crispness when they are brined. Fresh-eating cucumbers turn soggy when pickled, but they still taste delicious.
Once you have enjoyed the luxury of eating a fresh, juicy cucumber straight out of your garden on a hot day, you will never go back. If you have setbacks or concerns about your cucumbers, reach out to the community around you. Find out if you have a master gardener program in your area, or contact yourlocal extension office. The joy of gardening is not only that it connects you to your food and the earth, but to the people around you.
Cucumber Salad
This recipe was one of my favorite dishes as a child, and always a hit at summer picnics. I’ve met other people who know variations of the cucumber salad, some including mayonnaise or sugar, but the version I learned is one of the simplest.
Ingredients
- 1 Whole cucumber – skin on or peeled, your choice
- ½ a sweet onion or a handful of green onions, chopped coarsely
- Olive oil
- White wine vinegar
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
Directions
- Slice the skinned cucumbers into edible chunks.
- Toss cucumber, sweet onion/green onions, and equal parts olive oil and white wine vinegar into a bowl.
- 加入盐和现磨胡椒粉调味。
This recipe makes a refreshing, delicious side dish to any summer barbecue.
L. Wattssays
My biggest problem with cucumber growing is that they seem to always get aphids and then the ants move in, “farm” the aphids like milk cows. The ants chase away all beneficial bugs that might prey on the aphids. The leaves get curled and deformed, the plant becomes stunted and I don’t get any cucumbers.
这不是疾病,只是蚂蚁和蚜虫。我试过控制蚂蚁,但在我们这片很大的土地上,要消灭蚂蚁是极其困难的。他们总会回来的。而且黄瓜总是被大量销毁。
WJPurifoysays
Try soapy water on them all, or diluted orange oil
vidurasays
Cucurbits are herbaceous annuals or perennials with a storage root and mostly moist vines. These plants grow either prostrate along the ground or climb using tendrils. Plants rarely grow as trees, shrubs, or bushes.
https://lifeandagri.com/pest-and-diseases-of-family-cucurbits/