Cucumber is a popular summer vegetable for its water content and cooling effect. Native to Asia, the cucumber is an annual plant with deciduous foliage. In cooking, it can be eaten raw, in a salad or with raw vegetables. Check out these 5 tips for crispy, juicy cucumbers at harvest.

To enjoy fresh, crisp and juicy cucumbers, it is important to successfully grow and harvest this vegetable plant. To do this, we give you these 5 tips.

How to grow cucumbers and get a crispy and juicy harvest from them?

To get crispy and juicy cucumbers during harvest, you must first successfully grow them. For that, you can follow these 5 tips.

Read also: 6 mistakes you should not make when planting cucumbers

Sow cucumbers at the right time.

Before sowing or planting a vegetable plant, it is important to first know  its sowing period.  As for cucumbers, you can sow them  between March and May.  In addition, the cucumber appreciates sunny exposure  and a temperate climate.

Starting in March, sow the cucumbers under a warm shelter, placing 2 or 3 seeds per pot,  exposed to a temperature of 20°C.  After the seeds have sprouted, you can transplant vigorous seedlings into open ground,  only from mid-May,  at the end of the frost. Maintain a 1m spacing between plants.

Please note that cucumbers do not appreciate cold and frost. If you want to sow them directly into the ground,  do so only after frost,  generally in mid-May. Plant up to 3 seeds per pocket, that is, per hole, also maintaining a space of one meter between the plants.

Master watering cucumbers

Cucumber likes humidity, but  it doesn’t like soggy soil.  That said,   keep the soil around your cucumber plants   moist, but not too moist, to avoid root rot. Do not water with cold water as this can  bitter your vegetables.  In this case, prefer warm water to obtain sweet cucumbers.

Water your cucumbers generously when planting and then maintain  a regular watering frequency.  Water stress could also make cucumbers taste bitter. Try not to wet the foliage during watering, to avoid fungal diseases. You can also add mulch to the bottom of the plants to keep the soil cool.

Prune cucumber plants

Pruning plants is important, it protects them from diseases, promotes their healthy and vigorous growth  and stimulates their fruiting  or flowering. That said, it is important to prune cucumbers  to optimize their growth  and obtain a good harvest. To do this, pinch above the 2nd ^leaf  , once the plants develop 4 leaves. This will cause two new stems to form. Pinch these on the fourth ^leaf  , as soon as they have 6 leaves. After forming cucumbers, keep only 4 leaves per stem. Note that pinching a plant means pruning  the end of the stem, removing its growing tip.

Fertilize cucumbers

Cucumber is a sweet vegetable plant  that appreciates rich soils,  especially in nitrogen and potassium. Fertilize the cucumber during planting and throughout cultivation. Please note that it is also advisable to fertilize the soil during the fall  before planting,  to prepare it for growing cucumbers. You can add decomposed manure to the soil for this.

During cucumber cultivation, make regular contributions of nettle manure, to stimulate plant growth, but also  to strengthen their resistance to diseases.

Read also: Why are cats so afraid of cucumbers?

Harvest cucumbers at the right time

To obtain tender cucumbers, it is important to harvest them  as soon as they reach maturity.  Waiting too long will cause the seeds to harden and therefore the cucumbers too. That said, you can harvest cucumbers as soon as the plants  reach about ten cm,  usually 3 to 4 months after planting. Picking cucumbers that are still young will allow you to have crispier, juicier vegetables.

Thanks to these 5 tips, you will be able to grow cucumbers and obtain crispy and juicy vegetables at harvest.