Cucumber

Cucumber is part of Cucurbitaceae family. I start with this because is very important to know what family your plant is in, so you know where to put them in your garden, keep the plants from the same family separated because they carry almost the same diseases, so by applying social distancing you may actually avoid some headaches that come along with the pests and diseases.

Fun fact: all Cucurbitaceae are fruit vegetables. You definitely have heard that tomatoes are not vegetables but fruits, I know, its confusing, but the same things applies here.

All plants make seeds naturally (I’m talking about the natural stage of plants, not the ameliorated ones). This is the most important way of multiplying.

The fruit is the bearer of seeds, and it’s formed of three parts: exocarp or epicarp (the skin), the mesocarp (the fleshy part we so much appreciate) and the endocarp (the inner layer that protects the seeds).

Continuing with the multiplying subject, it is extremely easy to multiply Cucurbitaceae family, thus cucumbers too. You have to forget about picking one fruit from a plant, let it be as mature as possible (it will turn yellow then brown, and it will get very big). Take care not to forget many cucumbers on the plants because the process of maturing the fruit with the seeds to become viable it kinda sucks the life of the plant, so even if you planted to many to eat them all, pick them and make friends from your neighbor’s (everyone appreciates a live veggie = picked in the last hours).

When the fruit is brown and it starts to cracking patterns, pull out the seeds and let them dry on a piece of paper. After dried just store them in a paper bag, in a dark place with low humidity, and remember one thing for when you plant them next year, every seed is a plant. Saw the ones you need or want, keep some seeds for maybe a second sawing and give the surplus away. The seeds are viable for up to 8-10 years, but being so easy to grow, it’s worth the while to make new fresh seeds every year.

Without being the most nutritious veggie,but has loads of mineral salts, we all appreciate a good cucumber in our salads, our daily diets, and it has a caloric intake.

Another fun fact on growing cucumbers is you can be very creative with the support system( if you choose to make one). You can leave them to grow without a support like the melons in the next picture but I strongly advise using mulching or the slugs and other soil creatures are going to use them as appetizers.

If you choose to build a support let your creativity have the best of you, build an arch ( easier to pick the fruits and you can plant other plants under so you double use the space)

Or just support them with sticks (be careful with what you tie them, not to hurt the plant because they’re very sensible).

My last advice is to take good care of the quantity of water you give them. Cucumbers like all Cucurbitaceae are very needy, and if you don’t water them enough you find yourself you have very bitter cucumbers, not eateble.