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How to Grow and Care for Pickling Cucumbers

pickling cucumbers
Pickling cucumbers are crisp and tasty with a thin skin.
If you thought pickling cucumbers, also called picklers, were just for those who make bushels of homemade pickles, you are mistaken. Young pickling cucumbers are crisp and tender making them the ideal cucumber for slicing or serving in salads. These little beauties grow quickly and bear fruit in as few as 55 days and are preferred to slicing cucumbers by many gardeners who enjoy fresh cucumbers at every meal.


Prepare the soil for cucumbers in an area that receives full sun. Full sun is defined as 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight a day, but cucumbers thrive in all day sun if they can get it. Till the soil to a depth of 6 to 8 inches and amend with generous amounts of compost or well-rotted manure. A 2 to 3 inch layer worked into the top 4 to 6 inches of soil is ideal.

Rake the area smooth and mark the rows.
 Run a line of garden twine between two stakes at opposite sides of the garden to create even rows, if preferred. Many old time gardeners simply run the edge of the hoe down the row and mark it by eye, but this does run the risk of uneven rows.

Apply 5-10-10 fertilizer to the row following the application rate on the package
 and work in well with existing soil. Granular fertilizer burns young roots and seeds if not mixed in well. This is one case when more definitely is not better.

Plant cucumbers in late spring or early summer after the danger of frost has passed.
 These tender plants do not tolerate frost and do not germinate well in cold, damp soil. Optimal germination occurs at 86 degrees F.

Plant pickling cucumber seeds to a depth of ½ inch spaced 4 inches apart
. Although gardening catalogs recommend spacing cucumbers a foot apart, it is not unusual to experience "skips" in the row, especially if the weather turns cold and damp and some seeds do not germinate. To avoid the need to replant parts of your row, plant them thick now and thin to the healthiest seedlings once plants are and inch or two tall. I thin cucumbers to a space of 6 to 8 inches.

Seedlings typically emerge in 5 to 7 days, but may take as long as 14 days depending on the weather and soil temperature. Young plants grow rapidly for the first week or two and then appear to stop growing, but this should not be a concern. The plant is simply devoting energy to developing a strong root system to support the plants. Foliage growth resumes once roots are developed.

Side dress with 5-10-10 fertilizer when cucumbers are 4 to 6 inches high.
 Work the fertilizer into the soil with a hoe using care not to disturb young roots or spill fertilizer on the plants.

Till between the rows with a hand tiller or garden tiller to keep the soil loose and remove weeds.
Hand pick weeds around growing cucumber plants to keep the entire area weed free. If the roots of weeds are close to the base of the plant, cut the weed at the ground level.

Once cucumbers begin to vine, apply Miracle-Gro, or other water-soluble fertilizer, every 10 to 14 days
 to promote healthy growth. Mix one tablespoon of Miracle-Gro per gallon of water.

Pick young pickling cucumbers when they are 4 to 6 inches long. Keeping young cucumbers picked on a daily basis promotes further blooming and fruit set. Do not allow cucumbers to ripen fully on the vine as this sends the message to the plant that it has accomplished the goal of producing fruit and seeds and it will stop producing new cucumbers.

​​
Copyright © 2014 Nannette Richford



  • Home
  • Garden Thyme Blog
  • Themes
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Moon Gardens
    • Sensory Gardens
    • All About Fairies
  • Flowers
    • Annual Flowers >
      • Alyssum
      • Cosmos
      • Geraniums
      • Marigolds
      • Morning Glories
      • Nasturtiums
      • Petunias >
        • Reviving Petunias
      • Snapdragons
      • Sunflowers
      • Sweet Peas
      • Zinnias
    • Perennial Flowers >
      • Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’)
      • Lupines
      • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)
    • Maine Wildflowers
  • Veggies
    • Warm Season Vegetables >
      • About Beans >
        • Growing Beans
        • Growing Pole Beans
        • How to Make a Teepee Trellis
      • About Corn >
        • Growing Corn
        • What is Baby Corn, anyway?
        • Can you grow corn in containers?
      • Cucumbers >
        • Grow a cucumber in a bottle
        • Growing Pickling Cucumbers
        • Growing cucamelons (Mexican Gherkin)
        • Why do cucumbers blossom but fail to set fruit?
        • Trellising Cucumbers
        • Making Cucumber Relish
        • Powdery Mildew on Cucumbers
      • Melons
      • Peppers >
        • Growing Peppers
      • Squash >
        • Growing Zucchini
        • Spaghetti Squash
      • Tomatoes >
        • How to Harden Off Tomato Plants
        • How (and when) to Prune Tomatoes
        • Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) for Tomatoes
        • Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
        • Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets
        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
        • 5 Early Maturing Tomatoes for Short Season Gardening
        • How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
        • How to Grow a Pomato Plant
    • Cool Season Vegetables >
      • Cole Crops
      • Greens >
        • How to Grow Spinach
        • How to Grow Malabar Spinach
        • How to Grow Swiss Chard
        • Harvesting and Cooking Beet Greens
        • How to Grow Microgreens
      • Onions & Garlic >
        • How to Grow Garlic
        • How to Grow Onions
      • Peas >
        • Growing Garden (shelling) Peas
        • Growing Sugar Snap Peas
      • Potatoes >
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Containers
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Hay Bales
      • Root Crops >
        • Growing Beets
        • How to Grow Carrots
        • Turnips vs Rutabagas
  • Herbs
    • Growing Basil
    • Growing Chives
    • Growing Lavender
    • Herbal Tea Garden
    • How to Grow a Culinary Herb Garden
    • How to Grow Herbs in Sponges
    • Colonial Herb Garden - Classroom Project
    • Herbed Butter
    • Making Herbed Oils
  • Gardening Basics
    • Seed Starting Basics
    • Grafting Basics
    • Soil >
      • Starting a New Garden
      • How to Prepare Soil
      • How to Test Soil Drainage
      • What Type of Soil Do You Have
      • Soil Mix Recipe for Containers
      • How to Make Compost Tea
      • How to Use Mulch
  • Garden Pests
    • How to Control Japanese Beetles
    • How to Control Blister Beetles
    • How to Get Rid of Colorado Potato Beetles
  • Birds
    • Hummingbirds >
      • DIY Hummingbird Feeders from Recycled Bottles
      • Annuals for Hummingbird Gardens
      • Perennials for Hummingbird Gardens
    • About Birdseed
    • Choosing a Birdfeeder
  • Fiddleheads and Fairies
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables