CUCUMBER

Cucumis sativus





The Cucumber is everywhere valued. Its exceeding usefulness explains its

popularity, and happily the plant is of an accommodating character. In

large establishments, Cucumbers are grown at all seasons of the year; in

medium-sized gardens, summer Cucumbers are generally deemed sufficient,

and there is no difficulty in growing an abundant and continuous supply

of the finest quality. The winter cultivation demands suitable

appliances and skilful management; but a very small house, with an

efficient heating apparatus, will suffice to produce a large and

constant supply, and therefore winter Cucumbers need not be regarded as

beyond the range of practice of any ordinary well-kept garden.



Frame Cucumbers are the most in demand, and the easiest to grow. The

very first point for the cultivator is to determine when to begin, for

the rule is to begin too early, and to waste time and opportunity in

consequence. We will suppose the Cucumbers are to be grown in a

two-light frame, for which will be required four good cartloads of

stable manure. This should be put in a heap three weeks before the bed

is made up, and the bed will have to last until the season is

sufficiently advanced to sustain the heat without any further

fermentation. Considering these points, it will be understood that it is

a far safer proceeding to begin the first week in April than the first

week in March, and unless the way is clearly seen, the later date is

certainly preferable, for it reduces to a minimum the conflict with time

in the matter of bottom heat. Make up the heap; then, early in March,

turn it twice, and at the end of the month prepare the bed, firming the

stuff with a fork as the work proceeds, but taking care not to tread on

the bed. Put on the lights and leave the affair for five or six days;

then lay down a bed of rich loamy soil of a somewhat light and turfy

texture, about nine inches deep. It is now optional to sow or plant as

may be most convenient. Strong plants in pots, put out at once, will

fruit earlier than plants from seeds sown on the bed. But sowing on the

bed is good practice for all that, and if this plan is adopted a few

more seeds must be sown than the number of plants required, to provide a

margin for enemies; any surplus plants will generally prove useful, for

Cucumber plants seldom go begging. If it is preferred to begin with

plants, the question of providing them must be considered in good time.

The seed should be sown at least a month in advance, and should be

brought forward on a hot-bed or in a cool part of a stove. Many a

successful Cucumber grower has no better means of raising plants than by

sowing the seeds in a box or pan of light rich earth, kept in a sunny

corner of a common greenhouse, with a slate or tile laid over until the

seeds start, and by a little careful management nice thrifty plants are

secured in the course of about four weeks. In some books on horticulture

a great deal is said as to the soil in which Cucumber seed should be

sown. We advise the reader not to make too much of that question. Any

turfy loam, or even peat, will answer; but a rank soil is certainly

unfit. The object should be to obtain short, stout plants of a healthy

green colour; not the long-drawn, pallid things that are often to be

seen on sale, and which by their evident weakness seem destined to

illustrate the problems of Cucumber disease.



Having made a beginning with strong plants on a good bed, the two

matters of importance are to regulate the temperature and the watering.

In the first instance, it will be necessary to shade the plants a

little, but as they acquire strength they should have more light and

more air than are usually allowed to Cucumbers. A temperature averaging

60 deg. by night and 80 deg. by day will be found safe and profitable, as

promoting a healthy growth and lasting fruitfulness. But the rule must

be elastic. You may shut up at 90 deg. without harm, and during sunshine the

glass may rise to 95 deg. without injury, provided the plants have air and

are not dry at the roots. But it is of great moment that the night

temperature should be kept near 60 deg. and not go below it. If the

thermometer shows that the night temperature has been above the proper

point owing to the heat of the bed, wedge up the lights about half an

inch in the evening, and as the season advances increase this supply of

night air, for it keeps the plants in health, provided there is no chill

accompanying it. As regards watering, the important point is to employ

soft water of the same temperature as the frame, and therefore a spare

can, filled with water, must be always kept in the frame ready for use,

and when emptied should be filled again and left for the next watering.

Twice a day at least the plants and the sides of the frame should

receive a shower from the syringe. It is better to syringe three times

than twice, but this must be in some degree determined by the

temperature. The greater the heat, the more freely should air and water

be supplied; on the other hand, if the heat runs down, give water with

caution, or disaster may follow. In case of emergency the plants will go

through a bad time without serious damage if kept almost dry, and then

it will be prudent to give but little air. Sometimes the heat of the bed

runs out before there is sufficient sun heat to keep the plants growing,

but if they can be maintained in health for a week or so, hot weather

may set in, and all will come right. But to carry Cucumbers through at

such a time demands particular care as to watering and air-giving.



As regards stopping and training, we may as well say at once, that the

less of both the better. Free healthy natural growth will result in an

abundant production of fruit, and stopping and training will do very

little to promote the end in view. But there is something to be done to

secure an even growth and the exposure of every leaf to light. When the

young plant has made three rough leaves, nip out the point to encourage

the production of shoots from the base. When the shoots have made four

leaves, nip out the points to promote a further growth of side shoots,

and after this there must be no more stopping until there is a show of

fruit. The growth should be pegged out to cover the bed in the most

regular manner possible, and wherever superfluous shoots appear they

must be removed. Any crowding will have to be paid for, because crowded

shoots are not fruitful. If a great show of fruit appears suddenly,

remove a large portion of it, as over-cropping makes a troublesome glut

for a short time, and then there is an end of the business; but by

keeping the crop down to a reasonable limit, the plants will bear freely

to the end of the season. Every fruiting shoot should be stopped at two

leaves beyond the fruit, and as the crop progresses there must be

occasional pruning out of old shoots to make room for young ones. An

error of management likely to occur with a beginner is allowing the bed

to become dry below while it is kept quite moist above by means of the

syringe. Many cultivators drive sticks into the bed here and there, and

from time to time they draw these out and judge by their appearance

whether or not the bed needs a heavy watering. To be dry at the root is

deadly to the Cucumber plant, and to be in a swamp is not less deadly.

It must have abundance of moisture above and below, but stagnation of

either air or water will bring disease, ending in a waste of labour.



The greenhouse cultivation of the Cucumber for a summer crop only is

the most profitable and simple as well as the most interesting of all

the methods practised. In many gardens the houses that have been filled

during the winter with Geraniums and other plants are very poorly

furnished during the summer, and present a most unsightly appearance.

Now, it is a very easy matter to render them at once profitable and

beautiful, for when clothed with green vines bearing handsome Cucumbers,

such houses are attractive and pay their way amazingly well. To carry

out the routine properly, the house should be cleared at the end of

April, the plants being removed to pits and frames. If possible, make up

the beds on slates laid close over the hot-water pipes, and use a bushel

or more of soil under each light to begin with. First lay on the slate a

large seed-pan, bottom upwards, and on that a few flat tiles, and then

heap up a shallow cone of nice light turfy loam. Start the fire and shut

up, and raise the heat of the empty house to 80 deg. or 90 deg. for one whole

day. The next day plant on each hillock a short stout Cucumber plant, or

sow three seeds. Proceed as advised for frame culture, keeping a

temperature of 60 deg. by night and 80 deg. by day, with a rise of 5 deg. to 10 deg.

during sunshine. Ply the syringe freely, give air carefully, and use the

least amount of shading possible. It will very soon be found that by

judicious management in shutting up and air-giving, the firing may be

dispensed with, and then it remains only to syringe freely and train

with care. The plants should not be stopped at all, but be taken up

direct to the roof and be trained out on a few wires or tarred string,

in the first instance right and left, and afterwards along the rafters

to meet at the ridge, and form a rich leafy arcade. The fruits will

appear in quantity, and must be thinned to prevent over-cropping. As the

plants grow, earth must be added to the hillocks until there is a

continuous bed, on which a certain number of shoots may be trained where

there is sufficient light for them. It is best to begin as advised

above, with the aid of fire heat to start the crop for the sake of

gaining time; but if this is not convenient begin without fire heat in

the last week of May, and the plants will produce fruit until the chill

of autumn makes an end of them, and the house is again required for the

greenhouse plants.



Winter Cucumbers thrive best in lean-to houses with somewhat steep

roofs, as such houses are less liable to chill during cold windy

weather, and they catch a maximum of the winter sunshine. In a mild

winter, Cucumbers may be grown in any kind of house that can be

maintained at a suitable temperature, and the markets are supplied from

rough constructions that do duty for many purposes. But in hard weather,

the steep lean-to, with bed along the front, and tank to give equable

bottom heat, will prove the most serviceable, as it will neither allow

snow to lodge on the glass, nor suffer any serious decline of

temperature during the prevalence of sharp frost and keen winds. For

late autumn supply any kind of house will suffice, but best of all an

airy span. A brick pit will answer every purpose from October to March

with good management, and fermenting materials will afford the needful

heat. In such cases trenches should be provided for occasional renewal

of the bottom heat. But a roomy house and a service of hot water justly

stand in favour with experienced cultivators, as combining the necessary

conditions with convenience of management.



For winter culture, plants are raised from seeds and from cuttings.

Seedling plants are the most vigorous, but they require a little more

time than cuttings to arrive at a fruiting state. For pot culture

cuttings are preferable, as only a moderate crop is expected, and

quickness of production is of great importance. It is usual to sow the

first lot of seeds on the 1st of September, and to sow again on the 1st

of October and the 1st of November; after which it is not advisable to

sow again until the 1st of February for the spring crop. If the

management is good, the first sowing will be in fruit by the time the

third batch of seed is sown, say, by the first week of November, and

thenceforward throughout the winter there should be no break in the

supply.



The management of Winter Cucumbers turns upon details chiefly, and will

be found in the end to depend rather upon care than skill. The general

principles are the same as in growing Cucumbers in frames, the task for

the cultivator being to carry them out successfully. Begin by sowing the

seed singly in small pots in light turfy loam, or peat with which a fair

proportion of sharp sand has been mixed. These pots to be placed in a

heat of 70 deg. to 75 deg., and for plants to last long the lower temperature is

preferable. As regards the next stage, the plants may be trained up

rafters, or spread out on beds, the first being always the better plan

where it happens to be convenient. But the prudent cultivator will not

be tied to rules; he will cut his coat according to his cloth, and while

he has a house of Cucumbers trained to the roof, he will, perhaps, also

have a pit filled with plants on beds. To stop severely is bad practice,

for vigorous growth is wanted; but a certain amount of stopping must be

done to promote an even growth, and to distribute the fruit fairly both

in space and time. We have already admitted that in some books on

gardening too much has been said about soil. In many places a suitable

turfy loam, or a good fibrous peat, may be obtained, and the accidents

that have befallen Cucumbers have usually been the result of bad

management in respect of heat, water, and air, rather than the use of

unsuitable soil. But it must not be supposed that we are careless about

this matter. Neither a pasty clay, a sour sticky loam, nor a poor sandy

or chalky soil will produce fine Cucumbers. On the other hand, rank

manure and poor leaf-mould are both unfavourable materials. There is

nothing like mellow loam, which can be enriched and modified at

discretion, without going to extremes.



Ridge Cucumbers are grown in much the same way as recommended for

Vegetable Marrows. They may be put on hillocks or beds, and in either

case a foundation of fermenting material is required to insure a crop in

the early part of the summer. For a late crop, the natural heat of the

soil will be sufficient should the summer prove to be fine, but in a

cold season Ridge Cucumbers are disappointing. Of the many methods of

growing them, one of the best is to lay out the ground in four-feet beds

by taking out the soil to a depth of fifteen inches, and spreading about

that depth or more of half-rotted manure, to which may be added any

leaves and other litter that may be handy. Cover with a foot depth of

good loam. About mid-April sow the seeds in three-inch pots or in boxes

and place in a cool greenhouse. After careful hardening, plant out about

the third week of May. If preferred, seeds may be sown on the bed early

in May. Give the plants the protection of a hand-light should the

weather prove unfavourable, and some care will be needed to keep them

moving fairly until the season is so far advanced as to allow for the

removal of the lights. Put the plants at thirty inches apart down the

middle of the bed, and when growing freely, nip out the points once

only. A crop of Lettuce may be taken from the beds while the plants are

advancing.