Cucumber Le Généreux - Vilmorin Seeds

Cucumber sowing:

Cucumber germination occurs at a temperature between 16°C and 35°C. Germination usually takes 8 to 10 days at these temperatures. Sowing is done under shelter in March/April (indoors, in a greenhouse or on a heated bed) and in open ground from mid-May to June, when the soil is sufficiently warmed up and the risk of frost has passed. To stagger the harvest, you can sow every 15 days, for example.

Sowing under shelter: Fill pots (or trays with drainage holes) with special sowing compost and plant 2 or 3 seeds per pot. Water with a very fine spray. When the two true leaves appear, thin out to keep only one plant per pot. Depending on the sowing date, you can either transplant them into open ground if the soil is warm enough, or keep one plant in each pot until temperatures rise. Make sure the substrate remains moist but not waterlogged and keep it at a moderate temperature. When transplanting into open ground, allow for a spacing of 1m in all directions if the crop is grown flat or 1m between rows and 50cm within the row if the crop is trellised.

Sowing in open ground: Stretch a string and make furrows with a spacing of 1m between rows. Sow in holes (2 to 3 seeds in each hole). On the row, the holes will be spaced 1m apart if the crop is grown flat or 50cm apart if the crop is trellised. Cover with fine soil and lightly press down with the back of a rake. Water with a fine spray to keep the soil moist. When the plants have reached 2 to 3 leaves, thin out to keep only one plant.

Cucumber cultivation:

Cucumber is a fairly demanding vegetable that requires rich soil. It is advisable to apply, preferably in autumn, about 3kg of mature compost per m² by scratching it in to a depth of 5cm, after having loosened the soil as for any vegetable crop. It prefers neutral soils (pH 7) but will do well in slightly acidic or alkaline soil (pH between 5.5 and 7.5).

Cucumber can be grown flat, but to save space and promote production, don't hesitate to take advantage of its climbing nature by trellising it: on a frame covered with wire mesh, inclined at 45°, it will provide beneficial shade to lettuces or in a tipi formation to add whimsy to the vegetable garden.
When the plants are vertically trellised, the crop is grown on a single stem that is pruned at a maximum height of 2.5m. When grown flat, pinch above the second leaf to obtain two stems that will be pruned above the 4th leaf. The final pruning consists of cutting above a leaf for each formed fruit.

Plan for 2 or 3 hoeings and mulch at the beginning of summer to maintain soil moisture.