The cucumber fruit is one of the most ancient vegetables, a favourite of Emperors.

During the previous season, I had successfully grown Ashley cucumbers and enjoyed their flavour. I had also picked them and found them to be tasty. Hence I decided to grow several different varieties to find those we liked the best and chose the following to grow as an experiment:

I grew all of the cucumbers from seeds using peat moss plugs which I placed in a grow lightbox with tomato and eggplant seeds.

How best to manage and nurture the cucumber vines to keep them under control, and to ensure a productive harvest.

A discussion on the characteristics of cucumber varietals, the best applications for each of them, and what to expect as they develop into harvestable vegetables.

Most cucumbers varieties reach maturity in 50 to 65 days. Other than English cucumber, slicing types are mature when they are about six to eight inches long and should be picked before they are ten inches long.

This section covers both the art and the science of growing cucumbers.