Germination & Seedlings

Cucumbers can be grown from seeds indoors, directly into the soil, or seedlings purchased from a nursery. 

The variety of cucumbers available at a garden centre may be limited, thus growing from seeds may be the best option. However, when purchasing seedlings, select small healthy-looking plants with only a few sets of true leaves with no spots on them and avoid plants with buds or fruit or which are root-bound.

The three growing methods can be used together for a continual harvest through the year.

However in the 2020 - 2021 seqson I grew all of the cucumbers from seeds using peat moss plugs (peat pellets) which I placed in a grow lightbox with tomato and eggplant seeds.  (See detailed method on growing seeds in peat pots in the seed growing section in the tomato seed growing page)

Cucumber seeds germinate within a few days.

All of the seeds I planted produced seedlings, except for the English cucumbers and I re-grew the seeds in cardboard pots filled with a seedling mix in the grow-light box, which worked well.