Garden Plant Guides

Tower Garden Grow Guide: How to Grow Cucumber

Crisp, juicy, and oh-so refreshing.
GROWING INFORMATION
Cucumbers
DIFFICULTY
2 out of 5 leaves
TIME TO HARVEST
7-10 weeks
INDOOR VS OUTDOOR
Outdoor
BEST TOWER POSITION
Bottom

Why We Love Cucumbers

Consisting mostly of water — but chock-full of vitamins A, B, and C — a fresh cucumber can provide cool, nutritious refreshment on a hot afternoon. An iconic summertime crop, cucumbers are ideal for the beginning gardener, because, with just a little work, a bumper crop of cukes is yours for the picking. They are also easy to use in the kitchen. Throw them on a salad or in a sandwich, make pickles, or even garnish your favourite summertime cocktail. 

Download the Cucumber Grow Guide PDF.

Varieties

  • Slicing Cucumbers – Common in supermarkets. Characterized by thick, uniform, dark green skin. Perfect for salads and sandwiches. 
  • Pickling Cucumbers – Smaller, often thinner-skinned. Perfect for pickling. Often feature a colour gradient from dark green at the stem to lighter green at the blossom end. 

Planting Your Seedlings

What You’ll Need

  • Tower Garden Growing System
  • Seedling Starter Kit (if starting with seeds)
  • Cucumber seeds/seedlings
  • Net Pots 
  • Access to power source

More information on starting your seeds is here.

  1. Germinate your seeds. This step will take roughly 1-2 weeks. Cucumber seeds should be ready for transplant (about 7-10 days) when they have a good root system growing from the rockwool cubes.
  2. Place one seedling cube into each net pot on your Tower Garden Growing System. We suggest placing the plant(s) in the lower tier(s) of your Tower Garden. This will allow the vines to spill over onto the ground surface. You can also train the vines onto the support cage and let them fountain over the sides.
  3. Gently press the seedling cube until it touches the base of the net pot.

Growing Conditions

Temperature: 18 - 32° C

Light exposure and watering cycle can be controlled by our digital timer, but for manual reference:

Light

For outdoor – minimum 6-8 hours of full sunlight daily

Watering Cycle

Please set the Tower timer to “O” for outdoor growing

Maintenance & Pest Prevention

  • Check water and pH levels at least weekly.
  • Keep roots away from pump.
  • If growing outdoors, rotate garden regularly for even growing.
  • Clean pump monthly.
  • Check regularly for pests.
  • Remove dead plant debris.
  • Destroy diseased plant material.

More information on Tower Garden maintenance is here, as well as extra help for pests and troubleshooting. Growing cucumbers with Tower Garden may also require occasional manual pollination, learn why and how here. 

Harvesting

  • Cucumbers should be ready to harvest 50–70 days after germination.
  • Most varieties are mature at 15-20cm long, but smaller cucumbers are edible, too.
  • Using a clean pair of shears, harvest by cutting the stem connecting the cucumber to the vine.
  • Be sure to harvest before cucumbers become overripe (i.e., smooth, bloated, and yellow).
  • Once they begin producing, check your cucumber plants at least twice a week, and harvest frequently to encourage continued production.
  • Excessive heat will end fruit production and plant leaves will turn brown. If this happens, remove the cucumber vine from your Tower Garden (because it’s finished growing).

Ways to Enjoy

  • Salads – A popular side dish across Europe, the cucumber salad is a total classic. Using basic ingredients found around your kitchen, like salt, pepper, sugar, and red onion, this salad is refreshing, delicious, and nutritious.
  • Infused-Water – Enhance the taste and nutritional value of your water with this simple trick. Simply slice up a freshly harvested cucumber, throw it in a large jug of water and let sit for a few hours. 
  • Pickles – Did you know that pickles all start as cucumbers? Making them from scratch is also simple. You’ll need a few basic ingredients as well as dill, rice vinegar, and garlic cloves. 

Looking for more recipes and kitchen inspiration? Check out Let’s Cook.