Growing Cucumbers in Northeast Florida Vegetable Gardens
(cucumis sativus )
Cucumbers are a well loved Northeast Florida vegetable garden plant. Easy to grow vines will produce garden fresh cucumbers by the basket, all they require from you is to keep picking!
Many varieties of cucumbers are available as seed through mail order catalogs and as container transplants each growing season here at S & J Nursery, located between Jacksonville and St. Augustine Florida on State Road 13.
Foliage, Origins, and Use of Cucumbers / cucumis sativus for Northeast Florida vegetable gardens:
Cucumbers are a vining or bush type of vegetable plant depending on the variety you select. Cucumbers have large round leaves that will completely cover the cucumbers and shade them from the sun. Fast growing.
Annual plant originally from southern Asia, but presently grown almost worldwide!
Cucumbers are consumed raw and can be eaten right off the vine, cut up in salads, added to sandwiches or cut up and added to other raw food dishes. Pick young tender cucumbers for pickling in vinegar or grow a selected variety that produces good pickling sized fruits.
Planting Season for Cucumbers in Jacksonville and St. Augustine Florida and the surrounding areas:
Cucumbers are considered a warm season crop and grown twice a year in the Jacksonville and St. Augustine Florida area. In early Spring and again in late summer or early fall.
The first cucumber season is early spring from February to April.
Cucumber plants started in August and September will supply the second (fall) crop for the year.
Sun Exposure for growing Cucumbers in Northeast Florida Vegetable Gardens:
Plant your cucumber vines in a full sun or afternoon sun location for the Jacksonville and St. Augustine area.
Soil Preferences for Cucumber / Cucumis sativus in the Jacksonville and St. Augustine Florida areas:
Cucumbers will do best in the Northeast Florida garden when grown in soils that have been generously amended with compost.
They prefer a slightly acid soil, liming may be needed if the PH of your native soil is lower than 5.5.
Amend your vegetable planting site generously with a good quality compost each year in spring before planting your cucumbers into native soils for best results.
Care of Cucumbers in the Northeast Florida Vegetable Garden:
Watering your Cucumber Plants:
newly planted cucumber plants will require watering daily for the first few days to a week after being planted from seed or transplanted from an S & J Nursery container.
Once the cucumber plants are established and growing, be sure to keep the soil moist by watering once to twice per week if rainfall is scarce.
For maximum growth potential, help to keep the soil moist by mulching plants generously and amending soils with compost when planting.
Fertilizing Your Cucumber plants:
Feed every two to three weeks with an all purpose fertilizer like 6-6-6.
Or for an organic approach, try fertilizing with a mixture of fish emulsions and seaweed(kelp) at one ounce each per gallon of water. Apply semi weekly as a foliar spray.
If your vegetable plants look like they could use a boost, give them a good watering with homemade compost tea as soon as the top few inches of soil around your plant is dry to the touch!
Harvesting Your Cucumbers in the Northeast Florida Vegetable Garden:
Cucumbers can be harvested from when they first form up until they are very ripe and start to loose their nice coloring. For highest production on fruits on your plants, keep cucumbers picked before they mature on the plant.