Buy young plants or grow cucumbers yourself? Of course I prefer the latter! This has several advantages and is also very easy.
Whether as a soup, salad or stewed vegetables - cucumbers simply taste great and above all have one thing: few calories! On top of that, they're super easy to grow, which is why they're appearing in more and more gardens every year. However, we advise against buying young plants for anyone who would like to try it out for themselves and plant cucumbers. You should prefer the cucumbers yourself. After all, this has many advantages and is also very simple.
Advantages of self-sowing compared to bought young plants
You can of course buy young cucumbers in stores, but in this case the selection is very limited. If, on the other hand, you decide to grow from seeds, you have several varieties to choose from (e.g. mini cucumbers, snake cucumbers, lemon cucumbers, etc.).
You are also very flexible when it comes to the time of sowing. For example, you can postpone the cultivation if a holiday is planned. You can also grow the vegetables continuously, so you can enjoy fresh cucumbers from your own garden all summer long and well into the fall.
Time to pull cucumbers forward
Cucumbers can be grown either in a greenhouse or on the windowsill. Since you have to calculate around four weeks for the pre-culture, you should start growing the cucumbers around the beginning/mid-April. The young plants should not be too big when you later place them in the garden. That, in turn, shouldn't happen until mid-May, when the Ice Saints can no longer do any damage.
By the way, many other types of vegetables can be preferred on the window. Here's a reading tip: Preparing vegetables on the windowsill - That's how it's done
How to Grow Cucumbers
❃ Step 1:
To grow cucumbers, you need soil rich in nutrients. We therefore recommend that you use special growing soil. Now take small flower pots or a mini indoor greenhouse and fill the containers about half full with thisEarth.
❃ Step 2:
Put out two to three seeds per pot and cover them with a thin layer of soil.
If you have an indoor greenhouse, then you should make a few grooves and sow the seeds in several rows. In this case, you should keep the lid largely closed for the first few weeks so that the humidity is optimal. So only remove the cover of the greenhouse from time to time to air it out.
❃ Step 3:
Once the seedlings have been sown, it is important that the seedlings get plenty of light and warmth so that they can develop optimally. The temperature for germination should be at least 20 degrees.
You must also ensure that the soil is always moist. In the first week it is better if you only spray the soil with water. You should only water properly after the second week.
❃ Step 4:
If the leaves of the seedlings stick out over the edge of the flower pot, you should only leave the strongest in the pot. You can remove the others. You should then fill the pot with additional soil. This ensures that the seedlings develop so-called adventitious roots (i.e. additional roots) and rooting is therefore more successful.
Then you only have to wait until after the ice saints and then you can put the cucumber plants in the vegetable patch on the balcony, on the terrace or in the garden.