How To Sow Cucumbers Using A Heated Propagator

How To Sow Cucumbers Using A Heated Propagator


Home-grown cucumbers are delicious and can be grown indoors or out

Home-grown cucumbers eaten straight from the plant taste fantastic compared to the ones bought in a supermarket. They can be grown indoors or outdoors; in the ground, in growbags or pots. Grown outdoors they are subject to the quirks of the British summer weather, so you are more likely to get a better crop if you can grow them in a greenhouse or polytunnel, however if you can’t grow them indoors it is always worth chancing a couple of plants outside. Make sure you choose the right variety for the right situation. If you are going to grow them in a growbag or pots you will need to make sure they are always watered as they can dry out quite quickly grown in a restricted space, especially on a hot sunny day.

 

 We have chosen to grow ‘Cucino’, a mini cucumber which produces lots of fruits and is ideal to grow if you have children.

You will need:

  • 9cm pots
  • seed compost
  • seed
  • something which holds water to stand the tray or pots in
  • heated propagator
  • labels

Fill the pot with John Innes Seed Compost, tap the pot on the bench to settle the compost.

Make a small hole, about 2.5cm (1”) deep with your finger or dibber, place seed sideways on into it and cover with the compost, put 2 seeds to a pot. Cover the seed with some compost.

Label and stand in water for 15 - 20 minutes until the compost is damp.

Place in the propagator at a temperature of 20 – 25C (68 – 77F) until germinated.

Keep the compost damp by standing in the tray of water.

They should germinate in about 7 – 10 days.

cucumber seedling

When they are about 2.5cm (1”) tall remove the weakest seedling, remove from the propagator and grow on in a heated greenhouse or on a warm sunny windowsill.


Profile Image Angela Slater

Angela Slater

Daughter of a farmer and market gardener so have always had a connection with the outdoors, whether it was keeping animals or producing fruit, vegetables and cut flowers. Along with my work at Hayes Garden World I also have a smallholding, mainly breeding rare breed pigs. I gained an HND and BSc in Conservation and Environmental Land Management, as a result I am an ardent environmentalist and have a keen interest in environmentally friendly gardening. In my time at Hayes I worked for several years in the Outdoor Plant and Houseplant areas.