Illinois Vegetable Garden Guide
Cucumbers
Cucumbers and other vine crops are usually started by planting seed directly in the field, but for an earlier crop you may start them in peat pots, bands, or berry boxes about 3 to 4 weeks before setting in the field. Plant 2 to 3 seeds in each container and when the plants come up, thin them to one per container. Because cucumber roots can be easily injured during transplanting, place the whole container, with the bottom removed, in the soil. Plants should not be set in the field until danger of frost is past.
Cucumbers respond well to mulching. Yields can be increased and quality improved by using mulches now on the market or any of the other mulching materials suggested on page 20.
Many diseases can cause considerable damage in cucumbers and other vine crops if not properly controlled. Varieties that are resistant to scab and mosaic are recommended. Insects that should be controlled are cucumber beetles and aphids.
Cucumbers may be harvested at almost any stage of development but before they turn yellow. Do not leave over-mature cucumbers on the vine as they will reduce later yields.
| Crop | Amount for 100 ft of row |
Variety recommended for use in Illinois | Days to harvest | Resistant to |
| Cucumbers (seed) | ½ ounce | Slicing | ||
| Bush Crop | 55 | |||
| Fanfare | 63 | |||
| Salad Bush | 57 | Mosaic, Powdery mildew, Downy mildew | ||
| Spacemaster | 56 | |||
| Straight Eight | 65 | |||
| Sweet Slice | 63 | |||
| Pickling | ||||
| Calypso | 50 | |||
| Lucky Strike | 52 | |||
| National Pickling | 55 | |||
| SMR-58 | 53 | Mosaic, Scab |
| Vegetable | Hardiness | Recommended planting period for central Illinois (b) | Time to grow from seed to field (c) | |
| For overall Use |
For storage |
|||
| weeks | ||||
| Cucumber | Very tender | May 10-June 15 | ... | 4 |
| Vegetable | Spacing in row | |||
| Seed to sow per foot | Distance between plants when thinned or transplanted | Distance between rows | Planting depth | |
| inches | inches | inches | ||
| Cucumber | 3 in row 4-5 per hill |
12, single plants 36, hills (3 plants per hill) |
48-72 | 1 |
