How To Grow Lots of Cucumbers in Pots!

Many people can be put off growing cucumbers as they don’t feel they have the space or the proper growing environment, but let me tell you – they are simple to grow.

They are so simple that they can even be grown in pots on a patio or balcony. You don’t even need a greenhouse!

So with no further ado, let’s take a look at how to grow heaps of cucumbers using pots!

What Size Pot?

Cucumbers will require a good-sized pot to grow correctly. I recommend one that is 30cm or larger. You could get away with smaller, but you would probably end up limiting the final size of the plant.

You don’t have to use a dedicated plant pot, any container that can hold soil and drain will be suitable for growing cucumbers.

I personally really like using fabric plant bags. They look nice and can be easily folded up and stored when not in use.

They are also a lot cheaper than equivalently sized pots!

Which Cucumber To Grow?

Cucumbers are usually divided into two main groups, those for growing under glass (greenhouse/polytunnel) and those for growing outdoors.

Important Note

You must not mix indoor and outdoor cucumbers in a greenhouse. This is because indoor cucumbers produce all cucumber flowers, but outdoor cucumbers produce male and female flowers.

If a male flower pollinates an indoor cucumber, it gets very bitter and even poisonous.

If you are growing under glass, then I recommend passandra. This is an F1 hybrid cucumber that produces a lot of medium-sized cucumbers.

The cucumbers are spineless and very similar to what you expect in a supermarket.

If you are growing outdoors then I would suggest growing Spacemaster. This more compact variety is perfect for containers and will also thrive in a sheltered spot outdoors, even in the cloudy pacific north west.

Growing Cucumbers

Sowing

I like to sow my cucumbers in early to mid-spring. At this time of year, you need to sow them indoors. I have a grow light setup for my seedlings, but a windowsill can work well, provided it gets enough sun.

Because cucumbers are large seeds that quickly grow into large seedlings I don’t sow them in module trays. Instead, I sow them into pots, with one seed per pot.

Just use a regular multi-purpose compost and sow the seed just under the soil’s surface. Many people will tell you to sow cucumbers on their side, but I have never had an issue with not doing this.

If you keep your cucumbers indoors for any length of time, you want to regularly pot them on into larger pots. Cucumbers hate damaging their roots, so you don’t want them to get pot-bound.

Move Into Final Position

Once all risk of frost has passed in late spring, you can move your cucumbers into their final growing position if you use a greenhouse. Growing outdoors, you probably want to move them out a little later. Remember that cucumbers are warm-climate crops!

When moving your cucumbers outdoors, do it gradually over a week or so. This process is called hardening off. You leave your cucumbers outside during the day and bring them back at night. This helps them acclimatise to the cooler conditions.

Support

Cucumbers love to climb, and most types need some support structure. In pots, this is often done by making a wigwam out of bamboo canes around the edge of the pot.

You could also use a trellis, or even string as you can see in the photo above. You need something to suspend the string from.

Feeding

Pot nutrition can be used quickly, particularly by large, hungry plants like cucumbers.

As the plant develops, I recommend adding fish blood and bone to your compost. This is a natural fertilizer that provides a balanced level of nutrition.

As lots of flowers and cucumbers start to develop, you want to swap to a higher potash (potassium) feed. Tomato feeds work great with cucumbers and will encourage higher yields.

As with most veggies, you can get away without feeding them. I have grown many cucumbers and had successful harvests without ever feeding them.

I don’t want to make you think you must go out and buy lots of fertilisers, but if you want the biggest crop possible, then a regular feed every fortnight is advised.

And that’s all there is to it really, good luck with your pot-grown cucumbers! If you have any questions then please ask away in the comments below and I will get back to you.