Cucumber plant care (Remove the cucumber suckers) – Growing cucumbers vertically

2020/6/25

How to grow cucumber in home garden. Last time, we explained how to plant cucumber seedling and set up the cucumber trellis. (Cucumber trellis is the best way to grow cucumbers vertically.) This time, I will provide cucumber plant care. We will remove cucumber side shoots. (Pruning the cucumber suckers.)

It’s been about 20 days since planting cucumber seedling. Right after planting the cucumber seedling, the vines didn’t grow at all, but now the main vine has started growing, and the cucumber plant has grown to about 75cm (2.5 feet) tall. The cucumber leaves have also grown quite large.

We planted cucumber seedling and set up the cucumber trellis in early June. (Trellis for cucumbers, best way to grow cucumbers vertically.)

Pruning the cucumber side shoots (Remove cucumber suckers) : Cucumber plant care

For cucumber pruning, remove all side shoots up to the 5th or 6th node from the bottom. Pruning side shoots (removing suckers) is done in tomatoes, eggplants, and green peppers, as well as in cucumber cultivation.

Why prune the cucumber side shoots? It’s to promote overall growth of the cucumber plant. (In the early stages of cultivation, it’s better to prioritize the growth of the cucumber plant itself rather than enlarging the fruit.) If the plant bears fruit when it’s still young, it becomes exhausted, resulting in a lower total harvest.

The linked article explains how to prune side shoots of tomatoes and sweet peppers.

The first harvest of cucumber

Cucumbers are pruned for lateral shoots up to the 5th or 6th node from the bottom, so harvesting the fruits is done from nodes above that. In the upper node, cucumber fruits have already begun to form.

We harvest this cucumber (first fruit) early because letting it grow too big puts a lot of strain on the plant. (We harvest cucumber by cutting the stem attached to the fruit with scissors.) In cucumber cultivation, it is better to harvest small fruits when the plant is young. If you let the fruits grow large when the plant is young, the cucumber plant will become tired.

The other nodes are also starting to bear fruit, so we may be able to harvest soon. (Cucumbers grow quickly.)

The cucumber plants themselves are growing, but the tendrils haven’t stretched much yet. In the current state, thin stake is placed to support the cucumber plant as they are unstable. The thin stake is 1.1cm (0.4 inches) in diameter and 90cm (3 feet) in length.

I’m excited for the cucumber to grow and for harvest time to come.

Following is the video for how-to. English subtitles are available.

Cucumber plant care (Remove the cucumber suckers) – Growing cucumbers vertically – YouTube