If you have childhood memories of sprawling cucumber vines climbing elaborate trellises, you may be surprised to learn that the crunchy veggie can also be grown in containers. Cucumbers come in both vining and bush form. Choose the latter for planting in containers. A simple 5-gallon bucket, whether gleaned from a local restaurant or your own bulk-buying, is ideal for cucumber growing. The buckets are each large enough to contain a bush cucumber plant, and plastic keeps the soil moist longer than terra cotta or wood.
Wash and dry your bucket thoroughly. Use a solution of mild soap and warm water.
Put drainage holes at the bottom of your container with a drill or knife.
Prepare screening for the bottom of the bucket. Turn the bucket over and set screening on the bucket to trace the diameter, then cut it to size and place the circle of screening over the drainage holes.
Install a staking system to help support the cucumber plants. Set three bamboo poles at the bottom of the bucket and tie the tops with garden twine.
Fill the bucket with commercial potting soil or a homemade mixture, holding the garden stakes steady if necessary.
Sow two or three seeds in the center of the bucket, spaced several inches apart. Set the seeds at a depth of 1/2 inch, or set the seeds on the surface and cover with 1/2 inch of soil.
Once the seedlings reach about 3 inches tall, select the strongest looking as your container plant. Remove the remaining seedlings by cutting them at the base rather than pulling them.
Mulch the soil in the container after thinning the seedlings. Mulching helps conserve water, which is especially important because container plantings dry out more rapidly than garden-bed plantings.
Water the cucumber plant regularly during its growing season. If the plant's leaves are drooping in the morning, give it an extra-watering session. Cucumbers become bitter if they regularly experience drought.
Tie the cucumber plant to the supporting stakes as it grows. Use garden twine or old pantyhose to gently secure the plant.
Apply fertilizer about midway through the growing season. Pull mulch aside and set a 1-inch band of commercial fertilizer, compost or aged manure around the plant. Lightly work the fertilizer into the soil and replace the mulch. Alternatively, water the plants with liquid fertilizer, following package directions for frequency of use.
Keep cucumber-bearing branches tied to the tepee trellis as the vegetables grow.
Regularly harvest cucumbers for best flavor and to encourage a heavy yield.
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Things You Will Need
- Drill or sharp knife
- Window or garden mesh screening
- Bamboo stakes
- Garden twine
- Potting soil
- Dry fertilizer (6-6-8 or similar)
- Garden trowel
- Garden hose
- For best results, choose a cucumber variety bred for small spaces. Good choices include "Spacemaster" or cultivars with the word "bush" in their names, such as "Bush Champion."
- A sample formula of home-prepared potting soil calls for 1 part peat moss, 1 part manure or compost and 1.5 parts dolomite. For every 3 to 4 bushels of homemade potting soil, add about 1 cup of a slow-release fertilizer such as 6-8-8 with trace elements.
- Extremely compact bush cucumbers may not require staking. Instead, set small pieces of wood on the surface of the container if the emerging cucumbers are heavy enough to droop to the soil line. The wood will prevent the cucumbers from rotting until they are ready to harvest.
- Grow cucumbers in a sunny spot in an area protected by the wind. A south-facing foundation is ideal, as is an unshaded patio or terrace. When you don't have an area that gets at least six hours of sun, move the containers during the day to keep them in the sun.
- Insect pests can wreak havoc on cucumber plants. Monitor the plants regularly to ensure they aren't overly bothered by flying or crawling insects. Netting can help if the plants are especially vulnerable, but in many cases hand-picking beetles or coating the leaves and fruits with an organic soapy solution may be enough to ensure healthy cukes.
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