Cucumber - pressing block 10x10 cm - sown plant

The cucumber is a fruit that is mainly eaten raw as a salad and is therefore also considered a vegetable. But the cucumber actually belongs to the fruit species Cucumis sativus, which has been cultivated for more than 3,000 years. It thus belongs to the same family as the melon and to the same genus as the zucchini.

They are heat-loving plants and grow best under glass in greenhouses. Dozens of cucumbers can grow on a single stem. Today's cultivated cucumber has only female flowers, from which the cucumber grows without fertilization or pollination.

CULTIVATION TIPS:
The cucumber is a true heat-loving plant. Plant it at the earliest on May 10. Before this date, the soil temperature is often much too low and the young cucumber plant will die. This also applies to hobby greenhouses, even with a small heating device, the soil temperature will still remain too low!
Cucumbers require a warm, airy soil that is well fertilized.

The plant has large leaves, which grow over the fruits. Don't be surprised by the growing power of the cucumber! The plant is a climbing plant with adhesive tendrils. It is best to guide the plants up along a binding wire.

It is not only above ground that the cucumber plant gets big, the root system can grow out as wide as one and a half meters. By watering very regularly and a lot you ensure that the plants do not need to be watered too far away. Keep a fruit from at least the seventh leaf, this will benefit later fruit setting.

The best way to grow cucumbers is under glass (climbing in a greenhouse or lying in a flat tray), growing them outdoors is also possible, but the yield is much lower. Growing them outdoors does require a beautiful summer and, of course, the sunniest, warmest sheltered spot you can provide.
Always remove any male flowers (a female flower already looks like it has a mini cucumber behind it) and water regularly.

PROBLEMS AND DISEASES:
Foot rot: the foot of the plant rots because it is too wet. Therefore, make sure not to plant too deep. Do not water directly at the foot of the plant but in an excavated gutter or a dug-in pot next to it

NOTE: definitely do not plant cucumber too early! Even in a hobby greenhouse, May 10 is early enough... Cucumbers really can't stand the cold!