Divisi
How to grow Cucumber
Cucumis sativus · Cucurbitaceae
Photo: Stephen Ausmus, USDA ARS · Public domain
Cucumber is a fast, thirsty climbing vine grown for its crisp young fruit — picked small and often, before the seeds inside go hard. It is a cousin of pumpkin, melon, squash and watermelon. Three things make or break it: steady, even water; bees to set the fruit (in open-field types); and picking young fruit every 2–3 days so the plant keeps making more. Give it a warm start, a trellis to climb, and never let it go thirsty, and it pays back fast — often ready to pick in just 6–9 weeks. Let it dry out, swing wet-then-dry, or bake in the heat, and the fruit turns bitter and crooked.
- Days to maturity
- 45–70 days
- Row spacing
- 150 cm
- Plant spacing in the row
- 40 cm
- Sowing depth
- 2–3 cm
These are general figures for the crop, compiled from published agronomic references including FAO and CABI. The right choice for your field depends on your soil, rainfall and the yield you are aiming for.
Will cucumber actually do well on your land? Check your field against every crop in the catalogue — free, no signup. Run the free crop check →
Other names for Cucumber
komkommer · kiyar · cucumber · concombre · pepino · tango
Working in buckets, bags or paces? The farming glossary turns the measures growers actually use into kilograms and hectares — what a 20 litre bucket of each crop really weighs, and how to size a field by walking it — alongside the Shona, Swahili, Ndebele and Yoruba words used in the field. Open the glossary →
Growing cucumber, stage by stage
Your cucumber season, step by step — from a warm, rich, well-drained bed and a trellis to climb, through steady watering and bee-set flowers, to picking crisp young fruit every 2–3 days before it turns bitter.
- Get ready before you sow
- Sowing & getting a strong stand
- Vine growth & training
- Flowering & pollination
- Fruit set & continuous harvest
- After the pick — keep it fresh
14 step-by-step tasks in the app
Every task for cucumber — what to do, when to do it and why it matters — with the amounts worked out for your own field, reminders as each one falls due, and warnings before extreme weather.
Pests and diseases that attack cucumber
7 more threats tracked in the app
Divisi tells you which of these is a risk on your cucumber right now, when to walk the field looking for it, and what to do the moment you find it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does cucumber take to grow?
Cucumber takes about 45–70 days from sowing to maturity, though the exact length varies with variety, temperature and how the season runs.
What spacing should I use for cucumber?
Space cucumber rows about 150 cm apart, with roughly 40 cm between plants within the row.
How deep should cucumber be planted?
Sow cucumber at about 2–3 cm deep. Shallower risks drying out; deeper wastes seed energy before the shoot reaches light.
What pests and diseases attack cucumber?
The ones covered in this guide are Cotton aphid, Cucumber beetles, Cucumber mosaic virus. Each has its own page explaining how to identify, scout for and control it.
Grow cucumber with a plan, not a guess
Divisi turns this guide into a dated plan for your own field — what to do each week, reminders as tasks fall due, and warnings before extreme weather. Free for farmers, works offline.
Or check your field first