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April 2025 | Phonebox Magazine 45Cucumbers are one of the easiest vegetables to get started, but the tricky part is knowing how to get the best size and fl avour from them once they start growing. They can easily be grown from seed and now, in early Spring, is the best time to get your next crop started. As the weather starts to warm up coming into April, the conditions become right for your batch of cucumbers.But the salad vegetable does need a good bit of heat at the beginning, so if temperatures are still plummeting outside, start them off indoors and keep them in a warm area. Put one seed in each pot and cover with quality compost. Once you see proper leaves appearing they can be moved into bigger pots. Don%u2019t be tempted to put them outside if it%u2019s still chilly %u2013 wait until you are sure the frosts have gone for the year. Check the details on the packet of the particular type of cucumber you want to grow; this will tell you when you can plant.Cucumbers prefer warm temperatures that stay constant at around 20 degrees, so it is important to watch the weather outside. They also like humidity and damp soil, so keep them well watered. Failure to do this can result in unpleasant tasting plants. There are tougher, more hardy varieties that will cope with UK weather better %u2013 a garden centre will be able to help you with this.Choose a sheltered sunny spot outdoors which is south facing if you can, and where the plants will get a good few hours of sunlight every day. The shade is not a friend of the cucumber! Make sure they are free from cold winds or breezes, too. Place them evenly apart, around 45cm between them if you are using a support to grow them or 90cm apart if they are going on the ground.There%u2019s nothing wrong with giving the new cucumbers some plant food, and when fl owers start to appear make sure the plant food continues, or ensure your compost has additives. Tomato fertiliser is a good feed for them and, as banana skins are high in potassium (which cucumbers like) you can cut them up to place into the soil too. Cucumber plants usually take two to three months to harvest after you%u2019ve planted them and should be ready for picking any time between late July and early October. Just cut them off with a sharp blade at the stem once they reach the size you like. As you harvest, the plant grows a new cucumber, so regular picking should guarantee you a bumper crop.Growing CucumbersApril is a good time to plant and cultivate cucumbers, one of the UK%u2019s most versatile and easy-to-grow salad vegetables. But make sure it%u2019s warm enough.It is estimated that there are at least 100 diff erent varieties of cucumber. They include:%u2022 Femspot%u2022 Slicemaster%u2022 Burpless Tasty%u2022 Salt and Pepper%u2022 Exocet%u2022 Merlin%u2022 Mini Munch%u2022 Orient Express%u2022 Bush Champion%u2022 MarketmorePhonebox Gardening