Tips for Growing Cucumbers

Companion Plants to Cucumbers: Basil, Beans, Bush Beans, Borage, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Corn, Lettuce, Marjoram, Nasturtiums, Peas, Radish, Sunflowers

Antagonistic Plants to Cucumbers: Potatoes, Rue
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The Cucumber Journal

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April 19, 2014
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In the container on the above right I planted a row of cucumbers close to railing (I'm going to try and grow them upwards) and I also planted two rows of carrots in the same container.  .
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May 24, 2014
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Left: Radishes Planted with Carrots (and Cucumbers along the edge) -- Right: Radishes Alone (Climbing Beans along the edge)

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June 19, 2014
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Left: Carrots & Cucumbers - Right: Radishes & Climbing Beans

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The cucumbers (below - top left) have finally reached far enough out of the pot that I am able to start attaching them to the railing like the beans (below - top middle and right). I am surprised that so few cucumber plants sprouted from the amount of seeds I planted - I have enough plants, but didn't need to thin them at all, so it worked out good but I'll remember that for the future so I don't "under-plant" the seeds and have too few plants sprout up.
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Top Left: Cucumbers -- Top Right & Bottom: Climbing Beans

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July 25, 2014
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Cucumbers starting to fruit

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As for the rest of the garden, it is coming along fine. I had a pile of cucumbers flower - over twenty - and of the several that fruited there are five or six pretty good sized ones starting to form. I don't know if the smaller ones will continue to grow, as they are obviously now lagging the larger ones.
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Don't need any cucumbers dropping down there, do we?

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You'll notice that the cucumbers are no longer attached to the railing as they were last month. I had to move them because there are some people living on the bottom floor who have little kids and they set their patio up as a playground. As I watched my cucumbers flower and fruit, I started to get worried that as they grew larger... what if one of them fell off the vine and dropped four stories onto some poor kids head? So, I transferred the cucumber plants to some large sticks I had, and later also bought a trellis for them to attach to. It doesn't look as nice as before, but it's better than becoming the guy who killed some kid with a falling cucumber.   
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August 2, 2014 - Sunset from the Balcony of Eden (no commentary)
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September 10, 2014
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...I knew they (the carrots) weren't going to work out - I'd pulled one or two of them up over the past couple of months to see how they were growing... and I seen they weren't growing well. I'm pretty sure it's the same problem that caused The Great Radish Famine of 2014: I didn't leave nearly enough spacing between the plants, which caused them to choke out the growth. Next year I will follow the spacing directions on the packages to a "T" for all of my plants. I've read elsewhere that this is one of the biggest problems with us sky-gardeners working with a limited space - you have the desire to cram as many plants into a pot as you possibly can, and in doing so you actually produce far less than you could have. Live and learn.
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The carrots tasted fairly good though. I picked a cucumber and a few of the peppers, then added them to a salad for dinner.
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Mmmm... don't those cucumber slices look absolutely delicious?.
They were!
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February 26, 2015
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I planted some tomato seeds and pepper seeds in small yoghurt containers I've been saving up over the winter. In another week or two, I'll start some cucumber seeds in a few more containers. I hope these little things work out. Last year I used a few coffee cups, and that worked out okay. I'm going to try to grow everything from seed this year, to cut down on expenses.
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April 7, 2015
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So, my five of my cucumber seedling and two of my tomatoes have been growing quite well in my little pots on the window sill since I planted them back in the end of February...
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Tomatoes sprouted up!

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I'd been watching them every day... watering them... talking to them... loving them...
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Tomatoes (Left) and Cucumbers (Right) growing bigger

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And the weather had been so nice over the past few weeks... it must have been a month since the last frost, so I started bringing them outside to harden them up before transplanting.
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Tomato Seedlings (Left) and Cucumber Seedlings (Right) Hardening on the Balcony

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And finally, after a few days of hardening, I proudly planted my little darlings, excited to get such an early jump on the growing season... until the next morning when I went out to my car - AND HAD TO SCRAPE FROST OFF THE WINDOWS!!!

Aaargh!
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Oh well, what can you do? (Next time check the weather forecast first?)
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April 22, 2015
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The five cucumber seedlings, however, didn't make it. They struggled for a couple of days after the frost and then gave up the ghost. I had two seedlings still left inside, which I transplanted, and for the rest, I just planted some more seeds directly into the soil in the pots. I put a wire mesh behind the containers and planted close to the edge of the container. Hopefully I can get ten cucumber plants growing up there in total and get a good crop of them while still leaving most of the pot open to grow other vegetables.
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Cucumbers & Mesh

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