Cucumbers Too Close Together? What will happen?

[SeansBrewing]

I am a frist time gardener, my girlfriend and I bought some seeds at the local hardware store and figured "Why not?"

So all 16 cucumber sprouted nicely and we planted them in a garden we dug on the side of our house. After reading a few threads here it appears they are WAY too close together.

Check out the picture. There are 16 plants in a 4foot by 2foot space.

Should I just start plucking them out of the ground to reduce the numbers? Will the cucumbers still grow?

I have done the same thing for Carrots, Spinach, and Lettuce, all about 16 plants in 4foot by 2foot spaces... How bad am I at gardening? lol

Help Please!!

Ummmmm, how do I post the picture?

[cynthia_h]

The webmaster has provided suggestions for posting photos at:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3724

Hope we can help w/the cukes!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[SeansBrewing]

[img]https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d119/Seano99/cucumber.jpg[/img]

[DoubleDogFarm]

Welcome, Sean

I have done the same thing for Carrots, Spinach, and Lettuce, all about 16 plants in 4foot by 2foot spaces... How bad am I at gardening? lol

I think you are well on your way.

For me, I would have planted a 4ft row of carrots in the back. 27 plant mix of spinach and lettuce. That would be 9 rows of 3 plants. They would be spaced about 6" in all directions.

Here is one of my plantings of lettuce, earlier this year.
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Vegetable%20Garden%20May%2030th%202010/DSC02245.jpg[/img]

[jal_ut]

Eight plants would do good in that space, but sixteen is too many. In any case I suggest you rig up a trellis they can climb. Let some climb and some sprawl.

[SeansBrewing]

Eight plants would do good in that space, but sixteen is too many. In any case I suggest you rig up a trellis they can climb. Let some climb and some sprawl.

How would I go about doing that? You mean like one of those small wooden fences for them to climb?

[garden5]

Usually when you crowd, what will happen is you will experience a reduced yield per plant.

Now, I've found that weather or not the reduced yield is made up for by the extra plants really depends on the types and varieties of plants and the quality of the soil. For the cukes, my guess from experience with squash is that crowding may be detrimental.

For the trellis, your imagination is the limit. Practically any type of a frame with some kind of fencing in it will work. You can even plant on both sides of it.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your garden.

[SeansBrewing]

First, did the seed package say "bush type" or "vining"? If you have the bush type of cucumbers, just take out every other one, leaving you with eight plants. If the package said vining, you need a trellis, which needs to be at least 4' tall (6' is better) and sturdy.

The package says they are "Burpless, Long Cucumber, Suyo." It does not say anything about vining, or bush type. There is photo on the package that looks like a vine though.

[img]https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d119/Seano99/cucumberpackage.jpg[/img]

What about the other plants in the garden... Okame Oriental Spinach, Red Core Chantenay Carrots, and Avenue U. of H. Lettuce. Are the going to grow OK with ~16 plants per 4ft by 2ft space?

[img]https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d119/Seano99/garden.jpg[/img]

[jal_ut]

8 cucumber plants will totally dominate that space if let to grow on the ground. Other things growing in the same space will be really competing for sunlight and root space. I am thinking your cukes will vine. Put something for them to climb and train them to go up the trellis. If you get them going up, the other plants will do OK.

[Troppofoodgardener]

You must really LOVE cucumbers!

We have 3 Lebanese cucumber plants and find that they're producing way more than the two of us can consume. In the peak of harvest time, we were getting 4 cucs a day on average. Now it's slowed down to about 1 per day - phew!

We experimented with a couple of different ways to grow the cuc plants, using recycled materials. We used a couple of wire racks (like the sort you'd see in shops displaying merch) We also built a 'teepee' from three wooden dowels and threaded wire in between so the plant will climb up. You have to train them though. If you have 8 plants however, you may need something much larger. I saw on the web a guy who used an old mattress frame for his cucs! (Like the sort from fold-out couches).

Have fun experimenting with what works, gardening doesn't have to be an expensive exercise! Your local tip or yard sales could prove a goldmine for a lot of gardening hardware.

[AkeenGardener]

Hope you have some cucumber recipes beause if all those plants produce, you are going to need them! If they are planted too close, the yield will suffer but that might not be a bad thing...

I think that most cucumber plants will grow up, rather than along when encouraged, but it will take a little more work for you. The advantage will be that you might have a chance to spot the fruits before they get too large, whereas they might get missed in all the foliage on the ground and of course you will be saving space which might be at a premium.

I endorse what others have said about recyling old bits and pieces as frameworks, my efforts to build a wigwam to hold them didnt work though as the whole thing collapsed from the weight!