Cucumber Question ...

[DownriverGardener]

My Cuc plant has about four good looking fruits on it. They are laying on the ground though, and since this is my first time growing them, I am worried they will rot on the side that is touching the ground. Should I be putting something under them to keep them from rotting, or are cucumbers resistant to ground rot?

Thanks!

[digitS']

Well, I don't know how resistant they are nor what exactly "ground rot" is. Probably, you are just concerned about a fairly common problem, which in my experience, is more likely to damage melons.

I have placed short pieces of boards under melons to keep them off the ground while ripening.

There's one thing different about cucumbers, however. Unless you intend to save the seed from them, they should be harvested long before they are ripe.

My gardens are irrigated a couple times each week so the soil surface is wet, regularly. I don't worry about cucumber or summer squash fruits rotting, however. And, I hope that relating my experience is of help to you.

Steve

[Dillbert]

cukes grow so fast they rarely have enough time to rot due to ground contact.

"gee isn't it cute" to 14" over grown seedy hollow in the middle monster is a 4-5 day thing -

[DownriverGardener]

Well, I don't know how resistant they are nor what exactly "ground rot" is. Probably, you are just concerned about a fairly common problem, which in my experience, is more likely to damage melons.

I have placed short pieces of boards under melons to keep them off the ground while ripening.

There's one thing different about cucumbers, however. Unless you intend to save the seed from them, they should be harvested long before they are ripe.

My gardens are irrigated a couple times each week so the soil surface is wet, regularly. I don't worry about cucumber or summer squash fruits rotting, however. And, I hope that relating my experience is of help to you.

Steve

by "ground rot", yeah basically I just mean rot caused by contact with the soil. Just don't want to lose the cucs Thanks though, you're advice makes sense!

[GardenRN]

DRG, keep in mind, it's not like if you just took a cuke from the store outside and left it on the ground. Your cucumber is still attached to the vine. Living, breathing, and growing. It is alive! Once picked, it doesn't have that life line to the vine anymore, so decay begins. Leaving it on the ground would speed the process up because more organisms could get to it. But a cuke can sit on the ground way past it's "ripe" point and never rot.

The biggest problem you may have is one side may be a more pale color than the sunny side. But that's just aesthetics.