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When I first started gardening, I couldn't understand why cucumbers were listed in the "difficult to grow" category. I planted seeds, they came up, flowers appeared, followed by abundant cucumbers.

Was it beginner's luck? Perhaps, but I also had great soil, and there were lots of honeybees around to pollinate the blossoms.

In recent years, with the decline in honeybees, and a move to an area with poor, heavy clay soil (there was a brick factory down the road a bit years ago), cucumbers have become more difficult to grow successfully.

Start with the soil. If you don’t have rich soil, high in organic material, add some compost to make it loose and fluffy. If you don’t have a compost pile yet, bagged compost is ok, but your own will always better for the environment.

You can also grow cucumbers in a large pot in container mix. Cucumbers need full sun to do their best, but will tolerate some shade, especially from the the hot afternoon sun.

Select seeds carefully. In addition to traditional favorites such as “Straight 8”, there are “burpless” types that never become bitter. There are also a few that don’t need to be pollinated by bees or other insects. “Diva” and “Sweet Success” are two of my favorites. Bees or no bees, they produce.  

Plant the seeds - about three in a large pot, or six in a group about 4” apart.  When the seeds come up, thin them to two per pot or three per group. You can also start seeds in small pots and transplant them carefully when they have a few true leaves. This keeps the bugs and slugs away from your baby plants and will save seeds.

Fertilize regularly, especially if they’re in a pot. Slow release fertilizers like Osmocote, Once or Dynamite save time, but the soluble types like Miracle Gro are fine, too.

Water so that the soil is damp like a wrung-out sponge to a depth of 6-8 inches. That’s about an inch of water per week if you don’t get that much rain. If cucumbers are stressed by drought, they won’t produce as well, and the non-burpless types will become bitter. Mulch your plants with leaves, straw, or wood chips to help keep them from drying out too quickly. Container plants may need daily watering.

Pick your cucumbers when they’re a good size for eating, but before they turn yellow. A fat, yellow cuke is seedy, and once the plants produce a few mature, seedy cucumbers, they stop producing. It’s better to pick a little too soon than too late.

And what if you get a bitter cuke? Peel from the blossom end to the stem, rinsing the peeler or knife between cuts. The bitterness is in the plant leaves and stems, so starting from the other end will prevent it from spreading over the whole cucumber.