When it comes to the secret to fertilizing cucumbers for a big harvest, it’s all about giving your cucumber plants the perfect set of nutrients to power big growth – and lots of blooms that turn into fresh cucumbers!
Cucumber plants are one of the three most popular vegetable plants to grow for gardeners. They actually share top honors with tomato and pepper plants. But one thing is for sure, cucumbers grow and produce far differently than peppers and tomatoes – especially when it comes to how quickly they can produce their fruit.
Unlike tomatoes and peppers that can take 80 to 100 days or more to mature, cucumber plants can produce in as little as 50 days. Especially if they have the right dose of power to help them out. Even better, they can keep on producing as long as they continue to get the nutrients they need!
The good news is that it’s actually quite easy to feed your cucumbers the power they need for optimum growth – and for big bloom and fruit production. Success all comes down to giving your plants what they need on a consistent and steady basis – and today’s article will show you exactly how to do that with three simple fertilizing tips!
The Secret To Fertilizing Cucumbers – 3 Easy Ways To Power Your Plants
#1 Use An All-Purpose Granular Fertilizer At The Base Of Plants
Cucumber plants use photosynthesis to turn sunlight into energy for the plant. Plain and simple, the more foliage your cucumbers have, the more sunlight they can absorb to power up. And the best way to get your plants to grow that foliage early on is with all purpose granular fertilizer with equal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.
Nearly all fertilizers come with an N-P-K ratio on their label. This stands for the amount or percentage of the fertilizer that is made up of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. All three are very important for plant health, but for different reasons.
Nitrogen is responsible for root, stem and leaf development. It is key early on to power quick growth. Because of this, for the first four to six weeks after planting, it’s best to use an all purpose fertilizer with an equal percentage of nitrogen.
So what is best for cucumbers? A granular fertilizer with a 10-10-10 ratio is ideal for powering fast growth. In fact, 1/8th of a cup per plant will have your plants greening up in no time! Affiliate Product Link: 10-10-10 All Purpose Fertilizer
For early fertilizing with granular fertilizer, feed your plants every 3 weeks with two applications. At that point, as you will see next, it’s time to switch your fertilizing efforts to a nutrient source that will power more blooms – and not just growth.
# 2 Fertilizing For Blooms & Fruit – The Secret To Fertilizing Cucumbers
After your cucumbers have been growing for four to five weeks, it’s time to power them up for blooms and fruit. To do that, you need to use a liquid fertilizer that gives your cucumber plants flowering nutrients. And that means using fertilizers full of phosphorous and potassium.
Both of these two nutrients are key for cucumber flower and fruit production. All too often, gardeners continue to fertilize with an all purpose fertilizer, whether granular or liquid – and it simply will not give you the best chance to produce cucumbers.
The issue with continuing to feed a balanced fertilizer is it gives the plants too much nitrogen. Once cucumber plants reach the flowering and fruiting stage, excessive nitrogen will cause the plant to grow bigger instead of producing blooms and fruit!
When feeding cucumbers for production, look for a liquid fertilizer that has at least double if not triple the amount of phosphorous and potassium to nitrogen. Affiliate Product Link: Fruit & Bloom Booster Fertilizer (32oz) – Super Concentrated
Liquid fertilizers are the best choice for feeding for blooms and fruit. The nutrients absorb fast into the plants to energize flower production. Although you can feed at full strength every two to three weeks, it is better to dilute your liquid fertilizer to feed lighter but more often. By doing this, you can give your plants constant nutrition without overpowering them.
Dilute the liquid fertilizer to one-half strength – and then apply every seven to ten days. This can be done as long as the plant continues to produce throughout the summer months.
#3 Mulch Your Cucumbers With Power – The Secret To Fertilizing Cucumbers
Mulch is incredibly important for most vegetable plants. But for cucumbers, it is a pure necessity. Cucumbers need a lot of water to produce their fruit. Unfortunately, if the soil dries out too fast in between watering, it can lead to a lack of fruit. But mulch helps conserve that moisture in a big way.
Always mulch your cucumber plants with a four inch layer of straw or shredded leaves. But before doing so – it’s best to add a little power to your mulch. By simply layering a few cups of compost and a quarter cup of worm castings on the soil around plants – and then layering on your top mulch – you provide your cucumber plants with even more nutrients!
Every time you water or it rains, the nutrients from the castings and compost leach down to the roots. And that energy is perfect for maintaining the plant’s health and vitality. All the meanwhile, the liquid fertilizer helps to energize it for more blooms.
It is a win-win combination of fertilizing that gives cucumber plants exactly what they need – right when they need it. Here is to fertilizing your cucumber plants this year to perfection – and to having your best producing cucumber plants ever!
And for more on fertilizing vegetables, be sure to check out our article on fertilizing potatoes!
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This Is My Garden is a garden website created by gardeners, for gardeners. Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books and speaking for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. They publish three articles every week, 52 weeks a year. Sign up today to follow via email, or follow along!
