Early spring is the greatest season to produce cucumbers in Florida. The months of February and March make up this period. You can also plant in September and hope to harvest before the winter sets in. Bush Slicer, Cherokee, Dasher II, Eureka, and Sweet Success are the best cucumber kinds to grow in Florida.
Cucumber growing in Florida is simple if you plant the proper kind at the right time and maintain a close eye on your plant. However, due to websites claiming cucumbers are a warm-weather crop, gardeners in Florida may have an especially difficult time cultivating them.
This may lead you to believe that you must plant throughout the summer. While such timing may be appropriate in most regions of the country, it is not in Florida’s circumstance.
Cukes prefer temperatures that are warm but not too hot (and they despise cold weather). To the point of death). Cucumbers don’t realize how much they like it hot until they’re planted and grown in our scorching summers. Cukes are decimated by our hot, humid summers.
In Florida, What Cucumber Types Are Available?
Cucumbers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. There are vining varieties, bush varieties, pickled varieties, and slicing varieties. The first two characteristics, vining, and bushing describe how the plant grows. The latter two options, pickling or slicing, allude to how the cucumber will be used.
Cucumber slices are commonly used in salads and other dishes, while pickled cucumbers are used for pickling. The thickness of the skin distinguishes the two cucumbers. When opposed to slicing cucumbers, pickling cucumbers have significantly thinner skin.
Pickled cucumbers are not all slicing cucumbers, but slicing cucumbers might be pickling cucumbers. Below are several cucumber cultivars that will thrive in Florida if planted at the right time and properly cared for.
- Slicing cukes: Cherokee, Dasher II, Sweet Success
- Pickling cukes: Adam, Eureka
- Bush cukes: Bush Slicer(Slicing), Spacemaster(Slicing), Bush Champion(Slicing)
When To Plant Cucumbers In Central Florida
When it comes to planting any type of vegetable, the weather is crucial, but the cucumber is particularly delicate. It should be warm, but not excessively so.
Cucumbers will struggle to thrive in the scorching heat of summer. Cucumbers are grown in two seasons in northern and central Florida. “Spring and Fall” are two words that come to mind while thinking about the seasons.
If you must refer to them as such. For an “autumn garden,” put seeds in the garden in north Florida from August to September, and for a “spring garden,” plant seeds from February to March.
For a “fall” garden in Central Florida, plant seeds immediately into the ground in September, and then wait until January to March to plant seeds for a spring garden.
Cucumbers have a single growing season in Southern Florida, which runs from September to January.
What Is The Best Way To Water Cucumbers?
- Cucumbers are primarily composed of water, thus they must consume a lot of it. This means you’ll have to keep up with watering them regularly.
- Poking your finger in the dirt is the greatest way to detect when it’s time to water. It’s time to drink if the top 1-2 inches of soil are dry.
- It’s also critical that you avoid getting the leaves wet when watering.
- Cucumbers are particularly susceptible to mildew, and keeping the leaves dry is a simple approach to prevent the mildew from spreading.
- Another good habit is to water in the morning before the sun rises, allowing the cucumber leaves to dry off.
- Watering is also aided by a thick covering of mulch.
