Growing cucumbers in our vegetable garden can be fun and easy. They can grow in "hills" (clusters of two or three plants) or in rows. Hills are to some gardeners the traditional way to plant them, but rows of cucumbers are particularly well suited for growing cucumbers up a fence or trellis. Rows should be spaced 6 feet apart while making hills 1 foot in diameter, spacing the perimeters 6 feet apart. Soil preparation is particularly important as cucumbers need fertile soil with good drainage.

In most areas cucumber seeds are sown indoors in individual peat pots two to three weeks before the last expected frost. Seedlings will be ready for transplanting outdoors in three to four weeks. In regions with long growing seasons, sow the seeds directly in the garden at about the time of the last expected frost. Young cucumber plants are often set back by spring rain and cold. You can protect them against the elements by covering them with translucent caps, which are available at most home and garden centers.

Cucumbers need a lot of moisture; so water the soil frequently, and spread a thick layer of organic mulch to help the soil remain damp. If weeds manage to grow despite the mulch, pull them out by hand to avoid injuring the cucumbers' shallow root systems. Here are some common problems with growing cucumbers:

Leafhoppers - symptoms are small, whitish dots on upper part of leaves.
Cucumber beetles - are yellowish in color with black highlights, they go after both the leaves and fruit.
Leafminers - they make small tunnels in the leaves and it may include discoloration of the leaves.
Nematodes - are microscopic critters that can cause swelling on the roots and stems and small knots on roots, and the plants will also begin to wilt.
Squash bugs - leave tiny yellow to brown speckles on leaves and the vines will also begin to wilt.
Whiteflies - are visible to the eye and will fly off in large groups when plant is moved.

Most of these pests are controlled by organic or natural bug killers. As far as the whiteflies remove the leaves that have them and destroy the leaves.

Our garden will produce slicing-type cucumbers are fully ripe as soon as they get to be 6-8 inches long; pickling cucumbers, when they are 1 ½ -3 inches long. Either type may be picked before it reaches full size. Strip your vines of mature cucumbers every two or three days, or the plants will stop producing. Pick the cucumbers while they are still dark green; yellow ones are overripe. To pick the fruit off the vine, hold the vine firmly in one hand while you twist off the cucumber with the other hand.