Cucumber Long de Chine

Indoor sowing: end of March - middle of May

Outdoor sowing: May - June

Germination: 5 - 10 days

Germination temp.: 20 - 22 °C

Sowing depth: 1 - 1½ cm

Transplanting seedlings: At least 3 weeks after sowing soiltemp. 15 - 18 °C

Plant spacing: 80 - 100 cm

Plant position: sunny (greenhouse)

Harvest period: July - October

Sow indoors from March on in separate pots filled with moist potting soil. Sow 1 seed per pot approx. 1 - 1½ cm deep and sow the seed sideways to prevent rotting. Cover the seed with a layer of potting soil. Keep the germination temperature at a minimal of 20 °C. Put the pots somewhere warm. Keep the temperature as even as possible and don't let the temperature drop during the night. Keep the soil moist in the pot, but not too wet to prevent rotting. 

Transplant the seedlings on a warm, sheltered, well-manured spot with freedraining soil, after approx. 3 weeks. Cucumbers are sensitive for root damage, so be carefull with their vulnerable rootsystem when you plant them out. Put your cucumberplants in a greenhouse or outdoors on a very sunny and sheltered plot.

Sow outdoors from the beginning of May, when there's no longer any danger of nightfrosts. Sow on a very sunny, sheltered spot with freedraining soil. Sow 2 seeds per hole approx. 2 cm deep and cover the seeds with a layer of soil. Thin the seedlings, when they're large enough to handle to 1 strongest per hole. Keep them 80 - 100 cm apart. Keep weedfree.

Cucumbers need a lot of space, sunlight, water, fertilizer and time to prosper. Give them a good amount of compost about 2 months prior to sowing. Give your plants a sturdy and large support. Harvest your cucumber by cutting them of the plants with a knife. Harverst regurlarly to ensure the growing of new cucumbers. You can store your cucumber for a couple of days outside the fridge on a cool spot. Give the plants, when the fruits are starting to grow some liquid tomato fertilizer every week. Give them every couple of days enough water. Water extra during dry-spells.

Bitter tasting cucumbers.

Every cucumber growers knows this phenomenon. Your own grown cucumbers taste immensely bitter. Some variety more so than others, but this bitter taste is well-known by all cucumber growers. 

You can prevent this bitter taste by watering Your cucumbers profusely every day, specially when the fruits are forming and growing, The cause of the bitter flavour in cucumbers is drought. Make sure that the soil doesn't dry out. It's better to water to much rather than to little. A slightly bitter flavour is normal for cucumbers, but a immensely bitter flavour can be prevented. Harvest Your cucumbers when they're young and relatively small. Because how older and longer a cucumber gets, how more bitter the flavour gets. This bitterness accumulates just under the stem of the cucumber. 

Conclusion:

Always water Your cucumbesr profusely and harvest Your cucumbers when they are young, small and tender. And when Your cucumber has a bitter flavour, cut of another piece below of the bitter tasting piece and try this.