How to Raise Burpless Cucumbers

Burpless cucumbers produce a fruit with less seeds and thinner skin.

Burpless cucumbers are long, slim versions of the standard cucumber with a thinner skin. There are several versions but the Chinese style is the most common variety. Burpless cucumbers are so called because they cause less digestive discomfort than their seedier cousins. Cucumbers are easy to raise and the burpless variety needs 62 days of growing time to harvest. Seed bed preparation is important for quick germination and growth. Burpless cucumbers can be seeded outdoors in almost all areas of the United States. Cold northern climates would benefit from an early indoor start or purchasing nursery starts for transplant.

Things You'll Need

• Burpless cucumber seeds
• Peat pots
• Seed starter mix
• Water
• Tiller
• Compost or other organic amendment
• Rake
• Mulch
• Manure
• Trellis or Stakes
• Plant ties
• Organic vegetable fertilizer
• Garden shears or pruners

Instructions

1. Sow cucumbers indoors three to four weeks before the last frost in short season U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones. Fill the pots with seed starter mix and press two to three seeds into each pot, 1/2 inch deep. Water the pots and place them in a warm room with a sunny window. Keep the pots moist as determined by sinking a finger into the soil up to the first knuckle.

2. Till a garden bed that is located in full sun with good drainage. Add 3 to 5 inches of compost or some other rich organic improvement. If you are planting straight out into soil plant after all danger of frost has passed and soil is 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a rake to create 3-foot-wide hills of soil that are at least 8 inches high. Press in three to four seeds spaced 12 inches apart.

3. Water the seeds and keep them uniformly moist until germination. Thereafter water every week. Spread a 2-inch layer of mulch around the plants and side dress with 1 1/2 manure to add nitrogen. Never allow the cucumber plants to wilt.

4. Plant out the seedlings that were started indoors when soils are warm. Plant them in hills that are spaced 36 inches apart and contain three plants. Plant the seedlings only as deep as they were growing in the peat pots. You can remove them from the peat or plant the entire pot since it will compost into the soil. Water them lightly to settle the soil around the plants.

5. Position a trellis or stakes within 3 inches of the plants. The vines can get up to 6 feet and will need support to keep the fruit from laying on the ground. The vines have tendrils which will help them cling to the support but you should help them with plant ties.

6. Fertilize with an organic vegetable fertilizer once before the plant buds and again just before the plant fruits. Follow the amount recommended by the product. Spread the fertilizer around the base of the plants and work into the soil 3 inches deep. Water after fertilizing.

7. Harvest burpless cucumbers when they are evenly green. Early morning is the best time to harvest. The fruit should be refrigerated immediately after harvest and will last for three days.

References

• University of Illinois Extension: Cucumber
• USA Gardener: How to Grow Cucumbers