Learning about crops - Cucumbers

I've tried growing cucumbers for a few years now.  Unfortunately, I've had next to no success.  We try to pick varieties that are good for pickling, but are also good for eating raw.  When I get cucumbers, they end up looking like orbs instead of cucumbers. It's my belief that our temperatures have been too high as I've tried growing them.  I'll also be putting more effort into soil analysis this year.


Companion Plants
Nearby plantings of borage may also help suppress cucumber beetles as they may be intimidated by the insects that are attracted to the borage flowers.

Growing Cucumbers
Cucumbers like nutrient-rich soil with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5.  General fertilizers work just fine.  They like soil temperatures at least 60 degrees, however, they don't like temps that are consistently in the mid-90's.  High temps end up with more male flowers on the plant than females.  If temps are consistently high, providing a sunshade to filter out 40-50% of the sunlight is recommended.

Insect Pests
Cucumber beetles typically prefer cucumbers and muskmelons.  Insecticidal soap is a safe, effective treatment for most cucumber beetle infestations.

Nutritional Information
Cucumbers with peel, raw

Cucumbers are a "good source" (10-19% of RDA) of Vitamin K.  There are also trace amounts (1-2%) of a number of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.  There's a supercallafragiliciousexpialladocious amount (a lot) of water.  97% by weight, in fact.

I won't bore you with the lengthy list of vitamins, etc.

It's worth noting that the serving size is only 1.8 oz.  I couldn't visualize how much cucumber would actually represents 1.8 oz (other than "not much") so I weighed a Persian cucumber from either MoMs or Trader Joe's.  It's 5" long and 1 1/4" diameter.

Let's just say that unless you're looking for a lot of Vitamin K, cucumbers are basically nature's water bottle.