Planting guide

When to plant cucumber

Fast, fresh and productive; grow it up a trellis to save space. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Feb.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 7–10 wks
Spacing: 45 cm
Depth: 2 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Plenty
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means cucumber can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant cucumber

Sow seed 2 cm deep once soil is warm.
Give it a trellis or netting to climb.
Water deeply and often; never let it dry out.
Pick young and regularly to keep fruit coming.

Cucumber varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Lebanese Classickid-favourite · heavy-cropper · 7–9 wksSmall, thin-skinned and crisp; great for lunchboxes
Spacemaster Classicdwarf · pot-friendly · bush · 8–10 wksCompact vines for pots and small beds
Marketmore Classicdisease-resistant · heavy-cropper · 8–10 wksReliable slicer with good disease resistance
Telegraph Improved Classicheirloom · 9–11 wksLong, smooth English-style cucumber
Crystal Apple Adventurousheirloom · kid-favourite · colourful · 9–11 wksRound pale-yellow fruit that is sweet and crunchy
Lemon Adventurousheirloom · kid-favourite · colourful · 9–11 wksRound yellow cucumbers, mild and juicy
Armenian Adventurousheat-tolerant · heavy-cropper · 9–11 wksLong ribbed 'snake melon'; sweet and not bitter
Mexican Sour Gherkin Adventurouskid-favourite · heavy-cropper · 9–11 wksCucamelon: tiny grape-sized fruit with a sour twist
Poona Kheera Adventurousheirloom · heat-tolerant · 9–11 wksRusset Indian heirloom; sweet and firm
African Horned Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Baby Snack Poco Classichybrid · 7–10 wks
Beit Alpha (Lebanese) Classic7–10 wks
Bolong Classichybrid · 7–10 wks
Boston Pickling Classic7–10 wks
Burpless Classic7–10 wks
Burpless Tasty Green Classichybrid · 7–10 wks
Chinese Snake Classicclimbing · 7–10 wks
Continental DOM Classichybrid · 7–10 wks
Double Yield Classic7–10 wks
Dragon's Egg Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
German Pickling Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Giant Russian Classicheirloom · giant · 7–10 wks
Green Dragon Classichybrid · 7–10 wks
Green Gem Classicpot-friendly · 7–10 wks
Italian Non-acid Classic7–10 wks
Japanese Climbing Classicheirloom · climbing · 7–10 wks
Jefferson Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Lebanese Mini Muncher Classic7–10 wks
Little Potato Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Long White Classic7–10 wks
Marina 2 Classichybrid · 7–10 wks
Mini Muncher Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Mini White Classic7–10 wks
Mogwai Classichybrid · 7–10 wks
Muncher Burpless Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
National Pickling Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Paris Pickling Classic7–10 wks
Parisian Pickling Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Persian Pickling Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Poinsett Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Redlands Long White Adventurousheirloom · 7–10 wks
Richmond Green Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Richmond Green Apple Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Space Saver Classicheirloom · pot-friendly · 7–10 wks
Straight 8 Classic7–10 wks
Straight Eight Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Suyo Long Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Suyu Long Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
Sweet And Striped Adventurousheirloom · sweet · colourful · 7–10 wks
Tendergreen Burpless Classic7–10 wks
West Indian Gerkin Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
West Indian Gherkin Classicheirloom · 7–10 wks
White Spine Adventurousheirloom · 7–10 wks
White Wonder Classic7–10 wks

Where to buy seeds

Buy on Seeds of Plenty Buy on The Seed Collection Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Bean, Nasturtium, Dill

Cucumber by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Tomato · Capsicum · Chilli · Eggplant · Zucchini · Sweetcorn

Not sure cucumber is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now