Buying Cucumber Seeds

Cucumbers are easy to grow, so you will find cucumber seeds for sale in most garden centres, DIY shops and some supermarkets. Where you buy them is a matter of personal choice, but one of the best places to buy them is, by far, on-line.

On-line you get a far wider choice of varieties than you do in High St stores and garden centres. This means that you can buy the right variety for your particular soil and climate. In addition, you can buy varieties that work the best for the type of cooking you do. Spanish or Iznik cucumbers work best in salads, but the Burpless variety is great for being thinly sliced and dressed with vinegar and sugar. Single people also find they get less waste if they grow Iznik cucumbers, because they are short almost snack sized.

On-line you will find some really unique varieties of cucumbers. The Mira variety is a hybrid cucumber that has been crossed with a melon, so can be baked in the oven or used in soups and casseroles.

Storing Cucumber Seeds

Cucumber seeds need even more careful storing than regular seeds. You have to keep them dry and at all costs do not allow them to get too cold. Keeping them in a plastic or wooden box is the best way to store them. Make sure that you use them before their expiry date, keeping them beyond that date is usually a waste of time because cucumber seeds tend not to age well.

Planting Cucumber Seeds

In the UK the best way to start off cucumber seeds is to plant them out into seed trays and start them off indoors. The plantlets are very delicate and extremely susceptible to fluctuations in temperature, hence this advice. Once they have four solid or true leaves you can consider planting them outside. However, do not do so until you are positive that the last frost has passed. Do not plant them in a shady area. Cucumbers need plenty of sunlight when they begin to fruit. Pick them regularly early in the season to encourage them to fruit more.

Simply Seeds stock 7 varieties of cucumber seeds. All of the varieties they sell have been tried and tested and grow well in all areas of the UK.