This post you will learn how to Starting Cucumber Seeds Indoors. If the growing seedling has been intimidating you and you were buying it at the store you're just wasting money. It's much easier than you can imagine.
Cucumbers are warm-weather plants and the soil temperature has to be 60 F (16 C) or warmer and days temperature at least 70 F (21 C) or warmer.
Since I will be planting these cucumber plants in my greenhouse I'm starting cucumber seedling way earlier than if I were to plant them outside.
If you are planning to plant the cucumber seedlings outside then you need to start planting them indoors about four weeks before planting.
I like to speed up the process of cucumber germination by soaking the seeds before sowing. Read more about it HERE. Soaked seeds in water for 48 hours germinate in 5 days after being planted.
Table of Contents
🌡️ Supplies
Organic Cucumber Seeds (I order all the seeds from Nikitovka Seeds)
Seedling Starter Kit
Starter Soil Mix
🐇 Simple Steps
First thing first, fill the container with seed starter mix or use organic potting soil mix (I get it at Costco for fraction of the cost). DO NOT use garden soil which often drains poorly and may carry disease. Gently press the soil to remove air pockets.
Next, use your finger to poke small holes one per seed about a quarter-inch deep. Place one seed in each hole. Then sprinkle additional soil to cover the wholes with seeds about a half-inch thick.
Once again gently firm the sprinkle soil mix and water lightly (DO NOT flood the container with water).
Finally, place a container in a warm full light place (I place on the window sill) about at least 70 F (21 C) to 80 F (27 C).
Check daily to keep the planting mix moist but not saturated. Once you see the first sprout keep the seedling at high light exposure or set on the window sill that has lots of direct
Continue keeping the planting seed moist but not soggy.
Five days later after planting the white seed cucumbers sprouted and the green-coated did not.
Nine days later after planting the longer cucumber plants were the white seeds and the shorter ones were the green-coated seeds.
📖 Printable Card
If the growing seedling has been intimidating you and you were buying it at the store you're just wasting money. It's much easier than you can imagine.
- Organic Cucumber Seeds
- Seedling Starter Kit
- Starter Soil Mix
-
First thing first, fill the container with seed starter mix or use organic potting soil mix (I get it at Costco for fraction of the cost). DO NOT use garden soil which often drains poorly and may carry disease. Gently press the soil to remove air pockets.
-
Next, use your finger to poke small holes one per seed about a quarter inch deep. Place one seed in each hole. Then sprinkle additional soil to cover the holes with seeds about a half inch thick. Once again gently firm the sprinkle soil mix and water it lightly (DO NOT flood the container with water).
-
Finally, place a container in a wart full light place (I place on the window sill) about at least 70 F (21 C) to 80 F (27 C).
-
Check daily to keep the planting mix moist but not saturated. Once you see the first sprout keep the seedling at high light exposure or set on the window sill that has lots of direct sun.
-
Continue keeping the planting seed moist but not soggy.
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Thank you this was very helpful.
I have planted my seeds twice now and it has still not sprouted, am getting frustrated.
Am using seeds from the cucumber plant I got from the market, I think maybe that's why it's not growing.
Yes, that is why the cucumber seeds aren't germinating. The seeds in the cucumber were not fully mature before the cucumber made it to the market. The cucumber needs to be on the cucumber vine entire time for it to be fully mature, I mean to get to yellow or orange color. Then you remove fully mature cucumber from the cucumber vine and then remove the seeds. Dry them by placing them onto a cloth or a paper towel (you cannot rinse the seeds). And then if planed the following year they may not even germinate, usually, they will germinate the year after. I'm planning to make a post about it sometime in the future. But for now, I hope your question got answered. Thank you for asking!
So you plant them in one large container and then do you just split when you put them into the garden? I couldn't find info on that. I hope I didn't just miss it.
No, that is not correct. I plant the seeds into one large container for them to germinate. As soon as they reach about 1 to 1.5 inches tall, I repot them into individual containers. I have a separate post with a video on how it's done. I hope this is helpful.
Hello Valya, I really enjoyed reading your article about starting cucumber seeds indoors, I found it very helpful. Thank you, Richard.
I'm happy to hear that. Thank you for an amazing review!
Ok what am I doing wrong when I have the seeds in a jiffy seed starter tray an my plants are growing tall an thin then dying. With only a little leaf at the top
There could be multiple reasons. Not enough soil inside of those individual starter containers for the roots to expand and grow. Growing thin is not enough light. I personally never trusted those starters and prefer doing it exactly how I made a post about it. I hope it helps. Thank you for your comment!:)
It appears that your container for starting the seeds does not have holes in the bottom. Can any container be used? I watched your very informative video for repotting the seedlings. I’m excited to get started! My cucumber seeds never did grow last year when I planted them directly in my garden - multiple times. Thanks for your gardening help. I love growing our own food!
It does not matter in what container you start growing the seeds. But it's important to repot cucumber starter plants into containers that do comes with wholes. See How to Repot Cucumber and Tomato Seedlings post for more info. Thank you for an amazing review!
I planted seeds in my small greenhouse. Cukes came up in 3 days -then the stem wilted and plant died! Not enough sun??
The greenhouse should have enough light. It could be due to the temperature. It was probably too cold for the plants.
Thank you for your helpful tips. It really helped since this is my first time planting anything.
You are most certainly welcome!
Getting ready to plant cucumber seeds indoors and so happy to read your comments on proper way to do so. Seems it was being done correctly. Thx! 🙂
I'm happy to hear that! Good luch!
Would you have any Idea why a burpless cucumber plant grown in a professional nursery would get yellow spots on the leaves? We start our own but buy a few from a local greenhouse to get an early start. 2 years ago we were picking at least 100 cukes a day for our produce stand. Last year our whole cucumber crop got infected. It was a hot dry summer in Central PA so we had to water often but we used soaker hoses instead of spraying. Is there a problem with diseased cucumber seeds from some suppliers? Thank You for any advice you may have.
Those seeds were probably infected. The leaves will have yellow spots and if you look under or on the other side of the leaf you will see very small microscopical bugs on them. They eat the nutrients from the leaves which makes them leave turn yellow and the plant will dry out eventually. I'm sorry. That happened to me in the past as well.
Hi, I'm wondering if there is any difference on which end of the seed i put first in the soil? Is there any difference at all?
Thank you.
It depends on the seed. If you're referring to a cucumber seed then there is no difference. I hope this helps. Thank you for asking!