When can I finally harvest cucumbers?
Whether as a snack, as a salad, soup, vegetables or as a cooling mask - cucumbers from your own garden or balcony taste delicious and can be used in many ways. With proper care and fertilization of the cucumbers, hobby gardeners can harvest cucumbers in abundance.
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Cucumbers ripen as early as 3 weeks after flowering. If sown early in the greenhouse, they are ripe by the end of May. In the open air from July to October. The time of harvest depends on the purpose of the respective cucumber:
- Cornichons - the smallest pickling cucumbers from 4 to 6 centimeters
- Delicatessen cucumbers - for pickling from 6 to 12 centimeters
- Cucumbers - depending on the variety, from 20 to 30 centimeters
- Peeled cucumbers - are ready for harvest as soon as the skin turns yellow
In terms of taste, cucumbers are tastiest when they have not yet reached the size of supermarket cucumbers. As soon as they turn yellow, they are overripe.
Harvesting cucumbers regularly increases the yield
You can't actually harvest cucumbers too early. It is best to lose weight regularly and not let it get too big. If you leave cucumbers on the plant for too long, you run the risk that they will water down, become bitter and, in some cases, repel subsequent crops in the early stages. Therefore remove overripe fruits immediately from the plant so as not to weaken them unnecessarily. So let's get to the delicious cucumbers ;-).
Ideally, you can harvest fresh cucumbers twice a week until the end of October.
The 4 Most Important Cucumber Harvesting Tips
- Harvest cucumbers as young as possible. This guarantees the highest vitamin content and the best taste.
- Pick cucumbers in the morning or early in the morning because that's when they have the most nutrients.
- Cut the cucumbers with a sharp knife so as not to damage the shoots and tendrils.
- Cut off new flower buds at the end of September so that existing fruits can still ripen
Tips & Tricks
This is bitter - cucumbers react bitterly in stressful situations such as cold, heavy rain or water that is too cold. The bitter substances are distributed from the stem base into the cucumber. This is why the cucumber end sometimes tastes bitter-free and can be eaten. The fact that cucumbers become bitter is genetic. Incorrect care can promote this.
