Can you grow cucumbers in Your AeroGarden?
Yes. Among many other plants, you can also grow cucumbers indoors. However, you will have to make your own cucumber seed pods since they are not available on the market yet. The main two things to take into consideration are that cucumbers take a lot of space and that you will have to pollinate them by yourself. If you want to know how do not worry, I will tell you everything there is to know in this article.
How to grow cucumbers in Your AeroGarden?
Well like I have said before, you are going to have to make your own seed pods for this. The best way to do it is to buy a grow anything seed pod kit. If you go for this method, the only thing you have to do is get some seeds and insert them in your grow sponges. After that, the process is pretty much the same as with any other planting. You know.. put the pods in, put the grow domes on them, add water and nutrients and so on.
The second way is to grow them in your already used seed pods. I have already talked about reusing your old pods. If you want you can read the article on how to reuse your old seed pods. You will however still have to purchase a set of new grow sponges and liquid nutrients if you already used them all. Once you have your seed pods ready, insert about 1 or 2 seeds in your grow sponge. After that, the process is the same for all three options
The third option is to make your own seed pods. I would not recommend this method at all but I am not saying that it won’t work. I have written an article about making your own DIY seed pods and you can read it here.
How long do cucumbers last?
Cucumbers are a member of the veggie family. That means that the expected amount is about 6 months in total. Keep in mind that the numbers provided by the producers are somehow pessimistic and therefore you should be able to harvest your cucumbers for a month or two longer, but only if you will take good care of them.
How long till my first harvest?
About 50 to 70 days, depending on the type of cucumber that you have chosen. If you have cared for them in the right way, the result will be 3 to 24 inches long cucumbers that you are growing indoors. The important factor is also the way you want to use them. If you want to make a salad, you should wait for them to grow as big as possible.
How to prune an indoor cucumber plant?
When your plant is growing too big, to be exact-outside the light reach would be the perfect time to prune it. Everything that gets no light must go. Fruit, branches, leaves, flowers. You can always try getting them in the reach of light but if you can not, they must go. If you do not trim the excess part of your plant, it will just eat up a lot of food and will have poor results. Cucumbers that do not get and light will be really bitter.
How to pollinate a cucumber plant by yourself?
If you are trying to grow cucumbers indoors, one of the problems is that you have to pollinate the plant by yourself. The way I do it and I also see a lot of other people doing it is with a cotton swab. It is really easy but will require a really soft touch. Any force applied to the plant will end badly.
So how do you do it?
- Take a cotton swab and first gently touch the center of the male flower and kinda swipe it a bit.
- With the same end of the cotton swab touch the female flower.
The difference between male and female flowers is that the stem of the female flower looks like a small cucumber. They should be really easy to spot. Now I know that you came here just to read the instructions but just think about this for a minute. If there were no bees, we would have to pollinate everything by ourselves. We do not appreciate bees enough, do we?
When to harvest cucumbers indoors?
If you have planted one of the smaller versions, like gherkins or sweet pickles, then the best time to harvest them would be when they are about 2 inches long. For bigger kinds of cucumbers, I would recommend for you to harvest them, when they reach a size above at least 7 and up to 9 inches long.
How to harvest cucumbers indoors?
It is really the same as harvesting them outside, in your garden. When you are harvesting them, leave a small (about one inch in length) piece of stem intact. This will prevent your cucumber from rotting so if you are not planning to eat your cucumber right away, this is the way to go. If you are going to put it in a salad right away, then this does not apply to you. You can either harvest it with your hands or with a tool. It can be either scissors or gardening shears. You also might want to wear gloves because cucumbers are kinda prickly.
After the last harvest
After you have decided to throw the plant away, make sure to remove it from the seed pod. The plant itself and the grow sponge can be composted because they are nature-friendly waste. Other parts like the grow baskets and grow domes are made from plastic and therefore should not be in your compost. I always tell people to save them, so they can be reused later. This is not only the most ecological decision but will also save you some money in the future.
And do not forget about hygiene. Always clean your aerogarden when you throw the old pods away.
Conclusion:
You can grow cucumbers indoors with your aerogarden. You will have to make your own seed pods because you can not buy them yet. Make sure to pollinate and cut them on time and right. This will result in the best harvest you can get. The time of the harvest depends on the size of your cucumbers but should be possible from 50 to 70 days after you have planted them. After that, they should last about 4 to 5 months. When you are harvesting them, wear some gloves, because they are prickly. Make sure to clean you’re AeroGarden afterward.
Thank you for reading. Have you ever tried growing cucumbers indoors? How did it go? Please let me know in the comments and ask me anything that you might want to know. Have a nice day!
Great article…I am now growing a cucumber variety in my aerogarden…of course on custom setting…the only thing I am not sure of is how the pump setting should be…it is currently running 5 minutes on 25 minutes off, which is what the pump is factory set for high growth mode…I just want to know if this is right, as cucumbers apparently require a lot of water…do you have any advice, or is the current pump setting sufficient? I really appreciate the time …Thank you,
Lisa Ham
Interested in info on AeroGarden growing