by Kristen Andersen
The 2018 trials season has begun, and the Harris Seeds team is busy planting and maintaining our vegetable and flower trials. This year we have a cucumber trial in our high tunnel in Rochester, NY which includes 9 different cucumber seed varieties. Two rows of cucumber seeds were direct sown at the end of May into black plastic mulch at a spacing of 18 inches between plants. The cucumbers are watered daily with drip irrigation that runs beneath the plastic mulch, and fertilizer is added to the irrigation water 1-2 times per week. The cucumber plants have grown several feet since May and have begun flowering, so our team has begun training the cucumbers to grow vertically on string trellising. This type of training system allows more plants to be grown in a smaller space and encourages the fruit to be straight, which is especially good for longer cucumber varieties with a tendency to curve.
For some tips on training and pruning cucumber plants in a vertical planting system, watch the video below!
