Planting guide

When to plant cucumber

Fast, fresh and productive; grow it up a trellis to save space. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Feb.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 7–10 wks
Spacing: 45 cm
Depth: 2 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Plenty
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means cucumber can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant cucumber

Sow seed 2 cm deep once soil is warm.
Give it a trellis or netting to climb.
Water deeply and often; never let it dry out.
Pick young and regularly to keep fruit coming.

Cucumber varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Lebanese Classickid-favourite · heavy-cropper · 7–9 wksSmall, thin-skinned and crisp; great for lunchboxes
Spacemaster Classicdwarf · pot-friendly · bush · 8–10 wksCompact vines for pots and small beds
Marketmore Classicdisease-resistant · heavy-cropper · 8–10 wksReliable slicer with good disease resistance
Telegraph Improved Classicheirloom · 9–11 wksLong, smooth English-style cucumber
Crystal Apple Adventurousheirloom · kid-favourite · colourful · 9–11 wksRound pale-yellow fruit that is sweet and crunchy
Lemon Adventurousheirloom · kid-favourite · colourful · 9–11 wksRound yellow cucumbers, mild and juicy
Armenian Adventurousheat-tolerant · heavy-cropper · 9–11 wksLong ribbed 'snake melon'; sweet and not bitter
Mexican Sour Gherkin Adventurouskid-favourite · heavy-cropper · 9–11 wksCucamelon: tiny grape-sized fruit with a sour twist
Poona Kheera Adventurousheirloom · heat-tolerant · 9–11 wksRusset Indian heirloom; sweet and firm

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Bean, Nasturtium, Dill

Cucumber by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Tomato · Capsicum · Chilli · Eggplant · Zucchini · Sweetcorn

Not sure cucumber is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now