If you've had the problem of direct seeding cucumber seeds in your garden, and they germinate and look great, but then before they even grow true leaves their heads get eaten, leaving just a stem behind? Well, you're not alone. There are a lot of insects and creatures that enjoy cucumber sprouts. They must be tasty! The culprit we think in this case was a cutworm, as we found one curled up nearby in the leaf mulch.
To get around this issue, there are a few techniques:
- Sow seeds in succession over a month, and plant extra seeds. Plant one or two weeks later with some new seeds if you have lost any seedlings to insects.
- If you see damage to seedlings, do a perimeter check and if you see cutworms (brown caterpillars) curled up in the soil, and squish and compost them or feed them to chickens if you have them! If there are a lot of slugs or rolypolies (sowbugs), you may want to put out a beer trap (beer in a shallow tin can or bowl buried at ground level, this attacts lots of plant-eating insects). Check under logs or rolled up newspaper each morning for slugs and dispose of them in a bucket of water or squish them.
- Stagger your cucumber seed sowing – extend your cucumber harvest by sowing seeds every couple weeks. You can start cucumber seeds through mid-summer for a good crop into fall. Spring planted cucumber plants seem to fizzle out in late summer, so succession sowing is a way to increase yields over a longer period of time
- Some gardeners put toilet paper rings or cups around cucumber seedlings, but it seems pests can still get around that when we've tried it. Does it work for you?
- You can also start cucumber seeds indoors under lights to get them started early. Remember though, all cucurbits like cucumbers, squash, zucchini, and pumpkins don't like to have their roots disturbed. So it's best to start them about a week or two before planning on transplanting into the garden. Root bound cucumbers and damaged roots will be stunted and the plants often will not recover from being transplanted. But if you harden them off and transplant them just as they are getting their first set of leaves, their roots are smaller and easier to transplant. Wait until all chance of frost has passed, of course.
- Plant Cucumber Companion Plants and flowers! Cucumber plant pests can be controlled naturally with beneficial insects like predatory insects that will eat the guys who like to munch on the plants. Marigolds and Nasurtiums are edible companions that repel beetles, thrips, and other destructive insects while attracting beneficial insects and pollinators. Sunflowers can be grown and you can train your cucumber vines to grow up the stalks. Oregano repels pests and is perennial and flowers in summer to bring in pollinators. Frilly beautiful Dill also attracts beneficial predatory insects and is so good for pickles!! Native flowers like Echinacea are especially good as the perennials come back every year and get larger and larger, and are often one of the earlier bloomers depending on the variety. they attract a ton of helpful insects to help take care of any cucumber pests naturally. Check with your local native plant society or Wild Ones chapters to find out what natives would grow great in your area, you may even be able to get seeds or plants at their swaps!
- Cover the cucumber sowings with cloches or fleece or even hardware cloth cages to keep them warm and protected from rabbits if they're the culprit. You can also use the top of a vinegar or water just that is cut in half and leave the top off, this will create a little warm microclimate and protect from rabbits, mice or other garden eating pests...
- Plant more than one kind of cucumber - where a pest may like one, it may not be interested in another! We have two great cucumber varieties, the bushy Spacemaster Cucumber Seeds that are delicious and great for small gardens, containers and pots, plus the classic productive Homemade Pickles Cucumber seeds that produce a ton of solid, crisp, and flavorful cucumbers.
- Don't give up! If your cucumber seedlings get eaten, plant another round of seeds – gardeners who keep planting can overcome all obstacles!
Soaking seeds for up to 24 hours before planting can speed up germination.
Happy growing!
