How to Make a Cucumber Tunnel
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If you’re growing cucumbers indoors, you may want to consider making a tunnel for your crop. Cucumbers are particularly frost-sensitive, and a high tunnel can help protect them from early season cold weather and increase their production.
You can make a simple cucumber trellis with scrap wood or tree branches and pieces of twine, or you can build a trellis that’s a little more elaborate using a pole or two. A trellis that’s 4-6 feet tall is ideal, and it should be sturdy enough to hold the weight of your fruit as they mature.
When you decide to grow your cucumbers in a high tunnel, you need to make sure that the tunnel is well ventilated, and that you keep it warm enough to prevent early season frosts. This will also reduce the number of insect pests that can be a problem for your cucumbers.
Planting Methods
For best results, it’s a good idea to sow your seeds in early February or March. This gives them plenty of time to grow, and will give you more fruit by the time they’re ready for harvest.
Once the seedlings have grown to a reasonable size, it’s time to transplant them into a larger pot or tub. This way, the plants can have more room to grow and the roots can expand before the soil becomes too compact.
Light – Your choice of lights is an important factor in your success with cucumbers. You can use either a single, long fluorescent light or multiple shorter ones to illuminate the entire area where your cucumbers will be growing. You can even use LED lights, which are a great option because they emit the entire spectrum of light that your cucumber plant needs.
The lights should be placed about a foot or so from the cucumbers, and should be on for a good portion of the day. You can also place a grow light on top of the pot for an extra boost of light.
If you’re going to use a grow light, be sure to mount it as close as possible to the plant, and don’t place it too close to the edge of the pot, which can be dangerous for your plants.
Cucumbers have a very high water requirement – but not so much that the ground becomes too dry. In fact, they prefer slightly moist soil. You can help your plants along by watering regularly, but be sure to not overwater them – they can become dehydrated.
Grafting – If you’re a serious vegetable gardener, you might want to consider grafting your cucumbers to another variety. This will allow you to extend your production window, and you can even graft different varieties of cucumbers on the same plant.
Insect Exclusion Netting – If you have a low tunnel, insect exclusion netting can be a great tool for protecting your cucumbers. It’s easy to erect and can be used year after year.
Hortonova is a resilient netting commonly used in pea and floral production on commercial farms, and it’s surprisingly durable for how thin it is. You can pound T-posts into the ground to anchor it, then attach it between the posts with zip ties or baling twine.
If you’re growing cucumbers indoors, you may want to consider making a tunnel for your crop. Cucumbers are particularly frost-sensitive, and a high tunnel can help protect them from early season cold weather and increase their production. You can make a simple cucumber trellis with scrap wood or tree branches and pieces of twine, or…
If you’re growing cucumbers indoors, you may want to consider making a tunnel for your crop. Cucumbers are particularly frost-sensitive, and a high tunnel can help protect them from early season cold weather and increase their production. You can make a simple cucumber trellis with scrap wood or tree branches and pieces of twine, or…