Did you know that how, when and what you use to fertilize cucumber plants during the summer months can play a critical role in just how many cucumbers your plants produce?
It’s true! When it comes to getting your cucumbers to continue to flower and fruit all summer long, keeping your plants supplied with the right type of nutrients in just the right way can make all the difference between plants that slowly fade away – or ones that continue to produce loads of fresh cucumbers.
One of the biggest mistakes gardeners make with cucumber plants is to stop feeding them once summer arrives. Or, fertilizing them with the wrong nutrients. All too often, once the plant begins to produce, their attention simply turns to harvesting.
But as it turns out, fertilizing in the summer is actually the biggest key to getting the most production out of your plants. Especially if you feed them the nutrients they need most to produce blooms and fruit!
With that in mind – here is a look at how to feed your cucumbers this summer to perfection for your biggest harvest ever!
How To Fertilize Cucumber Plants In The Summer
Selecting The Right Fertilizer For Summer Feeding
When cucumber plants are first beginning to grow in early spring, they require nutrients that power fast growth for their roots, stems and leaves. For cucumber plants, a big canopy of leaves not only helps shade the plant’s roots from drying out in the hot summer sun, it also helps to power photosynthesis, which allows the plant to turn the sun’s rays into energy.
For this fast growth early on, a fertilizer with a higher percentage of nitrogen is the answer. Nitrogen is the perfect nutrient for powering growth. It fuels stem and leaf development and can have plants filling out fast. See: How To Help Struggling Cucumber Plants
But in late spring and early summer as plants begin to mature, they no longer need big doses of nitrogen. In fact, as it turns out, continuing to feed them a nitrogen heavy fertilizer will actually hurt production.
How is this possible? Because as long as a cucumber plant continues to get excess nitrogen, it will simply use the energy to grow bigger – and not set blooms or fruit. Which is exactly why you need to feed your plants a fertilizer that has the nutrients the plant needs for powering big blooms and fruit – and not growth!
The Best Fertilizer For Cucumber Plants In The Summer
So what is the best fertilizer for cucumbers to promote blooms and fruit? The answer is one with loads of phosphorous and potassium.
When it comes to powering production, phosphorous and potassium are at the top of the list. Phosphorous, like nitrogen, helps to power root and stem growth. But unlike nitrogen, it also plays a major role in helping plants to form blooms and set fruit.
Potassium is vital too. It is the key nutrient for helping cucumber plants both absorb and distribute water throughout the plant. That is critical because cucumbers are made of up 96% water. And without that moisture getting to the fruit – they simply can’t fill out.
When summer feeding, look for a fertilizer that has four to five times the amount of phosphorous and potassium to nitrogen. And to really make it work like a charm – make sure it is a liquid fertilizer to boot! Affiliate Product Link: Fruit & Bloom Booster Fertilizer
Liquid fertilizer is the best choice for summer feeding because it works fast. Liquids not only absorb through the roots of a plant, but also through its foliage. And this two way feeding gives instant power to help push out more blooms and fruit.
Listen In To Our Podcast On Growing Cucumbers Below For More Great Info!
When & How To Apply Fertilizer For Cucumbers In The Summer
So now that you know what to use to power your cucumbers, success all comes down to knowing when and how to apply it.
The first rule of thumb for summer feeding is to feed lower doses of fertilizer – but do so more frequently. And does this ever work to keep cucumbers plants producing!
Unfortunately, if you give large doses far apart, the plants can struggle to be consistent with flowering and fruiting. But by diluting the liquid fertilizer to half of the recommended strength, you can feed your plants every seven to fourteen days.
This lighter but consistent feeding keeps plants steady on producing both blooms, and developing cucumbers. As for when to feed, morning is always best.
Not only are plants at a lower stress level in the morning, you also eliminate the risk of burning your plants foliage from the sun’s rays. In addition, it lets the plants dry off. If you fertilize in the evening, the moisture can stay on the leaves, elevating the risk of mildew.
Keep On Picking Those Cucumbers! How To Fertilize Cucumber Plants In The Summer
Finally, in addition to fertilizing, keep on picking those cucumbers! Cucumber plants are one of the most susceptible vegetable plants of all to suffer from fruit overload.
Plain and simple, when there are too many cucumbers growing on a plant at once, it signals the plant to slow down or stop producing new blooms. It’s a simple case of the more you pick – the more you will get!
Picking cucumbers on the smaller side also means having crispier, more flavorful cukes. When left to grow big, cucumbers not only taste more bitter, they also produce far more seeds as well.
Here is to fertilizing your cucumbers this summer to perfection. And even more – to your biggest harvest ever!
Simple Garden Life
Follow Our Facebook Page For Even More Great Tips! Simple Garden Life Facebook Page
Simple Garden Life is a website dedicated to keeping gardening fun, simple and enjoyable! We publish two new articles each week along with a new garden podcast episode every two weeks. This article may contain affiliate links.