How To Grow Cucumbers

Storage and preservation:

• Fridge: Cucumbers keep best at 40°–50°F, but will do better in the refrigerator than if left out at room temperature. Expect them to keep a few weeks.

• Canned: Pickles. We recommend refrigerator pickles for a quick and easy solution.

Nerding out on cucumbers

Cucumber’s scientific name is Cucumis sativus. Many readers may recognize the species name sativus, or the variation sativa, from certain “herbs” they keep around the house. In fact, this species name is exceedingly common. To name a few other sativas you may already be growing: Allium sativum (garlic), Daucus carota subsp. Sativus (carrot), Eruca sativa (arugula), Lactuca sativa, (lettuce), Pastinaca sativa (parsnip), and Pisum sativum, (peas). 

Sativa, sativus, and sativum are Latin botanical adjectives that mean “cultivated”. Cultivation is the act of caring for or raising plants (i.e. gardening). So basically, these latin names are just telling us that all of these plants are cultivated varieties descended from wild cousins. 

In fact, it’s believed that cucumbers have been cultivated for at least 3,000 years. The cucumber originated in India, where a great many wild and cultivated varieties still exist. Which may prompt you to wonder, “How do people even figure out where plants originate?” Well, when trying to identify the origin of a species, botanists look for what is called a center of origin (or center of diversity). The basic idea is that, if you find an area with a lot of cucumbers and those cucumbers contain a huge range of genetic variability, this is probably the area where they originally evolved. 

In addition to earning world class sleuth credibility, locating the origin of a crop like cucumber is essential to effective plant breeding. Knowing where a plant comes from allows you to locate wild relatives, related species, and find new genetic diversity. This is especially important today as we face climate change and the untold changes to crop pests and diseases it may cause.

We could literally talk about cucumbers all day, but probably shouldn’t. If you haven’t planted any in the garden yet, or if you planted them early and they didn’t survive, now is a great time to get them in the ground. You’ll be joining in the odyssey of over 3,000 years of human history with this plant. Reason enough to plant at least two (or one parthenocarpic) specimens in the garden this season.