Cucumbers. In Calgary. Madness or doable?

[Elena Zimmerman]

My childhood is full of memories of my grandma and my extended family enthusiastically putting hours and hours of work into staking, covering, fertilizing and gods know what else to obtain cucumber crops.

My question is... is it really necessary? If I can grow cherry tomatoes without cover, shouldn't I be able to grow a cucumber without cover if I put it out in mid-June? Aren't there good, super-hardy, super-quick growing nice crunch cucumber sorts out there?

If you tried one and succeeded in the prairies, please, let me know!!! Veseys have Sultana and Royal varieties that I like the look of.

[beeman]

Gone off Vesys, their seeds often don't grow true to the description. I get fed up with odd tomatoes and vine crops that don't breed true to form.
I would suggest most cucumbers will grow in a short season, especially if you grow under black plastic. I tried it this year for the first time under my melons, best I have ever grown.

[styric]

I've gotten fourteen cucumbers off my plant, which I also planted late (mid June, from seed). It's a ukrainian/russian variety. I'll have to get the name translated.

[Elena Zimmerman]

So, i decided to give it a try. I picked a seed package at Rona, to keep the expectations low.

Could you please share experiences with growing under black plastic?

[Eeyore]

It's really not necessary to use the plastic and you should have success as long as they get plenty of water. You can direct sow but personally I would start the seeds about a month ahead of planting out. They sprout fast and you can harden them off fairly quickly. In mid-may you should be able to actually leave the pots outdoors during the day and if nights aren't too cool you can cover them and leave them out.

[Elena Zimmerman]

Thank you for the tips! I think i will try both. I want to instal soaker hoses on 2 beds this year anyways, so I will plant a couple of starters to replant and a couple as a direct sees. I will also try a direct seed melon too, since a starter did not work for me at all last year (it died even after hardening for 1+ months after being planted out in the yard). Last year is not an indicator though, with the horrid summer we had, so one more try!

Hey, at least this winter and spring look so very promising so far!!! I mean, i am starting to think about putting out summer bulbs in mid-april!!!!