What to Grow Cucumbers in: 5 Options for a Compact Garden

We will tell you about the most popular options for mobile (and not only) beds that are used when growing cucumbers.

Basins, buckets and tubs

At any dacha there are containers that have served their time. These are metal buckets, plastic basins, and wooden tubs. It is no longer possible to use them for their intended purpose: the handle has fallen off the bucket, a crack has appeared in the basin, mice have gnawed a hole in the tub, etc. But you can turn these battered containers into mini-beds for cucumbers and other plants and make a mobile vegetable garden out of them! Install it in a sunny and wind-protected place, for example, near a wall or fence.

What do you need?

1. Make drainage holes in the bottom of each container to allow water to drain and add a layer of expanded clay or crushed stone to the bottom.
2. To make it easier for water to drain from a bucket or basin, place all containers on low stands.
3. Fill the containers to the top with fertile soil.
4. Due to the small volume of soil that can fill such containers, cucumbers will have to be watered almost daily. Using hydrogel will save you from unnecessary work: just mix it with soil and fill the containers with the prepared mixture.
5. Plant 1-2 cucumber seeds in each bucket and cover with film. When the shoots grow to the level of the film, remove it.

Barrels

A popular option for a mobile bed for cucumbers (and not only them) is a regular barrel. Any kind will do for this purpose: metal, plastic, and wooden.

Unlike the previous option, a bed made from a barrel has more advantages. Firstly, it can hold a lot of soil, so you will have to water the plants less often than in buckets or basins. Secondly, you can plant at least 6-8 plants in one barrel – and with proper care, you can collect a large harvest of crispy cucumbers from one barrel. Thirdly, it is much easier to care for cucumbers in a high container, because you do not need to bend down low.

How to prepare a barrel for growing cucumbers?

1. Place branches and dry or rotted leaves on the bottom of the barrel.
2. Place a layer of manure several tens of centimeters thick on top of them.
3. Then add a layer of soil mixed with humus, leaving 20-30 cm free to the top.
4. Scald the soil with boiling water and pour a pink solution of potassium permanganate over it.
5. Plant cucumber seeds and cover the barrel with transparent film to create a greenhouse microclimate inside.

Until the cucumbers grow to the top of the barrel, cover the mobile bed with film after each watering, and then remove it. With this method of growing cucumbers, you will not even have to tie them up, because the vines will hang down freely. Caring for cucumbers in a barrel will consist only of regular watering and harvesting ripe cucumbers.

Bags or packages

Don’t have a barrel? Don’t despair! Not only barrels are suitable for creating mobile cucumber beds, but also regular bags (polypropylene, jute or burlap) or large bags (for example, for construction waste). They are not as convenient as barrels, because you will not be able to move a bag with soft walls from one place to another without damaging the root system of the plants. For this reason, you need to place the bags in a suitable place right away, even before planting cucumbers.

In addition to the bags themselves, with this method of growing you will also need a long stick or block, a cord for tying up the cucumber vines and small diameter plastic tubes.

1. Make a lot of holes in the tubes in a checkerboard pattern beforehand – these devices will serve as a drip irrigation system for your mobile garden bed.
2. At the top of the wooden block (stick), nail a few nails and attach a cord to them.
3. Place the bag in the prepared area and fill it to the top with soil mixed with compost or humus.
4. Place a wooden block in the middle of the “bed” and tubes with holes around it.
5. Water the soil and plant three cucumber seeds in each bag.
6. Cover the bag with film, as in the previous version – this way the seeds will germinate faster.
7. Water through tubes. Apply liquid fertilizers in the same way.

To make it easier for you to determine whether you need to water the “bed,” before filling the bag with soil, make several cuts on one side through which you can assess the degree of soil moisture.

Cucumber hut

Another option for a small bed that can be quickly built anywhere on the plot is a bed in the form of a hut. This method allows you to grow a good harvest of cucumbers and some other crops of the Cucurbitaceae family (for example, squash and melons), as well as any plants with climbing stems like peas and beans, on a small plot of land. Plants in such a bed are well ventilated and evenly illuminated by the sun, shade is created inside the “hut”, due to which the soil remains moist longer. In addition, such a structure is easy to care for, and the fruits always remain clean.

We will tell you how to build a hut-shaped bed for growing cucumbers:

1. Find a well-lit place on the plot and make a round bed there with a diameter of 1-1,3 m.
2. Drive a metal pin (plastic pipe, wooden peg) into the center of the bed so that it rises 2 m above the ground, and secure the ropes to its top.
3. Make planting holes along the edge of the bed, into which you sow seeds or plant ready-made cucumber seedlings.
4. Next to each hole, secure the ends of the ropes coming from the top of the metal pin in the ground (for example, using a wire staple). The cucumber vines will later curl along them.
5. To speed up the germination of seeds and the growth of seedlings, throw a film or other covering material over the hut and secure it at the bottom.
6. When warm weather sets in and the cucumbers begin to grow actively, remove the cover.

Caring for a cucumber bed-hut is standard: regular watering, fertilizing and timely harvesting.

Mobile box garden bed

Another way to grow cucumbers in open ground is to use a high bed-box. It has a number of advantages over traditional beds:

• thanks to the special contents, the temperature inside the bed is higher, which allows you to harvest the first cucumber crop earlier;
• Plants in such a bed practically do not get sick, since there is no stagnation of moisture;
• It is easier to care for such a bed: its height allows you to avoid excessive physical strain;
• A box-shaped bed can easily be turned into a greenhouse – all you need to do is install arches and throw covering material over them.

The only downside is the high labor costs involved in arranging the bed. But these difficulties will be more than compensated by the time saved on caring for the plants and the generous harvest of cucumbers that can be obtained from a small area.

We wrote in detail about the arrangement of a box-bed for cucumbers earlier.

A mobile garden provides a convenient opportunity to grow cucumbers even in a limited area and anywhere. Choose the option of mobile beds that suits you best and enjoy fresh crispy cucumbers.