How to Grow Cucumbers in a 5 gallon Container, DIY Trellis/ Container Garden Series #3 🥒👩🏻‍🌾🥒

hi everyone welcome back to the container garden  series this series is all about growing different   vegetables in containers whether you have a  small space like right here on a deck or patio   or whether you're growing in a large space  and just want to expand your growing space   today i'm going to share with you how to grow  cucumbers in a 5 gallon container now cucumbers   are one of those vegetables that it's really  hard to find a good one at the grocery store   but they're so easy to grow you guys so why  not grow your own and they're also one of   those vegetables that you can grow all summer  long plant every couple of weeks so you have   a harvest throughout the summer time they go  from seed to harvest in about six to eight weeks   so it's definitely not too late to get some  seeds planted so let's jump into the video   now before we plant our seeds just some basics  about cucumbers they're a warm weather vegetable   they love the summer temperatures between 70 and  90 degrees they do really well they like full sun   you can start them from seed either indoors or  you can plant them directly in your containers   now here i have some i started from seed indoors  that are just starting to flower and fruit   you guys are going to absolutely love seeing the  little baby cucumbers i just absolutely cannot   wait to pick them they're one of my very favorite  vegetables but today we're going to plant some in   this 5 gallon container here now i love to plant  them in Smart Pots because you really do need good   drainage when you're planting in containers and  these Smart Pots fabric containers are aerated the   fabric is really durable so they're going to last  you for many many years and their perfect size to   plant cucumbers in now when you're planting in a  small five gallon container you really only want   one maybe two plants in your container you don't  want to crowd them and before we plant our seeds   though i'm going to install some support because  cucumbers are vining vegetables here i have a   little tree branch trellis and what this support  does is it keeps your cucumbers up off the ground   they need good air flow so they don't get diseases  keeps them away from the pests and the critters   and you don't have to get complicated with  supports this is just a little a-frame   trellis made out of tree branches you can make a  support or a trellis out of just about anything   you can find around your garden i'm going to  go grab some old sunflowers and make a quick   trellis for our five gallon container now  this is a giant sunflower stalk that i grew   in my garden last summer i actually just left  it into place to dry the birds kind of pecked   away at the seeds over the summer time kept  them off my tomatoes makes a perfect trellis   and it's totally free and you definitely want  to install your trellis before you plant your   seeds or plant your transplants that way you're  not disturbing the roots as you plant so i'm   going to trim this down a little bit it's going  to be way too big for my five gallon container   just gonna lay this on the ground here i don't  even know where to put it and trim it down to size and just throw that right there and i actually  had to cut this out of the garden with some   serious tools here but you want your trellis  to be about anywhere between four to six feet   put in your container to  get plenty of room for your   cucumbers to climb up it so here  we go we're gonna cut this down there we go now for the simple tee pee trellis you need  three poles it's got two sunflower stalks   here and a bamboo pole i'm just going to lay  it down here and tie up the top with twine   and we'll fan it out once we put it into the  container i love this nice thick twine looks nice   and kind of artsy and kind of a cottagey feel and  we're just going to wrap it around and tie it off   be a nice little quick and  simple trellis for our cucumbers wrap it around a couple times and then tie it off now we're just going to pop it into  the container here kind of fan it out i'll make it make a nice sturdy trellis for the  cucumbers we'll just kind of push it down in here i'll make sure it gets all the way  down to the bottom of the container that way it's nice and sturdy there we go when you're growing cucumbers in  a container you want to make sure that your   container is not too small so the 5 gallon  container really is a great size for it   it's about 18 inches tall by about 12 inches  across you can definitely grow in a larger   container if you want but this one is just super  easy to move around it's got handles and you can   grab these over at calikimgardeninghome.com  they're really a handy container to grow in   as far as the soil goes for containers you  definitely want to have a good organic potting mix   don't fill your containers with soil from  your garden it tends to be kind of heavy   and then the roots kind of get bound up  in the container and don't grow as well   so in this one i have our diy potting mix that we  made a couple videos ago so go back and watch that   video because you can really save a lot by making  your own soil and who doesn't want to save money   when you're filling your containers right so it's  nice and light and fluffy it has coca-cola compost   and vermiculite it's really a perfect soil for the  cucumbers it'll drain really well so your plants   will grow perfectly there are so many delicious  varieties of cucumbers to grow it's really hard   to choose i love them all but one of my favorites  is the SpaceMaster cucumber and this is from my   Container Garden Seed Collection 12 varieties in  here that are specifically designed for growing   in smaller spaces and containers so  this is a smaller variety of cucumber   absolutely delicious slicing cucumber and i'm  going to pop some seeds in here next to my trellis   when you're growing in a five gallon container it  is important that you don't crowd your cucumbers   they need good air flow they tend to be  prone to diseases and when you crowd them   they just don't do as well because  they don't have as good of air flow   so i'm actually going to pop in one seed  next to each little leg of the trellis here   and then we'll probably eventually thin them down  to one or two plants but plant a few seeds just   to make sure they all germinate and we have  a good crop here so all i'm doing is just   dropping the seed in the soil covering up just  a little bit kind of pressing it down lightly and you want to plant your cucumbers when the soil  is nice and warm around 70 degrees and usually   they germinate so quickly within about five  to seven days now if you want to grow a lot of   cucumbers and who doesn't want to grow a lot right  you want to plant them in a spot that gets six   to eight hours of sun a day however it is going  to be hot this week here in southern california   we're expecting triple digit temperatures so what  i like to do when it gets over 90 degrees is cover   my cucumbers with a piece of shade cloth if you've  never used shade cloth it's a super handy thing   to have around it's basically cloth that you can  kind of see through it lets some sun through but   it protects it from getting overcooked in the heat  so it gets over 90 the blossoms drop and once the   blossoms drop you kind of have to start all over  again with the fruit production so it's one great   thing about five gallon containers especially with  these trellises you can just drape the shade cloth   right over your trellises and then you've got a  little protection there for your cucumber plants   now if you don't have shade cloth what you  can do is use an old sheet or a sheer curtain   so again look around your house and make it work  for you now let's talk watering i actually have a   drip irrigation hose hooked up in my little five  gallon container here which is super easy to do   i'm going to hook this into my drip irrigation  here on my deck if you don't have drip you guys   don't worry about it you could easily water with  a watering can or a garden hose now the seeds i   just planted don't need any fertilizer because  they've got a nice good potting mix we'll wait   to fertilize it for a couple of weeks we're just  going to water the seeds in and the soil in here   was actually pre-moistened before i planted the  seeds which is super important to do but you want   to water your cucumbers or your container keep  it nice and moist especially when the seeds are   germinating and here i have a little plant saucer  under my five gallon container which you can put   if you're growing on a wooden patio or a deck  if you're concerned about damage to your deck   watering and fertilizing or in most gardeners get  tripped up but it is really important especially   with cucumbers that you don't let the soil dry  out when the soil dries out the cucumbers tend   to get bitter and who likes a bitter cucumber  right i know i like them nice and sweet and juicy   they don't really need any fertilizing until  they get to about two sets of true leaves   like this plant right here has three or four  sets of true leaves you want to fertilize them   about every two weeks in containers because  the nutrients drain out every time you water   so we're going to water with my tried and  true plant cocktail of Vermisterra worm tea   and Good Dirt Plant Food and you guys the reason  why i've used this in my garden for many years is   because it works keeps it simple you only need  to keep a couple fertilizers around you don't   need a whole storage shed full of fertilizers  nice and simple put it here in the watering can   because it's water soluble the plant will  take up the nutrients immediately from the   fertilizer and you want to water at the base of  your cucumber plants because again cucumbers are   prone to diseases like powdery mildew and you  want to keep the leaves as dry as possible and   give as plenty of air flow as possible to your  plant as your cucumbers grow you want to tie   them up to the trellis to kind of manage the space  that they're growing in and give lots of airflow   to the bottom of the plant i love this stretchy  tie tape grabbed it over on amazon it's really   fun because you don't have to have scissors  you can just keep it in your pocket bust it   apart and then just tie up your cucumbers to the  trellis it has these little tendrils here which   will wrap around but it kind of needs a little  bit of encouragement while it's growing here just wrap the stretchy tie tape around the stem   and then just tying it to the little  tree branch here to keep it in place super easy super important when you're growing in containers  especially is to mulch the top of your containers   and i love to use free sources of mulch  because that's what we're all about here   is quick simple and inexpensive one of my  favorite sources of mulch is shredded leaves   and these i just collect over the winter time  throw them in a big compost back and then i just   let them dry out and crunch them up here  with my hands kind of feels good to get   in here with my hands except mac doesn't like  all the dust here and then i'm just going to   throw a handful a couple inches here on top  of the place where i just planted the seeds   i'm not going to go super heavy on the mulch  just yet because i want the seeds to be able to   germinate and bust through the soil and then i can  always add more as they grow and mulch is super   important because it helps with water evaporation  containers dry out a lot quicker than like your   in-ground gardens especially with the heat wave we  have coming mulch is going to be really important   to keep the soil nice and moist here in the  container so you can see how easy and fun it   is to grow cucumbers in a five gallon container  now what i want you to do this week is go out and   get some cucumber seeds planted so easy to grow  no matter how little or how much space you have   and grab one of my Container Garden Seed  Collections it's got the SpaceMaster Cucumber   in it or my Cucumber Seed Collection there's  five varieties in here along with a copy of my   book lots of container gardening tips you can  save five dollars when you get the Container   Garden and the book bundle and i'm also running  a sale 15% off with the code "cucumber" through   Monday June 14th you can also grab your CaliKim  5 gallon Smart Pots over at calikimgardenhome.com   so you have a nice five gallon container to grow  your cucumbers in and every purchase with this   sale gets a free packet of basil seeds comment  below let me know if you're going to be growing   cucumbers in a 5 gallon container i cannot wait  to read all of your comments thanks so much for   watching you guys hope you have fun planting  your cucumbers we'll see on the next video

Channel: CaliKim29 Garden & Home DIY

Views: 319,509

Keywords: how to grow cucumbers in containers, growing cucumbers, container gardening, growing in 5 gallon containers, vertical gardening, diy trellis, diy trellis for climbing plants, DIY trellis for containers, trellis ideas, planting cucumbers, planting cucumber seeds in a pot, planting cucumber seeds, growing cucumbers in containers, growing cucumbers from seed, growing cucumbers vertically, how to grow cucumbers, planting cucumbers in pots, easy inexpensive trellis ideas

Id: 69b6wHQwWzE

Length: 12min 0sec (720 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 12 2021