When Are Cucumbers Ready To Pick

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Last Updated on December 30, 2021 by

Looking for ways on how to know your cucumbers are ready to pick? Find out in this guide.

Know when to pick cucumbers can be quite confusing. Especially when it comes to determining if your cucumber is ripe to pick and eat.

Growing cucumbers in your garden can be a great plus. They are quite easy to grow and they yield plenty of fruits. Cucumber plants grow very rapidly, therefore, cucumber harvesting is important to prevent your cucumber from turning yellow. But when are they ready to pick?

Normally, cucumbers are picked around 50 – 90 days after planting. Cucumbers can be picked for either slicing or for making pickles. In this guide, we will be giving you tips on when to pick your cucumbers and details about ripe cucumbers.

When are Your Cucumbers Ready to Pick

Cucumbers are picked mainly for 2 reasons:

  • Slicing cucumbers for freshly eating them
  • Pickling bumpy types for making pickles

Fresh Crop of Cucumbers

Tips on When to Pick Cucumbers

Below are some of the tips to consider when picking your cucumbers:

  • Early phase: Cucumbers kick-off by forming at the bottom of a female flower. They are quite edible even at that very early phase. But they will be too tiny to eat, so you might not enjoy eating them at that stage.
  • Dying in early phase: A few times you might notice them dying off at an early stage. That is because they probably didn’t get pollinated correctly.
  • Pickling cucumbers: You can decide to pick young cucumbers at their early phase, as they are nice for making pickles. Although your plants may produce just 3 or 4 of these kinds of cucumbers at a time. Just in case you want to make a large collection of pickling. You will need to grow several plants and keep an eye on them so they don’t get too ripe.
  • Blossom tail: To know when your cucumbers are ready to be picked and eaten, always take note of the blossom tail. Once the end of your cucumber begins to swell, they are practically done growing and ready to be picked.
  • Size: Cucumbers will enlarge and get bigger from the top to the bottom. The best time to harvest a fresh eating cucumber should be when they are about 7 to 9 inches long and light-dark green. This way you get to enjoy your cucumber with succulent taste and nice texture.

Tips on When to Pick Cucumbers - Size

  • Taste and consistency: If you still have doubts if your cucumbers are ready to be picked, slice one of the cucumbers, and have a taste. It ought to be crunchy and soft.

Always check your cucumbers every day or two days at most, so they don’t get too ripe or turn yellow. And so you enjoy that optimal deliciousness.

Know When Your Cucumbers are Ripe

Generally, cucumbers become ripe from 50 to 70 days after planting them. Usually, your cucumber becomes ripe when it is medium green to bright dark green, firm, and not hard or soft.

When your cucumber starts to turn yellow, baggy, or with wrinkled tips, they taste so bad. This means they are way beyond ripe and should never be eaten. Therefore, they should be discarded immediately.

Can Cucumber Get Ripe After Picking?

Cucumber does not continue to grow after picking as other plants do. So they do not get ripe after you pick them.

Final Words

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