Have a go at growing greenhouse cucumbers

Have a go at growing greenhouse cucumbers and you too can enjoy the slim, elegant, dark green cukes you buy in the shops.

Greenhouse cucumbers are easy to grow, crop prolifically, and unlike outdoor cucumbers you don’t have to peel them before you eat them. Growing cucumbers under glass is also good insurance in case wet weather rots outdoor plants before they get going.

Seed of all-female F1 varieties such as Tiffany or Carmen are worth paying a little more for, as you won't have to pick off male flowers - a necessary chore to stop the female flowers being pollinated and turning the fruit bitter.

Or take the easy option and buy ready-grown young plants here at our garden centre in Co. Limerick. It’s a really economic way to stock your greenhouse, as you’ll only need three or four plants.

Cucumbers grow happily in the greenhouse borders (plant 45-60cm apart), in grow bags or roomy containers. Train side branches up a network of wires or canes, and pinch out the growing point when it reaches the roof so the plant concentrates on producing fruit. Start feeding with a potassium-rich liquid feed (tomato feed is ideal) once you see flowers, and pick fruits regularly while they’re still green.