How to grow Cucumber (Beth Alpha)

Cucumis sativus

🥕 Vegetable 🌱 Grown each year

A popular Beit Alpha type cucumber, known for its sweet, burpless, thin-skinned, and seedless fruit. Excellent for fresh eating and pickling. Produces well in greenhouses or outdoors with support.

At a glance: Sow late April to early July, harvest from late June.

When to sow, plant and harvest

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Sow outdoors

Flowers

Harvest

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

Growing Cucumber (Beth Alpha): what it needs

Light: Full sun · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Every 1-2 days
Soil: Rich, well-draining, high organic matter · pH 6.0–7.0
Spacing: 60-90cm apart (trellised: 30-45cm)
In pots: Grows well in containers
Feeding: Feed with a balanced liquid fertilizer every 2 weeks once flowering and fruiting begins.
Harvest: About 50 days from sowing
Hardiness: USDA zones 4–11
Difficulty: Easy

Step by step

Late April – early July · 2 weeks after the last spring frost
Sow Seeds Outdoors (optional)
Direct sow after all frost risk has passed and soil is warm (18-21°C).
3–10 days after “Sow Seeds Indoors” · Early May
Check Germination
Seedlings should emerge in 3-10 days.
14 days after “Transplant Outdoors” · Mid May
Add Support
Install a trellis, cage, or stakes for vining cucumbers as they begin to grow.
21 days after “Add Support” · Early June
Start Feeding
Begin feeding with a balanced liquid fertilizer once flowers appear and fruits start to set.
20–90 days after “Start Feeding” · Late June – early September
Harvest Cucumbers
Pick fruits when young and tender, typically 10-15cm long. Harvest regularly to encourage more production.