Cucumber
Also called: خيار · Khiyar
One of the fastest returns you can get — 50 days from seed to first cucumber. Sow a batch in October and another in February for a continuous season.
The year at a glance
Each month is split in half. The outline marks now.
Stage by stage
Stage 1 of 9
Seed
Days 0–3
Seed
Days 0–3The seed sits in the soil taking up water and swelling. Nothing shows above the surface — everything is happening underground.
Do now
- Water lightly and often so the soil stays damp but never soaked. Letting it dry out between waterings kills the seed before it sprouts.
- Cover the surface with a thin layer of straw or compost to slow evaporation and steady the temperature.
- Label what you sowed and when. You will need the date to work out the harvest.
Watch for
- A hard crust forming on sandy soil after watering, which traps the sprout underneath. Break it gently.
- Ants carrying small seeds away — a very common problem in Qatari gardens.
In Qatar
Sow the seed on its edge rather than flat, so the root heads straight down through loose sand.
Germination
Days 4–8The seed coat splits: a root pushes down and a shoot pushes up. The two seed leaves that appear are not true leaves — they are the seed’s own food store.
Do now
- Keep moisture constant. The first root is very fine and a single dry day can end the seedling.
- Remove any covering as soon as the first sprout shows, or it will stretch thin looking for light.
- Give bright, indirect light. Direct midday sun will scorch a new seedling within hours.
Watch for
- A long, thin, pale stem: the seedling is not getting enough light and will collapse.
- Sudden wilting with a pinched stem at soil level — damping off, caused by overwatering.
In Qatar
The fastest seed here — four days in October warmth. Past eight days means the soil is cold or waterlogged.
Seedling
Days 9–20The first true leaves appear, shaped differently from the seed leaves. The plant is now feeding itself and the roots are branching fast.
Do now
- Thin crowded seedlings and keep the strongest. Crowding gives you many weak plants instead of one good one.
- Start watering less often but more deeply, to drive the roots downwards.
- Harden the seedling off — build up its sun exposure over a week before transplanting.
Watch for
- Yellowing lower leaves: nitrogen shortage, very common in Qatar’s poor sandy soil.
- Small holes or chewed edges, meaning snails or young grasshoppers.
In Qatar
Sow where it will grow. Cucumber resents root disturbance and loses two weeks if moved.
Vegetative growth
Days 21–34The trailing stems run fast and tendrils appear. The plant is hunting for something to climb, and training it now decides the shape of the whole crop.
Do now
- Put the trellis up now and train the stems onto it. Getting the vine off the ground cuts disease and pests dramatically.
- Tie the stems with soft, wide strips of cloth rather than thin twine that cuts in.
- Water deeply in the early morning. Evening watering plus high humidity invites fungal disease.
- Check the undersides of leaves weekly for whitefly and aphids.
Watch for
- Stems trailing on hot ground and scorching underneath.
- Lush leaves but no flowers: too much nitrogen. Stop the nitrogen feed.
In Qatar
Get it up a vertical trellis. In Doha’s coastal humidity, stems touching the soil rot within days.
Flowering
Days 35–44Male flowers open first, then female ones with a miniature fruit already behind them. Only the female flowers bear, and pollen has to reach them.
Do now
- If nothing is setting, hand-pollinate: pick a male flower and dab it into the centre of a female one in the morning.
- Cut back nitrogen and raise potassium and phosphorus to support fruit set.
- Never let the soil dry out completely between waterings. Drought now makes the flowers drop.
Watch for
- Flowers dropping without setting fruit: above about 35 °C the pollen goes sterile. Get shade over it now.
- No pollinating insects at all — common on enclosed roofs and balconies.
In Qatar
A walled villa garden may have no bees at all. If you see plenty of flowers but little fruit, hand-pollinate every morning.
Fruit set
Days 45–52The petals wither and the ovary behind them swells. Small, hard green fruits appear and grow day by day.
Do now
- Make watering perfectly regular. Swinging between dry and drenched causes most fruit cracking and rot.
- Support the fruiting branches before the weight breaks them.
- Add calcium if your irrigation water is brackish, to head off blossom-end rot.
Watch for
- A sunken brown patch at the base of the fruit: calcium shortage from irregular watering or salinity.
- Small fruits yellowing and dropping: the plant is carrying more than it can feed, or it is thirsty.
In Qatar
The fruit goes from 2 cm to 15 cm in five days in Qatar’s warmth. Check daily from here.
Ripening
Days 53–57The fruit stops growing and starts changing colour, turning its starch into sugar. Heat speeds this stage up.
Do now
- Ease off the water slightly to concentrate the flavour — but never to the point of wilting.
- Shade exposed fruit with the plant’s own leaves to prevent sunscald.
- Pick as things ripen. Leaving fruit on the plant stops it setting new ones.
Watch for
- White or leathery brown patches on the sun-facing side: sunscald.
- A small hole with rot inside, meaning fruit worm.
In Qatar
Cucumber is eaten unripe. Deep glossy green is what you want; yellowing means you are too late.
Harvest
Days 58–120The fruit is ready. The plant is at peak production and will keep bearing as long as you keep picking and the weather holds.
Do now
- Pick in the early morning when the fruit is full of water and will keep longest.
- Use scissors rather than pulling by hand, so you do not tear the branch.
- Keep feeding potassium every two weeks to stretch the picking season out.
Watch for
- New fruit coming smaller: the plant is exhausted and needs feeding.
- The seasonal heat rising, which will shut production down within weeks.
In Qatar
Production is heavy December to February. Two plants feed a family; three will bury you in cucumbers.
End of cycle
Days 121–150Production tails off and the leaves yellow. As the heat builds the plant stops setting fruit altogether.
Do now
- Bring in the last of the fruit, even the ones not fully ripe.
- Save seed from the best fruit on the strongest plant if you want to grow it again.
- Pull the plant and compost the healthy remains; bin or burn anything diseased.
- Work compost into the soil now, ready for the next Al-Wasm.
Watch for
- Leaving diseased plants in the ground carries pests over to next season’s crop.
- Bare soil under the sun goes dead. Cover it or sow a green manure.
In Qatar
Cucumber collapses fast with April’s first heat wave. Pull it at once and put okra in its place.
- Sun
- Full sun
- 40 cm apart
- Sow 2 cm deep
- Pot from 20 L
- Cucurbitaceae
Shade net from March
Grows well with
Keep away from
- Water
- High
- Salt tolerance
- Low
- Heat tolerance
- Medium
16 L/week in winter, 32 L in summer
Soil preparation
Greedy for water and feed. Dig a 40 × 40 cm hole and fill it with a half-compost mix — plain sand will not hold enough water.
Pests
Whitefly
- Sign
- Sticky leaves blackening with sooty mould, and a white cloud when touched.
- What to do
- Neem oil under the leaves at dusk, and yellow sticky traps every three metres.
Powdery mildew
- Sign
- A white flour-like coating on the upper leaf surfaces, starting with the lower leaves.
- What to do
- Spray a milk solution (one part milk to nine water) weekly in the morning, and improve airflow by trellising.
Common problems
Bitter cucumber
- Cause
- Water or heat stress raising cucurbitacin levels — the number one cucumber problem in Qatar.
- Fix
- Never let the soil dry, and shade from March. Bitterness concentrates in the stem end and skin, so peel it.
Crooked or pinched fruit
- Cause
- Incomplete pollination, or a water shortage while the fruit was growing.
- Fix
- Hand-pollinate in the morning and steady the watering. Crooked fruit is perfectly good to eat.
Picking
Pick every other day. A cucumber left on grows, yellows, and shuts down new fruit production completely.
Keeping
A week in the fridge wrapped in cloth. Do not store with tomatoes — their ethylene turns it yellow.