To transplant or not to transplant

[Moth1992]

I think I want to try cukes. But im reading all kinds if conflicting info about if they can be started indoors and transplanted for succession planting every couple months, or if its a terrible idea and direct sow is the way.

Thoughts?

[GoDawgs]

Indoor and outdoor. Yes, cucurbits aren't fond of having their roots disturbed but a good while back @worth1 posted a way to start them indoors and then successfully transplant them out. Grow them in a 3" or so cup. When they get their first true leaves or when you first see sign of roots showing in the bottom drainage hole it's time to transplant.Don't let them get rootbound.

Set the cup with the plant in it in the hole and press the soil around it. Then carefully remove the cup with the plant still in it. What you have is a hole the exact shape of the cup. Carefully take the plant out of the cup and gently slip it into the cup shaped hole. As Worth said, "It'll never know what hit it." True!

I've been successfully using that technique on all my first cucurbit plantings for several years now to get a jump on the season and then direct sow the succession plantings. Cukes, summer squash and this year I'm giving watermelons a try that way.

[Paulf]

It may depend on your location. Here in zone 5/6 planting directly into the garden has worked great. Soil temp at 60 degrees F or above and the cucumber seeds germinate and grow prolifically. Only way I would transplant is if there is a very short growing season and they needed a head start. Same for squash here. Watermelon and muskmelon go either way for me. Doesn't seem to matter for melons, so why do the extra work.

[Moth1992]

Oh @GoDawgs thankyou! What if not the whole cup of dirt comes off? Sometimes the bottom dirt will stay on the pot or will fall off.

[karstopography]

I did both this season and cannot tell the difference between the transplants and the direct seeded ones. I did use pretty large containers for the transplants.

[Whwoz]

Here Down Under cucumber seedlings are readily available every spring as punnets, generally with three or four plants in them. Plants are normally at the one true leaf stage, with the second leaf maybe just starting to show. They can be divided up and will grow and produce as well as those direct seeded. I will often grab a punnet if my earlier started plants are not doing well.

[GoDawgs]

Oh @GoDawgs thankyou! What if not the whole cup of dirt comes off? Sometimes the bottom dirt will stay on the pot or will fall off.

That's the tricky part, finding the right sized container for the transplant. You want to transplant early to reduce shock but at the same time it has to have enough roots to hold all the soil together. That's why I mentioned checking to see if you could see roots at the drain holes.

Last year I grew succession plantings of straightneck squash, some transplanted, some directly sown. From my notes on the first squash grown:

Seeded pot 4/7
Seeds up 4/13
Transplanted to garden 4/25
First pick 5/30

In '21:
Seeded pot 4/24
Seeds up 4/30
Transplanted to garden 5/11
First pick 6/10

I use a square wedge-shaped pot, 3.25" square on top, 2.5" bottom square on bottom. This year I've got two round ones too. There are two squash in the back two pots and watermelons in the middle and front ones. Seeded two days ago and not up yet. Never tried watermelon before with this so we'll see!



@karstopography, about how long do you let yours grow before transplanting?

[karstopography]

@GoDawgs Let’s see, I put the cucumber transplants into the garden March 6th and planted the seed into the containers February 18th. I have a photo of the seedlings on February 25th and I don’t see any true leaves yet, but they look like they were up for a couple of days. Call it two weeks from germination to transplanting.

I was gentle and careful with the transplanting.

[pepperhead212]

@Moth1992 cucurbits and okra are things I like to start in pellets, just a few weeks before putting them out. Some of the seeds that are hard to sprout, like bitter melons, or some okras, if old, I'll pre-sprout them, then put the sprouts in the pellets, and plant them when roots start showing through the pellets.

I didn't have any photos of cukes, but here's one showing okra after just over 3 weeks, ready to plant, so they definitely saved some time, from just planting seeds at this time outside. I do the same with all the cucurbits, to get maybe 2 sets of true leaves.
Okra, in jiffy pellets, 5-17 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Moth1992]

Those pellets look like a great idea, at least until i get more the hang of it!

[slugworth]

cukes i let grow big then take cuttings to clone.
when they start sending out feelers that latch on to everything.

[ddsack]

I start cucumbers early for transplant into large black pots along a fence, before my ground temperature is very warm. Have had very little trouble with transplanting any, just normal care not to rip up the roots too much. I also start seeds in the ground later. That way I have an earlier harvest in the summer, and a longer harvest in the fall. The early pot cucumbers are starting to get old and prone to leaf diseases while the later planted ground cukes are still near peak production.

[Moth1992]

cukes i let grow big then take cuttings to clone.
when they start sending out feelers that latch on to everything.

Ooooooooooh i love this idea. Does any part of the plant root well? Do you root in water and then plant in dirt?

[slugworth]

top the plants about 6 inches worth and put in warm wet potting soil bagged to keep those big leaves from drying out.
cukes clone well. about 2 weeks.

[slugworth]

one variety I bought this year was over 40 cents per seed !
that almost demands cloning, just in case tragedy strikes.
there were only 10 seeds in the packet.

[slugworth]

for saving space,you can start a few seeds earlier than normal then keep cloning to build up your supply by planting time.