 This is Jeremy Pickens with Auburn University's Department of Horticulture in the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. In this video, we're going to discuss an overview of greenhouse cucumber production. Most greenhouse cucumbers are of a specialty type. These cucumbers are sea-less and do not require pollination. Because they lack seeds, they are also marketed as burplish cucumbers. There are two main types, bait alpha and the Dutch type cucumbers. Bait alpha cucumbers are typically around six inches in length and they're sold in packs of five or six. These packs are wrapped in plastic to reduce moisture loss. As a cucumber loses moisture, they also lose their crispness. These specialty cucumbers have a thin skin, so moisture loss is much more rapid than the traditional cucumbers. Similarly, the Dutch cucumbers are also individually wrapped in plastic. Dutch cucumbers are a lot longer than about 12 to 16 inches in length, but they have very similar attributes to the bait alphas. Cucumbers can be a very labor-intensive crop because they may require daily harvesting to maintain a specific size. This is especially true with the bait alpha type cucumbers that are typically harvested between 80 and 100 grams. Cucumbers are grown in what is called a soilless culture system. In this system, the plants are grown in a substrate like pine bark or perlite. A hydroponic nutrient solution is fed to the roots many times throughout the day. Pictured here is a Dutch bucket production system. These are square pots that are plumbed to a drain that allows the solution leaving the pots to be collected for reuse or disposal. Dutch buckets also have a reservoir that allows some of the nutrient solution to remain in the pot between irrigation cycles. There are several types of containers used in soilless culture. Plastic lay flat or upright bags are commonly used with perlite. Plastic nursery pots are also commonly used with milled pine bark. Pine bark should be aged and screened to a half inch. The most common sizes of pots used is both 3 and 5 gallons. Some of the more advanced systems utilize rock wool slabs and plastic troughs. These troughs allow the recapture of the leach nutrient solution. Soilless culture is a form of hydroponics. The pine bark, the perlite and the other substrates that we use do not hold on to the nutrients very well. So nutrients are going to have to be replaced at each irrigation cycle. So we're using a hydroponic fertilizer and most of those are going to come in two parts. Each part must be injected separately into the irrigation line. So this will require two injectors plumbed into the same irrigation line. Most of these systems are going to utilize standard micro irrigation equipment. We recommend using a pressure compensated drip emitter. That way you're going to have uniform water distribution throughout the greenhouse. Cucumbers are a very fast growing crop. Fruit will begin to form within 20 days after transplanting. The picture on the right is 40 days after transplanting the crop on the left. In order to maximize production, we're going to grow these plants vertically. A standard 30 by 96 greenhouse can accommodate over 550 plants. By training these plants vertically. Cucumbers, we also call the vines cordons, are trained on a string suspended from a wire trellis. This system is commonly running the length of the greenhouse. Most trellis systems used in the southeast are about 6 to 8 feet tall. We do not recommend using the greenhouse structure itself to support the trellis system unless it's been designed to carry that sort of weight. So with growing cucumbers, there are several options as far as plant density and the arrangement of the plants in the greenhouse. Figure 4 here shows a single row vertical cordon system. So it's going to have 6 rows in a 30 foot wide greenhouse. So these rows are going to be 4 to 5 feet apart on center. The plants are going to be placed directly under the steel cable on that row. Plants will be about 12 to 18 inches apart within the row. So a 30 by 96 structure could accommodate 528 to 570 plants depending on how they're spaced in the greenhouse. Another option for vertical cordons would be the double row system. So here figure 5, here's a 5 row system in a 30 foot wide greenhouse. So in these rows there's going to be 2 wire cables suspended above each row and these cables will be about 24 inches apart. Now the rows themselves are 5 to 6 feet apart on center. So going down the row the plants are 18 to 24 inch apart and they're going to be staggered between the wires and that way you maximize your light interception. So a 30 by 96 greenhouse would accommodate 440 to 570 plants. Another training option is the V cordon system. So in this system you're going to have 2 wire cables for your trellis positioned above each row. So a 30 foot greenhouse can accommodate 5 to 6 rows with rows being about 5 to 6 foot apart on center. Now the plants within the row are going to be spaced 12 to 16 inches apart as you move down the rows. Now as you move down the row each plant will be alternating between either the left or the right wire where it's going to be trained. So as you look down the row as the plants mature it's going to make sort of a V type look to it. So a 30 by 96 foot structure is going to accommodate 330 to 570 plants in this type of system. A very common problem in cucumber production is over fruiting. In this type of situation there's going to be too heavy of a fruit load and the amount of vegetative material to provide energy for that fruit production is just not there yet. So to accommodate for this all fruit should be removed until you get about 30 inches of vine growing on that trellis. So in doing that you're not going to have this fruit abortion problem it's just allowing more vegetative growth to provide more energy to support a heavier fruit load. There are two primary pruning systems for greenhouse cucumber production. There's the modified umbrella training system you'll see here on the left in figure 7 and then the single cordon sort of a drape over method featured there on the right. So the modified umbrella system does not allow for any side shoots to form. Once that vine reaches the cable trellis the terminal end is pruned off. In doing so two side shoots form. These side shoots are allowed to grow in opposite directions down the wire trellis for about 16 inches or so and then they're allowed to grow back towards the ground. The other method is just sort of a drape over method or loop over method where once that terminal end reaches the wire cable trellis it is not pruned. It is allowed to grow and it is kind of draped over that wire and allowed to grow back towards the ground. Research has shown that by not pruning that terminal end you don't have a delay in fruiting and you actually have a higher yield. Cucumbers produce a lot of fruit. Common yields are anywhere from 20 to 25 pounds per plant for a 12-week harvesting period. You could have two to three crop cycles a year with cucumbers. Fruit can be stored for up to 14 days at 50 degrees Fahrenheit. So it's a lot of fruit. It'd be good to have a plan on what you're going to do with it as far as marketing before you even plant your first seed. So that was a very brief introduction to greenhouse cucumber production. If you want to learn more detailed information you can check out our new fact sheet Greenhouse Cucumber Production. If you want to access this go to aces.edu that's a-c-e-s.edu. When you get there go to the search feature and type in a-n-r-2926. You should be able to access it very quickly in doing so. Also if you would like more information or have further questions you can contact your commercial regional horticulture extension agent. If you don't know who that is you can contact your local county extension office and they can put you in contact with that person and through them we'll try to answer your questions as best as we can. We'd also like to give a special thanks to the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries for providing us a 2019 specialty crop block grant that provided funding for this program.