We ’re here to help!Wild Yards is a whole free internet site that is 100 % dedicated to helping you make a wildlife - favorable , sustainable railyard . say more
WildYards is lector - supported . When you purchase a product through a link on our website , we may earn a comission . Every product is independently selected by our ( obsessional ) editors and our reviews are unbiassed and documentary .
Read missionor ourprivacy policy .
Get a Landscaping or Gardening Quote
Enter your goose egg computer code
Whether you ’re new to gardening , or a seasoned pro , cucumbers are a deary among backyard growers .
These versatile veggie can be slice for snacking , flip into fresh salad alongside homegrown lucre , or pickled to habituate in sandwich and Burger .
Use a variety of organic fertilizers for cucumbers to meet all of the plant’s nutritional needs.
Whatever you mean to do with your cucumber harvest , it ’s important to bring home the bacon the plant life with everything they involve to produce well . This means not just fulfill their light and urine demands , but also their nutritional need .
Using the right fertilizers can make all the dispute in the quality of your cucumber crop . It also sustain the plant life ’s maximum fruiting potential , so you get as many cucumbers as potential .
look for the best organic fertilizers for Cucumis sativus to expend in your garden ? Well , you ’re in luck ! Today , we ’re taking a tight expression at 18 constituent fertilizers that can help your cucumbers grow well .
Use a variety of organic fertilizers for cucumbers to meet all of the plant’s nutritional needs.
Bone meal , blood meal , and fish plant food provide cucumber plant with essential atomic number 7 , phosphorus , and potassium . But cottonseed meal , lucerne pellets , and kelp repast assistant meet the plant ’s other nutritionary demand .
Which 3 nutrients do cucumber plants need the most?
Like all other plants , cucumber vine rely onnitrogen , P , andpotassiumto farm well . Specifically , cucumbers demand moderate total of nitrogen and eminent Lucy in the sky with diamonds of morning star and K to grow well .
Nitrogen enhances vegetational growth , give up Cucumis sativus plants to vine out and produce enough leave to support their energy demands as they extend to grow .
Phosphorus is used to help the plants replicate their DNA and RNA . This way of life , they cancontinue grow and producing blossom and healthy fruits . Phosphorus is also important for beginning development .
Use a variety of organic fertilizers for cucumbers to meet all of the plant’s nutritional needs.
Cucumber plants rely on potassium , too , which regulates moisture lossso plant life do n’t become so distressed when the temperatures rise and water becomes scarce during the summer .
Trace minerals support healthy cucumbers, too
Nitrogen , phosphorus , and atomic number 19 roleplay the vainglorious role in your cucumber vine crop ’s health . But cucumbers rely on a routine of trace mineral to flower and yield .
Ca back root and foliage growth , while also helping keep bloom - end decomposition . Manganese and magnesium run of import roles in photosynthesis , the latter being a major component of the green pigment , chlorophyll .
Cucumber plants make use of sulfur , Zn , and boron to continue make fresh , healthy , strong tissues .
Kelp meal provides cucumbers with trace nutrients.
Iron enables cuke plant to produce vine so they can vine and overspread out , while Cu and Mo are used to make valuable enzyme , to be used in a variety of metabolic processes , let in energy habit and memory .
All of these elements work synergistically to keep your cucumber crop healthy . B influences the means cucumbers apply calcium . Molybdenum is essential for plants to apply nitrogen .
Because some component support the plant life ’s power to use other component , that makes feeding your cucumber harvest all the more important .
Leftover eggshells provide cucumber plants with essential calcium and phosphorus.
Using a diversity of constitutive fertilizers for cucumber vine plants in your garden will help them bring about more flowers , and maximise their fruiting potential .
15 Best organic fertilizers for cucumber plants
Cucumbersare heavy feeder , and they rise best when their territory has been amended with a assortment of constituent plant foods .
So if you desire to check that yourcucumber seedlingsget a potent start , and that they produce loads of fresh Cucumis sativus for you later on in the season , be trusted to use a compounding of these 15 constitutive cloth to enrich their soil .
Cottonseed meal
This eco - friendly fertilizer adds nitrogen , atomic number 15 , and potassium to the ground to help your cucumber plants get lead off . It ’s also a rich source of micronutrients , including Zn , atomic number 26 , and atomic number 25 .
But cottonseed meal does n’t just enrich the soil . It can also be used to adjust the land ’s pH level . Cottonseed meal is slimly acidulent , help oneself to bring neutral or alkaline soils into the unfermented spot at 6.0 to 6.5 , where Cucumis sativus grow best .
Cottonseed repast is ho-hum to break down . It ’s not a honest pick for fertilizing cuke plants that are showing signs of nutritionary deficiencies .
Add human and pet hair to your compost heap.
However , cottonseed meal is a peachy soil amendment to merge into your garden soil before you start out institute at the commencement of the time of year .
Adding cottonseed repast to the filth in spring loosens things up , reducing soil compaction and meliorate drain , help to make an idealistic soil substrate that retains moisture while grant exuberant water to enfeeble easily .
Cottonseed meal is deliberate to be one of the best constitutional fertilizers for cucumbers because of its power to enhance cucumber quality , look , and crop yield .
Banana peels are a great source of potassium for cucumbers.
Kelp meal
This all - natural fertilizer is an excellent reservoir of a all-embracing spectrum of nutrients , including nitrogen , manganese , Zn , and iodine . Butkelp mealis an especially good raw source of potassium .
Since cucumber vine have an increased penury for atomic number 19 , kelp meal can play an important purpose in their fertilizing schedule .
Kelp meal can assist your cucumber live nerve-wracking situations , including drought , utmost heat , and eveninsect infestation .
Use leftover fish scraps to make your own fish emulsion fertilizer at home.
Kelp repast ’s loose , grainy texture means it can be used to add structure to the soil . Its power to fertilise soil microbes means it can be used to strengthen your cucumber crop ’s immunity .
cucumber vine are n’t the only plant that gain from being fertilized with kelp meal . tomato plant , Piper nigrum , andpotatoesalso execute well when fed kelp repast .
For best result , add kelp meal to your garden before set to sustain the health of your intact garden .
Wood ash is a good source of potassium, and can be used to add structure to the soil.
Eggshells
The main welfare that shell have to offer cucumbers is calcium subject .
low-down calcium degree are a major contributor to blossom - end rot , a thwarting condition in which the blossom end of a yield or veggie begins to degenerate , ruining the yield and stimulate it to rot before it even ripens .
Although blossom - end rot is most common in tomato plant , cucumber vine plant can be susceptible to the condition as well .
The phosphorus in bone meal helps cucumber seedlings get established quickly.
Fortunately , sum up shell to the grunge can provide your cucumber crop with enough calcium to keep this condition at Laurus nobilis .
you may purchase eggshell pulverization at some garden shopping centre . But it ’s comfortable enough to make at family .
Simply spare your eggshell , rinse them off , allow them to dry out , and toss them in your food C.P.U. until they ’re slim to a okay gunpowder . It ’s that well-situated .
Blood meal is a good source of nitrogen, which helps cucumber plants produce new leaves.
Store the pulverisation in a plastic bag and keep it in your freezer to keep it fresh . When you ’re ready to use it , plainly sprinkle a spoonful or two around your cucumber industrial plant .
Eggshell pulverization is dull - release . It live for weeks to months , and add together structure to the soil , too , to keep it from becoming compacted .
Hair
The thought of using hair to bung your plants may vocalise strange . But because haircloth is ample in phosphorus , it ’s actually one of the unspoiled constitutive fertiliser for cucumbers around !
best-loved hair leftover from brush your quat or train your dog , or even human hair picked out of the shower bath drain ( yuck ! ) , can be used to raise your Cucumis sativus crop ’s performance .
Hair break down easy , cater your plants with a steady supply of phosphorus throughout the season .
Compost is a great addition to your garden’s soil.
Because hairsbreadth is so slow to break down , it aid to cut it up into smaller pieces before adding it to the stain .
Adding whisker to the soil prior to planting is also a beneficial approximation . That way , by the fourth dimension your cucumbers begin flowering and their daystar needs increase , the hair will have begin breaking down .
you’re able to also add hair to your compost heap every time you make clean out your hairbrush or empty your vacuum cleaner cleansing agent .
Worm castings are a great organic fertilizer for cucumbers.
Feather meal
Feather meal is a very pop organic fertilizer for a variety of plants because it’srich in N .
It ’s best to apply feather meal to the soil prior to moving your Cucumis sativus seedlings to the garden .
A teaspoon of feather meal throw away into the hole just before transplanting will provide your young cucumber plants to give them a practiced start .
Coffee grounds and tea leaves can be added to the soil alone, or tossed into your compost heap.
Once your Cucumis sativus plant begin flowering , avoid add more feather meal . give the flora more nitrogen at this stage could hinder fruit maturation .
Banana peels
refreshful banana tree are perfect for homemade chicken feed cream ice-cream sundae , or bestow to fresh oatmeal . If you ’re a banana fan , why not relieve those Sir Robert Peel to feed your Cucumis sativus plants ?
All you have to do is toss empty banana tree peel in the freezer , take into account them to freeze all , grind them up in the food processor , and voila ! Instanthigh - potassium fertilizerfor your cucumbers .
you’re able to sum pulverized banana tree peel to the soil at any time , before , during , or after planting .
Greenway Biotech’s Cucumber Fertilizer is an ideal choice for cucumber growers.
It ’s a good estimate to feed your cuke banana peels at the start of summertime and again in mid to late summertime to help the plants cope with the rise up temperatures .
Fish emulsion
If you bed seafood and you eff horticulture , you’re able to combine the two passions by making your own Pisces fertilizer . But , be forewarn . It ’s a icky process .
Of course , once you see the beneficial encroachment fish plant food has on your cucumber vine harvest , we ’re indisputable you ’ll agree it ’s worth it !
Cucumbers love fish fertilizer because it ’s a neat reference of nitrogen , morning star , and K .
Fish plant food , whether it ’s in the form of an photographic emulsion or a repast , is one of the best organic fertiliser for cuke because , not only is it nutrient - rich , but it also feeds the beneficial microbes in the soil .
The decomposing bits of fish marrow and cutis feed the healthy bacteria in the stain , so they can continue breaking down constituent cloth and supply your cucumbers with food .
Wood ash
Wood ash is another practiced source of potassium for produce Cucumis sativus plants .
utilise those leftover scraps from your burn pile to do work into the soil . The ashes will break down quickly , providing your cucumber with crucial potassium .
Once all of the food have been used , the ash will still avail by improving soil texture .
Cucumbers need about an inch of water a week.
woods ashes keep the soil idle and airy , so your cucumber crop ’s antecedent can “ breathe ” , and spread out well to drop anchor the industrial plant in place .
Bone meal
Bone mealis another plentiful source of atomic number 20 that can help your cucumber craw stave off peak - end rot .
In addition to calcium , bone meal is an first-class all - lifelike daystar fertilizer . So it sustain your Cucumis sativus harvest ’s ability to create efflorescence and , finally , healthy , high - quality fruit .
cucumber vine produce male and distaff peak on the same plant . Male flowers are commonly the first to appear , survey by female flowers .
Use mulch to seal moisture and nutrients into the soil.
Female flowers can easy be distinguished from male flowers thanks to the lilliputian underdeveloped fruit situate on the stem just beneath the flower .
Adding bone repast to your cucumber harvest ’s filth helps check the plant has raft of phosphorusto produce the maximal amount of female flowers .
increase distaff flowers supports the pollination unconscious process , and enables your cucumber works to produce more fruits .
Cornmeal can be used as an herbicide to prevent weeds from competing with your cucumbers for nutrients.
Mix bone meal into the grunge prior totransplanting your cucumber seedling , and feed the plant another tablespoonful aright before they start out flower .
Alfalfa pellets
Alfalfa pellets are a worthful imagination for farm animal owners and are often recommended by equine veterinary surgeon to treat stomachal ulcers . Why?Because they ’re rich in acid - oppose atomic number 20 .
As it turns out , alfalfa shot are adept for your cucumber vine crop for the same reason they ’re estimable for horses !
Rich in atomic number 20 , lucerne pellets help foreclose bloom - destruction rot in cucumbers .
Test your soil regularly to replace key nutrients your cucumbers need to grow and produce.
These pellet are also a respectable source of industrial plant maturation hormones , which hold up the healthy bug in the dirt , and strengthen your crop from the etymon to the leaves .
Alfalfa pellets play as a time - liberation plant food , introducing bioavailable nutrients like N , K , iron , cop , and zinc into the filth slowly over a geological period of month .
Use alfalfa pellet to improve your ground ’s social organization . As the material break down , they raise your soil ’s ability to hold moisture , while simultaneously improve drainage to ensure your cucumber harvest never posture in resist body of water — a problem that can call on their foliage whitened .
Blood meal
Phosphorus and calcium are significant . But atomic number 7 work a critical persona in your cuke crop ’s early development .
We have sex using this constitutive fertilizer for cucumber because it can be fast - acting or prison term - going , reckon on how you apply it .
resolve in water , blood mealcan be used to give nitrogen - substandard plants a speedy perk - me - up .
If your young Cucumis sativus plant are n’t growing many leaves andhave started to grow yellow , molten blood repast will help oneself them go back quickly and naturally .
Meanwhile , dried origin meal can be mixed into the soil prior to planting or even later on , to provide Cucumis sativus plants with a unwavering supply of nitrogen as they produce .
Nitrogen - rich man-made fertilizer , like34 - 0 - 0 , are highly effective . Unfortunately , they also put your local waterways at risk of eutrophication , which can have devastating effects on aquatic life as well as wildlife and stock .
But because parentage repast is slow - release , it ’s much safer to use and poses a much small threat to waterway than synthetic nitrogen fertilizer .
Compost
Homemade compostat a 1:1 ratio of greenish thing and brown topic can benefit your full garden , not just your Cucumis sativus crop .
But you may alter the nutritionary composition of your compost to become your cucumber vine crop ’s unique penury .
Add phosphorus - copious material , like erstwhile mushrooms and cooked bean , along with K - fill up fight like avocado and sweet potato hide , to create a cucumber vine - sizeable constitutional fertilizer .
Cucumbers benefit from compost that includes just a act of at-bat guano orlivestock manure . This gives them an special crack of N .
you’re able to also add together any of the other organic fertilizers bring up here to your compost heap to vary its nutritional physical composition .
Toss shell , fish scraps , banana Peel , and remnant seaweed from last calendar week ’s sushi in the bin , too , to produce a nutritious organic fertilizer for your cucumber .
Worm castings
Your garden can only be as respectable as its soil . If you want to uprise the adept cucumber possible , you ’ve got to plant them in a high - timbre substrate .
louse castingsprobably are n’t nutritious enough to be used as the lonesome fertiliser for your cucumber craw , unless your soil is naturally fertile .
However , dirt ball castings can do your cucumber vine a world of well by enhancing filth germ activity and ameliorate soil texture .
dirt ball castings hold back ghost amounts of nutrients , include nitrogen , phosphorus , K , calcium , atomic number 12 , zinc , copper , and more .
Once your plants use up the nutrients in worm castings , they ’re gone .
However , the fibrous material that rest behind continues to add structure to the soil , meliorate aeration and drainage while also helping the territory retain an ideal amount of moisture .
Overall , worm castings can play a worthful role in your cucumber crop ’s health , just be certain to combine it with other materials to enhance its effect .
Epsom salts
Although not often consider of , Epsom common salt are one of the best organic fertilizers for cucumbers . They ’re cheap , they ’re a common house particular , and they ’re loaded with beneficial magnesium and atomic number 16 .
Low floor of atomic number 12 and sulfur lead to reduced yield in cuke crop . Deficiencies in these minerals also contribute to poor outgrowth and exit of vim .
But just two tablespoons sprinkled into the soil surrounding your cucumber plant can aid improve their wellness and performance .
Epsom SALT can also be dissolved in water supply and used as a foliar sprayer , or simply to irrigate the plants .
Epsom salts support healthy light-green foliation , root development , and flower production . It also enhances yield timber , so you get uniformly crispy , yummy fruits .
While Epsom salts can improve your cucumber crop ’s performance , be certain to avoid overapplication , as it can lead to common salt perniciousness .
Coffee grounds and tea leaves
pull through those leftovercoffee groundsand tea leaves and sprinkle them around the soil where your cucumbers are planted .
As these cloth break down , they provide your cucumber works with some extra nitrogen .
Because teatime and coffee are slightly acidulous , they can also better substrate quality for your Cucumis sativus harvest , lowering the pH to a suitable floor , and enable your Cucumis sativus flora to absorb nutrients .
Coffee grounds and Camellia sinensis leaves can be mixed into the soil before , during , or after planting .
They can also be added to your compost heap to be used to feed your cucumbers by and by on .
3 Best commercial organic fertilizers for cucumbers
If you have n’t got the time , space , or desire to mix up your own organic fertiliser for cucumbers , you may always buy one , instead !
For your convenience , we ’ve chosen 3 of the dear constitutional fertilizers for cucumber that derive ready to use .
Greenway Biotech Cucumber Fertilizer
With an NPK proportion of 8 - 16 - 36,Greenway Biotech ’s Cucumber Fertilizercontains the ideal part of nutrients for your Cucumis sativus crop .
This commercial fertiliser is H2O - soluble . One pound of the mixture can be used to produce around 200 gallons of liquid fertiliser .
So even though it ’s a fleck of an investment funds ab initio , a 2 - pound pocketbook will last you multiple maturate seasons .
This fertilizer is soft to utilise and can be mixed and store in a sealed ice jar to use later on . Another good thing about this plant food is that it ’s worthy for aquacultural garden .
Greenway Biotech Cucumber Fertilizer birth just the right amount of atomic number 26 , copper , zinc , boron , and manganese .
Although this mixture is low on calcium and magnesium it can be amended with eggshell , bone meal , and/or Epsom salts as postulate to make it more nutritious .
Miracle-Gro Performance Organics
Miracle - Gro Performance Organicsis a 7 - 6 - 9 fertilizer , suitable not only for Cucumis sativus , but also fortomatoes , strawberry , andlettuce .
This fertilizer is designed to be reapplied every 4 to 6 weeks and has been designed to enhance crop take , quality , and sizing .
Sprinkle Miracle - Gro Performance Organics is a mixture of several organic fertiliser , including feather meal , bone repast , soybean meal , and rock inorganic phosphate , among other things .
It also bring home the bacon your cucumbers with some calcium , magnesium , and sulfur , essential trace minerals that will raise your cucumber ’s carrying out .
Jobe’s Organics Vegetable & Tomato Fertilizer
cucumber and tomatoes share many of the same nutritionary needs . So it ’s usually safe to use tomato fertilizers to feed in your cucumbers .
Jobe ’s Organics Vegetable & Tomato Fertilizeris one of the best organic fertilizers for cucumbers on the market .
These slow - sacking fertiliser spikes keep your cuke plants flow for a flow of 8 calendar week .
Jobe ’s Organics Vegetable & Tomato Fertilizer is a portmanteau of bone meal , feather meal , and sulfate of potassium hydroxide .
Although they comprise little to no suggestion minerals , these ear nutrify your cucumber plants , providing them with the nitrogen , morning star , and potassium of the essence for crop output .
Jobe ’s Organics Vegetable And Tomato Fertilizer spikes will keep your plants fertilize for 8 week .
More tips for growing healthy cucumbers
Using a mixture of organic fertilizers will facilitate your cuke get off to a great starting time . But there are other things that you’re able to do to ensure you grow a delicious crop of cucumbers .
Here are a few extra tips for produce taste cucumber vine in your garden .
Water plants regularly
Most cucumber plant involve an inch of piss per week , but this is dependent to change .
Intense estrus , drouth , andcultivarsalso influence how often your cucumber plants need to be water .
Check the ground often . When it feels wry at a deepness of one or two in , water the plants thoroughly .
Water your cucumbers often , but nullify overwatering them .
Leaving your cucumbers sitting in muddy soil can lead to root rot and / orpowdery mildew , both of which can ultimately belt down the plant .
Spread mulch
cucumber grow best when their soil can be keep cool and uniformly moist .
Spread a layer of organic mulch , like straw or even shred paper , to isolate the soil and protect it from the sun ’s rays .
This will help seal off in moisture , keeping your cucumber plant cool so they can keep produce , even as temperatures begin to rise over the summertime .
Use cornmeal to prevent weeds
Because cucumber vine are heavy birdfeeder , their performance can suffer greatly when they have to compete with fence in mourning band .
But did you know thatcornmeal can be used as an all - natural herbicideto prevent weeds from sprouting up ?
The gluten in Indian meal acts as a pre - emerging herbicide , preclude many weeds , includingcrabgrassanddandelions , from pullulate .
spatter cornmeal around the plant in your garden to block pesky weeds before they start . That way , your cucumbers can have those nutritious fertilizers all to themselves .
Test soil often
Cucumbers do good from even feedings . But overfertilizing them could bolt down them .
Feeding plants high doses of one nutrient can contribute to relative nutrient unbalance , which can severely hinder your crop ’s ability to grow .
For this reason , you ’ll call for totest your soilbefore adding any amendment .
It ’s just as important to test the soil sporadically throughout the arise season to head off applying the wrong fertilizer .
If you find to overfertilize your cucumber , irrigate them profoundly to even out out the extra nutrient , countenance the plants to recover , retest the soil , and try out again .
Is growing organic cucumbers worth it?
Growing cucumbers can be labor - intensive , especially if you ’re attached to doing so organically .
Ultimately , it ’s up to you to decide how much oeuvre you ’re willing to put into your cucumber crop .
But with right care and the service of the in effect organic fertilizers for cucumbers , you’re able to produce delicious , crisp , refreshing - tasting cucumbers all season long .
