Is this how cucumber seedlings react to cold?

Question

Some days ago, I planted cucumber seeds in my garden. They didn't all sprout at the same time, and the ones that I'm showing are the ones that appeared few days later than others.

The climate is Mediterranean in the north African coast, and the temperatures started to drop to forties, low fifties in the last couple of days. The few plants that sprouted earlier seem to be in a better shape and not showing any bad signs.

I'm wondering if you are familiar with what you are seeing here, I'm a very novice gardener trying to learn. Thanks

Answer 1

It’s not unusual for seed to germinate at different times, even a few days apart as you have witnessed. In my experience, this is especially the case for plants with larger seeds, such as the cucumber plant.

Cucumber is traditionally a spring planted summer crop. In my experience growing vegetables in both temperate and subtropical gardens, all cucumber seeds prefer heat and lengthening days to germinate consistently and the plants prefer very hot weather to grow and fruit vigorously.

Cucumber plants can be grown anywhere at any time of year, but to do so requires a lot more effort, care and specialist equipment, such as a mechanically ventilated greenhouse.

I’d recommend you leave your cucumber plants in the ground, but do not expect vigorous growth or fruiting until the days become longer and the weather warms up.

Note that extremely cold weather and frosts will ultimately kill your plants. You can take some steps to protect your plants. One example that may work in your climate is covering the growing bed in a “half-pipe” tube made from bent sticks/poles and clear plastic.

However, I’d recommend you choose another two or three varieties of vegetable that are better suited to growing through the cooler months. They may even provide some shelter and help protect the cucumber plants.