erature is 82F, but cucumbers do well in temperatures ranging from 65 to 75F. Frost and high temperature will damage the crop. Cucumbers can grow in many different soil types, provided they are well drained. They are a quick-growing crop and must be well supplied with fertilizers. Cucumber seeds are generally planted two inches deep into the soil with plants spaced two to six inches apart. Row spacing varies from twelve to thirty inches apart. Fresh market cucumbers are picked by hand. The fruit is twisted and snapped off of the vine to ensure there is no damage done to the vine or root of the plant. In most regions machine harvesting has been accepted for pickling cucumbers. Cost of labor to hand pick cucumbers has gone up so machines are used. The drawback of using machines to harvest is that the crop can only be given a once over because the machines damage plants as they go down the rows. Cucumbers are hydro cooled after picking to remove any field heat left over. Fruits ripen rapidly in temperatures over 50F so they are stored in coolers to prevent this. When a cucumber ripens it turns yellow and is inedible. Annual Harvest in pounds or kilogramsThe major portion of commercial crop is used for processing pickles. Processing cucumbers yield an average of five tons per acre across the United States, but can yield from four tons per acre in the East and eighteen tons per acre in California. Fresh market cucumbers are hand picked and range from about three tons per acre in the eastern U.S. to sixteen tons per acre in California. China is the lead producer of cucumbers, with India next in production, followed by USSR and the U.S. Diseases and Insects reducing or threatening crop yieldInsects are one of the main problems that cucumber farmers face. Although there are quite a few that plague cucumbers the two most dangerous are cucumber beetles and pickleworm. There are two kinds of cucumber beetles, striped and spotte...
