The Organic
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Vegetables · Vine

Growing cucumber

Cucumis sativus · also called Khira, KheeraA fast-growing warm-season vine producing crisp, hydrating fruits.

Gangetic plains: eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plains

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
Green cucumbers lying on the soil among the vines, with yellow flowers
Photo: Stephen Ausmus, USDA ARS · PDM

At a glance

Cucumber in the Gangetic plains

  • Season

    Spring-summer and kharif, two crops a year3

  • Sowing to last picking

    About 80 to 100 days from sowing to the last picking.

    No published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • Sow

    Mid to late February3

  • First harvest

    40 to 55 days after sowing3

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Wait until February

The next sowing here is Mid to late February.

Sowing now in:West coast
  • Sow
  • Nursery
  • Transplant
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
Gangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and Spiti · Under cover onlySub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
Gangetic plainsMid to late FebruaryLate June
Temperate HimalayaApril to MayMid-June to July
Cold desertUnder cover onlyUnder cover: April to mid-MayUnder cover: Mid-June to mid-September
Sub-tropical foothillsFebruary to MarchJune to JulyUnder cover: JanuaryUnder cover: First half of JanuaryUnder cover: Last week of December to first week of JanuaryUnder cover: By the first half of February
North-west plainsFebruary to MarchJune to JulyUnder cover: Mid-NovemberUnder cover: Mid-SeptemberUnder cover: JanuaryUnder cover: First week of OctoberUnder cover: First half of February
North-east hills and valleysFebruary to mid-April
Arid westFebruary to mid-MarchLate June to July
Central plateauMid-January to FebruaryJune to mid-July
Deccan plateauJune to July
South interiorJuneJanuary to April
West coastJanuary to MarchSeptember to December
East coastJuneJanuary to April

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Well-rotted organic manure3

    15 to 20 t per hectare · Work into the soil · Before field preparation

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 5 to 7

    Seeds come up1,2,3,8Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 40 to 55

    First picking3

  5. Day 80 to 100

    Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Water along the channels. Water often in the summer crop and lightly in the rainy-season crop.3

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1,2,3

    6.5 to 7.5

    Well-drained loam or sandy loam, rich in organic matter

  • SunlightNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    At least 6 hours a day

    Full sun, at least 6 hours a day.

  • Temperature2,8

    Grows best at 18 to 24 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the Gangetic plains aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering3

Water along the channels. Water often in the summer crop and lightly in the rainy-season crop.

Weeding3

Hoe and hand weed two or three times. Earth up twice, a month apart.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Before field preparationWell-rotted organic manure15 to 20 t per hectareWork into the soil

Sources3

Varieties and yield

Typical rangeNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

10 to 15 tonnes a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Keep it away from

Pests and diseasesNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Red pumpkin beetle

    Signs

    Orange beetles chew the seed leaves and young leaves soon after the seed comes up.

    What to do

    • Pick the beetles off by hand in the early morning.
    • Dust young plants with wood ash.

    Prevention

    • Cover young plants with fine net until the vines start to run.

  • Pest

    Fruit fly

    Signs

    Lays eggs in young fruit, which then rots.

    What to do

    • Collect and bury stung and fallen fruit.
    • Hang fruit fly traps.

    Prevention

    • Turn the soil after the crop so pupae dry out.

  • Disease

    Downy mildew

    Signs

    Yellow angular spots on top of the leaf with grey down underneath, worst in humid weather.

    What to do

    • Remove affected leaves.

    Prevention

    • Water in the morning so the leaves dry before night.
    • Do not flood the field.

  • Disease

    Powdery mildew

    Signs

    White powdery patches on the leaves and stems.

    What to do

    • Pick off badly affected leaves.

    Prevention

    • Space the vines so air moves between them.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed2

Keep at least 1000 m between cucumber varieties so the seed stays true to type. Pull out off-type and sick plants.

When the seed is ready

Leave seed fruit on the vine until it turns brown.

Cleaning the seed

Scoop the pulp into fresh water and leave it one to two days. Rub the seed free by hand and keep the heavy seed that sinks.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the Gangetic plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Pull out the vines after the last picking. Compost healthy vines and destroy diseased ones, and do not follow with another cucurbit.

Destroy old cucurbit vines so downy mildew has nowhere to overwinter.

Rotation

Where root knot nematode is a problem, rotate with rice, oats, wheat or taramira.

From the shop

Linked from this guide by our team.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 1Cucumber: crop production guide (Horticulture, vegetables)TNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source
  2. 3Pusa Gynoecious Cucumber Hybrid-18 (Indian Horticulture, May to June 2021, pages 40 to 43)ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Division of Vegetable Science (Munshi, Behera, Sureja, Tomar, Singh and Dey)Read the source
  3. 4Advisory for Kharif Season in Uttarakhand (2 May 2020)G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Directorate of Extension EducationRead the source
  4. 8Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2020 (chapter 6, Cucumber; cucurbit pest and disease management; hybrids; cropping systems; protected and river bed cultivation)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source

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