Plant record
Cucumber
Cucumis sativus
Cucumbers want warmth and momentum. Give them a trellis and do not let them go thirsty when they begin to perform.
Garden timing
Direct sow after soil warms.
Transplant carefully after frost.
Succession rhythm: about every 28 days.
Space-saving method: grow with trellis support.
Plant intelligence
Use one square per plant and watch neighbors as it matures.
foodverticalsuccession
Lifecycle: annual
Habit: climbing vine
Germination: 3-10 days
Sow depth: 0.75 inches
Record score
88/100deep plant record
Taxonomy confidence94Cucumis sativus in Cucurbitaceae; 2 cached source references.
Square-foot usefulness922 per square with trellis support.
Timing and care depth922 planting windows, 60F minimum soil, 2 cautions.
Species and variety drill-down882 variety or cultivar options attached.
Annual flower intelligence70Food crop with companion context.
Source readiness82Ready for 4 external lookup paths.
Species identity
This record is anchored to a stable botanical name, then adjusted for square-foot garden decisions.
ScientificCucumis sativusFamilyCucurbitaceaeLookup namesCucumber, Cucumis sativus, slicing cucumber, pickling cucumber
Garden decision matrix
Square-foot fit2 per square
Season behaviortender
Care loadheavy water
Bed ecosystem rolefood, vertical
Variety depth2 options
Species and variety notes
Choose compact bush types for containers and vining types for a trellis.
National Picklingcultivar
78small-bed fit
Good for repeated picking while fruit is still young.
Best use: general garden use. Tradeoff: match timing and spacing to the rest of the bed.
pickling, small fruit, productive50-60 daysMarketmore 76cultivar
64small-bed fit
A standard slicer that works well when trained upward.
Best use: vertical space saving. Tradeoff: match timing and spacing to the rest of the bed.
slicer, trellis, steady producer58-68 daysCompanions
dill, radish, bean, sunflower
Cautions
Dislikes root disturbance.
Needs steady water once fruiting.
External enrichment
Cached name: Cucumis sativus. Optional lookups can compare GBIF, iNaturalist, Perenual, and Trefle without changing the reviewed garden record.
Open enrichment JSONData layers
FVF reviewed cachecachedSpacing, timing, variety, companion, and FVF notes used by the planner.
GBIF and iNaturalistlive no-keyNo-key taxonomy, common-name, and community context checks through the enrichment route.
USDA PLANTS downloadsreferencePeriodic identity, distribution, native status, and conservation reference layer.
Perenual or Trefleoptional keyOptional species images, care data, cultivar/synonym cleanup, then cache only reviewed fields.
API source score
Perenual API88/100optional key: Flower and ornamental drill-down, plant photos, care flags, toxicity, bloom data. Limit: Requires an API key and plan-aware caching, so it should enrich records without blocking the app.
Trefle API84/100optional key: Scientific names, subspecies, varieties, hybrids, synonyms, and broader botanical cleanup. Limit: Requires a token and should be treated as a reviewed import layer, not a live page dependency.
USDA PLANTS downloads82/100download cache: Standard names, plant symbols, distribution, native status, and conservation flags. Limit: Best consumed as periodic downloaded data instead of one-off runtime requests.
GBIF Species API78/100live public: Accepted scientific names, synonyms, family/genus cleanup, and occurrence context. Limit: Not a gardening advice source; pair it with local square-foot growing data.
iNaturalist taxa API72/100live public: Common-name discovery, taxon IDs, and regional biodiversity context. Limit: Observation data is not the same thing as garden suitability or crop timing.
Michigan State University Extension
Michigan vegetable-garden timing, frost awareness, and practical garden planning.
Source referenceCornell Vegetable Growing Guides
Crop-specific vegetable growing guidance.
Source reference