Best Way to Train Greenhouse Cucumbers

Greenhouse varieties are easier to manage and produce a greater yield of clean fruit when trained up supports firmly attached to the greenhouse frame. There are two basic methods of training them.

Cordon system

This involves training each plant up a single cane or string. It is useful if you are short of greenhouse space.

Wind the young shoot round the support, tying in if necessary.

Remove the flower buds, tendrils and side shoots from the first 45cm of stem, leaving just one leaf at each joint. After this, keep removing any side shoots, but allow the flower buds to develop. As the fruits grow, they should be well clear of the ground.

Keep doing this until the leading shoot reaches the top of the support. With luck you should get one fruit per leaf joint. Make sure the top of the plant is secured to the greenhouse to stop it sliding down the support when laden with fruit.

Pinch out the growing tip but leave the last two side shoots and allow these to hang down, one on either side of the main stem. Stop them when they are about 60cm from the ground.

A variation on this theme is to lean the support at an angle of about 15 degrees, so that the fruits hang away from the stem.

Note that open-pollinated varieties such as ‘Telegraph Improved’ do not produce female flowers on the main stem. You must let side shoots develop one leaf before pinching them out. Or use the archway system. Archway system

This involves training the plants on horizontal wires 20-25cm apart, fixed to either end of the greenhouse. This is better if you have more room and want a bigger crop from each plant.

Instead of pinching out the side shoots at each leaf joint, allow two to develop and train them horizontally along the wires.

Remove the flower buds on the main stem, but allow them to grow on the side shoots. Stop each side shoot when it has two leaves and allow two fruits to grow.

The horizontal support wires can be continued up and over the roof if you wish to create an arch.