156 VEGETABLE GROWING PROJECTS 



5. Starting early plants. — Earliness is an exceedingly impor- 

 tant factor in making cucumbers pay. It is so important that 

 many growers start at least a portion of their plants under glass. 

 This may be done in a greenhouse, or hotbed, and even a cold 

 frame may be used to advantage, although artificial heat is essential 

 if good plants are wanted for setting in the open ground as soon 

 as weather conditions will permit. The night temperature in the 

 greenhouse or hotbed should not be less than 60° and the day 

 temperature at least 10° higher. 



The seed should be planted about four weeks in advance of the 

 date when it is considered the plants may be safely transferred 

 to the garden. In most parts of the North, it is not safe to set the 

 plants out before May 10 to May 20 and ten days later in 

 some sections. This means, of course, that the weather will be 

 comparatively mild during the growing of the plants and that 

 it will be unnecessary to make provision for very much heat 

 in the hotbed. A hotbed containing only a foot of hot ma- 

 nure should be satisfactory for this purpose in all parts of the 

 North. 



Two methods are employed in starting the plants. One, which 

 is the most common among market gardeners, is to plant six to 

 eight seeds in a three or four inch earthen or paper pot (W : 58) 

 and then thin to two to four strong plants. The other plan is 

 to sow the seed in flats or beds, barely cover them, and then 

 transplant, when the seedlings are about a week old, to pots or 

 other devices. The second plan is used extensively by green- 

 house growers of cucumbers, but with good management either 

 plan is satisfactory. Sometimes the plants are started in berry 

 baskets, or in tough, inverted sods, cut into squares of about six 

 inches. 



Watering must have careful attention, for either overwatering 

 or insufficient soil moisture may be disastrous to the plants. The 

 soil should be light and fertile. 



