Cucumbers are wonderful plants to grow. Either if you plant it simply in the ground or in pots. For that reason some growers may wonder if you could grow cucumbers upside down.

Interestingly enough, growing cucumbers plant upside down is possible. Actually, you can do that in your own backyard using very few tools from your home. For this specific reason, you will find here what they are, the benefits of applying this method, and of course how to do the process step-by-step.

Equally important, you will find out also which variety of cucumber is more suitable for growing upside down, along with caring advices, let’s go:

You will find in this topic.

Table of Contents

1. Is it easy to grow cucumbers upside down?

When you hear about growing cucumbers upside down you’ll question everything. The first important thing to take with you before you start is to know that this process is very easy and not as hard as many people think.

Growing cucumbers upside down does not differ a lot from the ordinary planting method on the ground. The only thing you have to respect is some important actions to take in order to have a successful and healthy cucumber plant, and hopefully a lot of sweet fruits in the future.

In addition, when you try it for yourself and find it extremely easy, you can involve children in future planting projects of growing cucumbers upside down because it is fun, and what is more joyful than spreading happiness between kids with handy work.

2 what are the benefits of growing cucumbers upside down:

Growing cucumbers upside down will be extremely rewarding. After all, who doesn’t want to take full advantage and use every space in their yard and garden. By applying this method you will enjoy plenty of benefits while doing so.

Here’s what you will get:

Saved space: The first thing to notice when growing cucumbers upside down is that you are saving a lot of space in the garden. As you know, using this method includes hanging pots and containers, which means that it does not require any space from the ground. Crowded plants in the space garden may be frustrating sometimes, growing upside down vegetables will be a good choice for clearing some space.

1 Pests-free: the second advantage is when growing cucumbers upside down you will be avoiding a lot of pests that walk on the ground. A lot of pests put their eggs in the garden around and then crawl to the plants, hanging pots will be extremely helpful as it will increase the health of free-pests vegetables.

2 Possibility of relocation: another thing that is considered extremely beneficial is the possibility of relocating your cucumber plants. Basically, you can move and transfer your upside down cucumber pots to any location you like either balcony or near the door or other places. You can even give it away for a dear friend…

3 Multiple growing: an extra bonus which is my favorite is, you can grow alongside other plants on the top of your cucumbers upside down containers, having two plants in the same pot is considered a saving method to use every inch you have to grow plants, you should only choose wisely the companion plants as it is important to use light growing plant such as lettuce….

4 Good air ventilation: growing in hanging upside down pots tends to give your plant better circulation of air better than planting in the ground. This comes back that your cucumber leaves are swinging in the air, not like ground planting when you will have tangled stems and leaves of cucumbers. The role of air ventilation is an important factor because it can increase or decrease the growth depending on its quantity, which is what any plant needs.

5 Easy fruit collection: one more thing, you can have an easy-harvesting to the cucumber fruits when they are hanging. It’s not the same as ground planting . Sometimes you cannot find the fruits because of crowdie leaves.

6 Fewer soil diseases: separate soil means less diseases that are related to soil, when growing in a container you have more chances to avoid those harmful diseases as they can be a huge problem and hard to control sometimes.

7 Long season: lastly, when growing cucumber in upside down pots, you are more likely to have an extended harvesting season as this method tends to keep the planting soil more warmer than the ground of your garden. As you know, cucumbers are a warm lover and they will thrive in such circumstances. There is nothing but greater than having extra weeks that may hold more fruits than usual.

As shown above, applying this method is nothing but beneficial in the short and long-term. More importantly, you should be aware that not all cucumber varieties can be grown this way. Therefore, here’s what you need to consider while doing so…

3 Best variety of cucumber to grow upside down:

There’s nothing wrong when you want to try things differently. Yet, it is best to know all the aspects of your project in order to have good results. Similarly, when you want to grow cucumbers upside down you need to choose wisely, as there are two different types of cucumber regarding growing habits.

As has been noted, the two types of cucumber are either vine or bushy.

Bush cucumber: as the name states, bush cucumber grows like a round bush, it is a small plant that thrives in ground planting. As a result, thinking about upside down planting wouldn’t be a good idea. In most cases, you’ll face a hard time maintaining its health and also you’ll have a lesser amount of fruits.
Vine cucumber: on the contrary, vine cucumbers like to be hanged as the stems of vine cucumbers thrive if they can find space. It will also help when the time comes for producing fruits as it will not bend and be damaged because of the heavy weight (because it is upside down).

As you can see, vine cucumber is considered more easy and suitable for this kind of growing, you have plenty to choose from, and the most common ones are slicing, pickling, and English cucumber. All of those are great and have sweet fruits.

4 how to grow cucumbers upside down:

Now on the fun part, which is applying the method of growing cucumbers upside down. To do so you need few things which they are:

Big bucket that contains a solid holder in it.
Driller.
Prepared soil
Cucumber seedling with the ball of roots.
Piece of thin cloths (that allow for water leaking)
Fertilizer 5-10-10

Here are the steps for successful growing cucumbers upside down:

Drill the bottom of the bucket in the middle using the driller (make sure the hole suits the cucumber stem and leaves).
Prepare the mixed soil with fertilizer.
Cut a small slot in the piece of cloth and then put it inside the bucket, spread it until the two holes meet in the middle.
Hang the bucket in order to work on it, or you can put the bucket above another one (the main idea is to let the space under the growing bucket).

Hold the cucumber seedling, turn it over and then gently slide the stem and leaves through the two holes from inside the bucket (the root ball is inside the bucket and the head of cucumber seedling is outside the bucket.
Start to add the mix of soil until you fill the bucket.
Hang the bucket in the chosen place whether in the garden or balcony or any place that faces shady sunlight especially in the first days (you can transfer it into direct sunlight after your cucumber plant gets stronger).
Water it regularly.

Assuming that you’ve provided all that your cucumber needs from the suitable weather condition to regular maintenance from pests, you will enjoy sweet fruits in a matter of two months.

Conclusion:

In the final analysis, growing cucumbers upside down can be done easily, you can even include the kids because it is a considerably fun way to grow plants.

In addition, the benefits of growing cucumbers upside down are plenty, which are: saving space, avoiding soil diseases and pests, providing air circulation, possibility of transportation, easy harvesting, long season, and growing multiple plants.

Equally important, you should choose vine cucumber plants to grow upside down such as slicing and pickling cucumbers because they will thrive in hanging pots as you will also have good results and sweet fruits in total.

Furthermore, to grow cucumbers upside down you will need a bucket with a handle, a driller, a mix of soil, fertilizer, a piece of fabric, and a cucumber seedling.

Moreover, you need to follow the steps shown above and you will have successful planting. In the meanwhile, if you wish to know more about cucumber plants along with growing advice and problems that come with it, feel free to browse and read. As your opinions are welcome anytime, happy gardening.