Background on Cucumbers

There's a saying about cucumbers and other members of the Cucurbitaceae family (melons, squashes, etc) , "the more you pick, the more you get". The reason for this is that cucumber plants try very hard to produce as many seeds as possible and when the seeds are ready, the plant sends out a self-destruct code. Essentially, once a cucumber fully ripens on the vine, the plant will die off. Hence, it's good to pick your cucumbers before they are fully ripe. This will encourage the plant to continue producing more cucumbers in the interest of procreation.
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How can you tell if it's too early to harvest

For each type of cucumber plant there's a general guideline on how big a cucumber is, the color it should be and if you've been to the grocery store, you may have seen the types of cucumbers you're growing so you can also use that as an indication.

If you're growing a variety that's not readily found in grocery stores like the Poona Kheera below, you may have to look at the seed packet or go online to find out a little bit about what a mature cucumber looks like. For example, this variety has fruit that turns a yellowish-brown color at maturity. I look for a golden brown color and pick the fruit. In the case of this picture, I picked the middle one.

The first time I grew a cucumber was the fall of 2023. It was a marketmore 76 and I think we got one cucumber off the plant. I was traveling for work and no one picked the cucumber before it fully ripened. Not a single other cucumber matured. It's ok to pick the cucumbers a little earlier than other fruits or vegetables. If you do, you will continue to get plenty of more crunchy cucumbers.

Though the first one looks a bit like a small dill pickle you may pick up at the grocery store, because it's a Marketmore 76, it definitely is not ready to be picked.

This one, however, is much closer to being ready. Since it was the first one on the plant, I picked it soon after this photo so the energy could go into the other smaller fruits already setting on the plant. Keep growing and feel free to HMU on X (FKA Twitter), Instagram or wherever your online wanderings take you.