Skip to Content

Why Are My Cucumbers Short and Fat – 4 Reasons!

Sharing is caring!

Everybody loves to have big and healthy green cucumber pieces in their salad. Don’t you? It has various health benefits and pleases your taste buds too.

But if you are not focused enough on the plantation and care of your cucumbers, it might go wrong. Is it the case for you? Does your mind revolve around why are my cucumbers short and fat?

Well, that’s a problem of many and not just you. There might be a lot of reasons why your cucumber is not growing well.

If you find this article amidst the stress of your cucumbers being short and fat, go through it to know four reasons that answers your query of why are my cucumbers short and fat.

Why Are My Cucumbers Short and Fat
Why Are My Cucumbers Short and Fat via Reddit

Reasons for Cucumbers Being Short and Fat

If you have the same problem with your cucumbers growing in your backyard, it is time to look for solutions. A variety of reasons might pop out. But stick to what we will discuss in this blog, and you will be able to grow new and healthy cucumbers if you take care of those causes properly.

1. Watering Issues

The first reason or answer to why are my cucumbers short and fat lies in the watering of the plant. Water is suitable for plants, but overwatering or underwatering might restrict necessary nutrients for the plant to grow well. This results in the cucumber easily being short and fat at times.

When you overwater your plant, it might just decay the roots, and the necessary nutrients might not be available. Similarly, underwatering means that your plant is not receiving a good amount of water. And, if you think that you watered it well, it might be due to your soil’s clay or sand particles.

The presence of a considerable amount of sand or pebbles and stones will take all the moisture, not allowing proper nutrients for the plant’s growth. Keep on checking the soil for moisture.

If the soil is dry, it is the right time to pour in some water. However, it would be best if you were careful not to water the foliage that creates fungal issues, or the plant might die.

2. Insects or Bugs

Many plants and their leaves get eaten by bugs and insects. This brings in the fact that eaten leaves might result in the overall plant’s lack of receiving the nutrients. Cucumber Mosaic Virus and Aster Yellow can make things worse for the plant most of the time.

Often, both of these insects also eat up the plant, which causes its immature death. However, you can handpick the insect and throw them out of the plants’ periphery. But prevention is something you need to focus on for the moment. 

You might be trying to decide on what insecticides and pesticides you will use. Well, that’s the wrong way to go. You need to use Horticultural Soap or Neem Oil in the leaves. Another best way is to support the plant using a stick or rod. This allows the plant to grow vertically and be protected from insects.

3. Growth Environment

Cucumbers contain a lot of water, and that’s not a mystery. Meanwhile, they also come from a tropical background, due to which the availability of the sun’s rays is essential for good growth.

If you are planning to grow cucumbers indoors or where direct sunlight isn’t available, they might grow short and fat.

Cucumbers need a long hour of direct sunlight. Added to that, the hot weather is something where cucumber grows pretty well.

Temperature below 50 degrees Fahrenheit will kill or hamper the plant’s growth. Are you having a sense of joy growing cucumber indoors? Well, that feeling of happiness might not remain long. It can be something not good to do.

One thing that needs to be taken into consideration is that excessive sunlight can also hamper the proper growth of cucumbers.

Temperature no more than 95 degrees Fahrenheit and avoiding a tremendous amount of continuous sunrays is suitable for your cucumber’s growth. If you wish to grow a juicy and healthy cucumber, it takes a bit of effort.

4. Pollination Problems

There is a severe misbelief that cucumbers grow well only due to the environment, and there is a minor role of pollination. That’s not true and is a lie fed to your brains.

In fact, poor pollination is one of the primary reasons for your cucumber to grow short and fat. A good peek into this reason can save you a lot of time.

When the female flower goes through poor pollination, there is a higher chance of cucumber finally growing out unhealthy, which is quite understandable. The male and the female plants grow with a self-pollination procedure. But this is not the case all the time.

Don’t worry if there are not enough pollinators like Hummingbirds and Honey Bees in your garden. There’s a system of artificial pollinating that saves you time and effort.

It is a new thing used by the farmers. Even with artificial pollinating, it can be an issue if not habituated as it needs to be performed regularly.


Conclusion

If you with this article right from the beginning, well you have already known a lot. Still, the conclusion portion of this article works wonders if you are looking for a quick and easy look into the reasons of why are my cucumbers short and fat. Here, we provide you with the answers you are looking for.

Your cucumbers grow short and fat due to watering issues, lack of nutrients, absence of pollinators, and many more. Don’t worry if you are unknown about the solutions; you can just scroll up to know.

When we talk about cucumbers, it is easy-growing and environment-friendly plants. Surprisingly, lack of care and sheer ignorance might affect the cucumber’s growth and its long-term fruit.

A minimum level of care might work well for you to fulfil your wish of adding healthy cucumber in the salads prepared in your kitchen.