Grow your own windowsill cucumbers: how one gardener harvested 50+ cucumbers from her kitchen
Growing cucumbers indoors is easier than you might think. Learn how to grow your own windowsill cucumbers with expert tips from experienced gardeners Leonna, Malin, and Hanna.
During the first week of February, Hanna Karppinen from Keuruu put her plan into action: she planted cucumber seeds and waited patiently.
While most Finnish gardeners begin this process between late April and early May, Karppinen chose to grow her cucumbers indoors. Rather than transferring the seedlings to a greenhouse for summer, she allows the vines to climb along her home window throughout their growing cycle. With proper care, indoor cucumbers can produce an impressive harvest.
You can sow window cucumbers as early as January if there’s enough light. Alternatively, you can easily start this project later in spring as well.
Karppinen got the idea for window cucumbers from gardener Leonna Aho-Ryhänen’s Instagram posts. This spring marks Leonna’s fourth year growing windowsill cucumbers. Leonna herself found inspiration through Instagram from Swedish gardening influencer Malin Brostad.
When you sow the seeds in March, you can harvest as early as early summer.
In Sweden, window cucumbers, fönstergurkor, have become a significant trend, according to Malin.
“Window cucumbers have definitely caught on. I first learned about them several years ago and started growing them myself two or three years ago.”
This season, Malin will continue growing cucumbers on her kitchen windowsill, planning to sow the seeds in March.
Malin reveals that the key to successful indoor cucumber cultivation lies in regular, generous watering and a sunny location.
“My cucumbers typically produce well until late June. After that, I usually remove the plants as they become more susceptible to pests.”
Gardener Leonna Aho-Ryhänen has even more specific tips for aspiring window cucumber growers. She emphasizes that success begins with selecting quality seeds.
“Saving seeds from your own cucumbers isn’t recommended because greenhouse cucumbers cross-pollinate. This means you can’t predict what kind of harvest you’ll get from saved seeds.”
For indoor cucumbers, Leonna recommends self-pollinating varieties ‘Baby’ F1, ‘Piccolino’, ‘Iznik’, ‘Delta Star’ or ‘Kalimero’.
“I ordered Kalimero seeds from a Swedish seed supplier, and the packet specifically states that you can grow this variety as indoor curtains. This also shows how big of a trend window cucumbers have become in Sweden.”
For indoor growing, Leonna recommends a bottom-watering pot. It helps prevent fungus gnat infestations, which commonly plague indoor gardeners during late winter and early spring.
Fresh cucumbers can be harvested from the windowsill about ten weeks after sowing. Depending on when you sow, you could be munching on cucumbers as early as spring or early summer. According to Leonna, you’ll get a harvest for as long as you keep fertilizing the plant.
“Plants will continue producing with optimal growing conditions. While greenhouse cucumbers might yield more due to larger growing spaces, indoor harvests can also be substantial—the larger the pot, the more abundant the yield.”
According to Leonna, you can harvest fresh cucumbers from your window for as long as you maintain proper fertilization.
Leonna starts her cucumber seeds in standard seedling soil. Once the first true leaves appear after the cotyledons, she transfers the seedlings to 2.5-liter pots filled with garden soil. The plant needs support from the beginning—for window cucumbers, jute string stretched from pot to curtain rod works well.
Successful cucumber growth requires abundant water and fertilization every three to four weeks. Leonna uses urine and bokashi liquid. Proper ventilation is also crucial for window cucumbers.
“Adequate airflow is essential for plants. During summer, I create cross-ventilation by opening windows behind the cucumber plants on hot days.”
Oh, and finally, the most crucial aspect of growing window cucumbers, as Leonna emphasizes: maintaining a sense of humor.
“This is about having fun and experimenting. Window cucumber growing helps satisfy those intense gardening cravings. You don’t need to take it too seriously.”
As a first-timer, Hanna Karppinen already has this part down.
“While I’d love for the cucumbers to create a lush green curtain across my kitchen window, I’m keeping my expectations realistic. Any green growth is a success.”
