Cucumber

A monsoon crop. Sow in Jun–Jul, harvest in Aug–Sep.

Check it on your land
Season
Kharif
JJASONDJFMAM

Sowing Growing Harvest

Also grown in summer.
Ready in
75 days
about 2½ months
Grows best at
18–32 °C
0 °C survives 6–38 °C 40 °C

When to sow and harvest

Kharif
Summer
Today
J J A S O N D J F M A M
Sow Growing Harvest
The year starts in June, with the monsoon. Your district can shift a few weeks.

Sowing Growing Harvest

Will it grow on your land?

Tirunelveli Tamil Nadu
Water
Season

Won't work: too dry without irrigation

Cucumber

JJASONDJFMAM

Sow in July, harvest around September

This season's sowing time (June–July) is over.

No figures for your district: its government crop records list no area or yield for this crop. Priced from mandis across your state.

Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on

  • Doesn't suit: Too dry without irrigation
  • Suits: Ideal temperatures
  • Needs care: Soil 7/10
Why, and how to make it work

Water

Too dry to grow on rain alone. It would need irrigation.

Needs about 320 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 20 mm it can use in a normal year, and 0 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 18–32 °C on average, and survives 6–38 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

  • Jul 34 °C / 26 °C
  • Aug 35 °C / 26 °C
  • Sep 35 °C / 25 °C

Soil

Soil for Cucumber: 7 out of 10 (okay).

  • The pH here suits it.
  • Many fields here are short of nitrogen, which it needs a lot.
  • Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
  • Most fields here are short of sulphur.

Likes pH 6.0–7.5.

How the soil score works

Money

Yield: about 39 quintals an acre, the typical figure in your state (its government crop records list none for your district).

Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.

Mandi price at last season's harvest (September–October 2026): about ₹4,375 a quintal across mandis in your state.

Prices are usually best in December.

Typical costs are about ₹43,000 an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.

How to make it work

  • Short of nitrogen Your soil is likely short of nitrogen.

    Add about a quarter more urea than the usual dose, in two or three splits. A pulse crop in rotation also adds nitrogen.

    About 100% of local fields of this crop get it.

  • Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.

    Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.

    Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.

  • Short of sulphur Your soil is likely short of sulphur.

    Use single super phosphate instead of DAP, or add about 100 kg of gypsum per acre before sowing.

    About 100% of local fields of this crop get it.

  • Short of boron Your soil is likely short of boron.

    Mix 4 kg of borax per acre into the soil before sowing.

    Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.

What local farmers put on it (share of fields):

  • Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 100%
  • Single Super Phosphate (SSP) 100%
  • Urea 100%
See every crop that suits Tirunelveli

What it needs

Temperature

18–32 °C
0 °C40 °C

Survives 6–38 °C. Frost hurts it.

Water

The check above works out its water need on your land.

Soil pH

4 acidic7 neutral9 alkaline

Likes neutral soil. Grows from pH 4.5 to 8.7.

Soil

  • No salty soil
  • Needs rich soil
  • N Needs plenty of nitrogen and potassium
How the soil score works

Source: FAO ECOCROP crop requirements (via OpenCLIM/ecocrop); FAO-56 crop coefficients (Allen et al. 1998); IMD gridded daily rainfall (0.25°); IMD gridded daily max/min temperature (1°); TerraClimate 1991–2020 temperature normals (about 4 km), where each district's villages are.

Fertiliser for one acre

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra for the dose.

Watch out for

Not covered yet. Ask your Krishi Vigyan Kendra what to watch for.

What an acre earns

At India's average yield and a recent price, named below. Your land, water and mandi will differ.

Left an acre, a season

₹71,700

Yield India's average
64.3 quintals an acre
× Price harvest price last season (Aug–Sep 2026)
₹2,200 a quintal
= Income
₹1,41,600
− Costs about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys
−₹69,900
= Left
₹71,700

A good year or field earns about a fifth more, a poor one a fifth less: ₹1,13,200 to ₹1,69,900 income an acre. Costs stay the same either way.

Work it out for your land

Mandi price, month by month

Best month
October, ₹2,500 a quintal
Lowest
April, ₹1,450 a quintal
₹1,450
₹2,500
J F M A M J J A S O N D

Rupees a quintal, typical across India's mandis: each month's latest price (Dec 2025–Nov 2026).

Latest prices near Tirunelveli Today's price across India

Source: Agmarknet daily prices and arrivals (India Data Portal).

Where it grows in India

Area grown in India
3.7 lakh acres
2025-26
Average yield
64.3 quintals an acre (15.9 tonnes a hectare)
2025-26
Most area
West Bengal
17% of India's

States that grow it

Each state's share of India's production, in its latest year with figures (2025-26). Tap a state to open it.

Source: Horticulture area & production statistics (Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare).

Where it grows most

The districts with the most area in recent years. The map colours every district growing it on at least 100 ha by yield; the numbers mark these districts.

No recent district figures for this crop.