My cucumber plant only had one or two grow this year. Can anyone explain?

Answer 1

You mean fruits?
It is because they did not get pollinated.
Read on
from http://vric.ucdavis.edu/faq.htm
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Squash, cucumber and melons require insects, usually honeybees, to pollinate the flowers. When no insects are available, the fruit is not pollinated and so it shrivels up and falls off the plant. When no bees are present in the garden or the bee
population is too low for good fruit set, the dedicated gardener can substitute for the bee by pollinating by hand. Hand pollination is a tedious chore, but it is the only means of obtaining fruit set in the absence of bees.

The pollen is yellow in color and produced on the structure in the center of the male flower. You can use a small artist's paintbrush to transfer pollen, or you can break off a male flower, remove its petals to expose the pollen-bearing structure, and roll the pollen onto the stigma in the center of the female flower. When hand pollinating, it is important to use only freshly opened flowers. Flowers open early in the morning and are receptive for only one day.

The female flower in cucurbits can be recognized easily by the presence of a miniature fruit (ovary) at the base of the flower. Female squash flowers are much larger than the female flowers on melon and cucumber plants. The male squash flower can be identified by its long, slender stem. The female squash flower is borne on a very short stem.

In melons and cucumbers, male flowers have very short stems and are borne in clusters of three to five, while the females are borne singly on somewhat longer stems.

Answer 2

quitenewhere had a good answer. That is most likely your trouble. I do have a funny story to share tho. I have learned about many gardening mistakes the hard way, and one of them was don't grow similar veggies close together. I was growing cukes and yellow squash a few years back and put them next to each other. What I got was a huge bizarre looking greenish yellowish thing about 1 1/2 feet long that was inedible! The only thing I can think of is the plants cross pollinated with each other.

Answer 3

Not the best year for veggies here this year (N.E. USA). For cukes, they need sun, good food (fertilizer as they feed heavy) and daily water. Plants need good leaf set before they make their cucumbers so if there are not a lot of leaves and/ or the leaves are spotty (they get fungus easy from watering and dampness) and you didn't water most every day, that would be why. I bought cheap fertilizer this year for the few plants I grew and was really sorry as I did know better. I wasted my time and money. This year also, at least here, the amount of sun days were not really very good.

Answer 4

She is correct about the pollenization, but you also need good soil and water them often, too.I use an old farmer's method and plant other plants to attract the butterflies, bees, etc.

My garden is bordered first by Vinca Major, then with marigolds, and then inside of that are nasturtium. I even let some milkweed grow in the garden for the butterflies' larve to feed upon.

So those three things will improve your garden - good soil, water often, and complementary plants.