Commercial cucumber greenhouse procurement — start from your yield target
Size a cucumber project from the yield target and the number of cycles per year. Indicative annual marketable yield runs roughly 20–40 kg/m² in a basic tunnel, 40–80 kg/m² in a medium-tech greenhouse and 80–140 kg/m² in a high-tech high-wire glasshouse running multiple cycles. Cucumber's short cycle makes turnaround, hygiene and irrigation capacity as important as structure — specify them in the RFQ.
Cucumber produces the highest kg per m² of the common greenhouse vegetables, but only because it runs several short cycles a year. That makes crop turnaround, disinfection, irrigation peak capacity and labour logistics part of the procurement decision, not an afterthought.
Set the yield target, let the planner convert it into area, plant population and water demand, then take that configuration into one supplier-neutral RFQ.
Start from your cucumber yield target
Enter the annual tonnage you need and the technology level you can realistically operate. The planner derives an indicative area, plant population and water demand, and carries the whole configuration into the supplier-neutral RFQ Builder.
Yield band 40–80 kg/m²/year
Mid-band area plus 12% circulation and technical space
1.4–2.5 plants/m² planning density
8–20 litres per kg of produce
Motorised ventilation, cooling, climate computer and substrate fertigation supporting three cycles per year.
- Gutter height ≥ 4 m with high-wire or umbrella support
- Motorised ventilation, shading and a cooling strategy for the design day
- Climate computer with humidity control and irrigation scheduling
- Substrate slabs or channels, gutters, drain collection and drain-water analysis points
- Fertigation unit with EC/pH control, dosing channels, mixing tanks and recirculation
- Irrigation network: filtration, mainline, dripper lines, pressure compensation
- Water treatment, buffer storage and pump capacity sized to peak short-cycle demand
- Crop-change hygiene: floor cover, disinfection points and waste handling
Indicative planning figures only — no yield, cost or performance guarantee. Your agronomist and the qualified suppliers you select confirm the final design.
Cucumber yield planning bands by technology level
Planning bands drawn from widely published commercial protected-cultivation practice, used to size a tender. They are not a guarantee — genetics, climate, water quality, agronomy and management decide the outcome. Cycle pattern: Short cycles of roughly 3–4 months; two to four cycles per year depending on climate and technology level.
| Technology level | Indicative annual yield | What it typically includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic tunnel / naturally ventilated | 20–40 kg/m²/year | Naturally ventilated structure with drip irrigation, typically two cycles per year. Highly exposed to disease pressure and heat. |
| Medium-tech climate-controlled | 40–80 kg/m²/year | Motorised ventilation, cooling, climate computer and substrate fertigation supporting three cycles per year. |
| High-tech high-wire glasshouse | 80–140 kg/m²/year | Full climate control with heating, screens, CO₂ and drain recirculation running three to four high-wire cycles per year. |
Agronomy fixed before any supplier is contacted
- Fruit type: long Dutch, mini or beit-alpha, which changes density and support
- Training system: high-wire, umbrella or single stem
- Number of cycles per year and the crop calendar, including turnaround days
- Disease pressure and the hygiene protocol between cycles
- Young-plant supply and whether grafting is used
- Packaging format, since shrink-wrapping changes the packing line
Site data every bidder must receive
- Climate data and the design outside condition for cooling
- Water analysis and available flow at the peak of a short cycle
- Electrical capacity and reliability for cooling and irrigation pumps
- Local virus and pest pressure that dictates screening mesh
- Wind and snow loads from the local code
What the cucumber RFQ must cover
Every bidder should answer the same lines. When one supplier prices a structure and another prices a production system, the comparison is meaningless — this is the scope that makes proposals comparable.
Structure and covering
- Span, gutter height and loads suited to a high-wire crop
- Covering with light transmission and diffusion stated
- Concrete or covered floor for hygiene and crop-change speed
Climate and hygiene
- Effective ventilation area after insect-screen derating
- Cooling capacity at the design condition and humidity strategy at peak load
- Heating for cool-season cycles and screen configuration
- Disinfection points, drainage and waste-handling scope for crop changes
Water, fertigation and crop system
- Peak irrigation flow, since short cycles concentrate demand
- Fertigation unit capacity, EC/pH control, recirculation and disinfection
- Substrate, gutters and drain collection
- Support system matched to the training method
Commercial and handover
- Transport, offloading and installation scope
- Commissioning at design conditions and operator training
- Warranty by component group and spare parts for high-cycle equipment
- Service response time in-country, which matters more with short cycles
Where cucumber quotations most often go wrong
- Yield quoted per cycle and compared against another bidder's annual figure
- Pump and fertigation capacity sized to average, not peak short-cycle demand
- Crop-change hygiene infrastructure excluded, slowing turnaround and raising disease loss
- Insect screening mesh reduced to protect airflow figures, raising virus risk
- Packing and shrink-wrap line missing although the market format requires it
Financing note
SeedMatchGroup is not a bank, lender, credit provider or financial adviser, and quotes no rates, approvals or commitments. Where a qualified commercial project requires funding, it may be introduced to independent third-party financing providers, who control all eligibility, pricing and decisions.
Cucumber procurement questions buyers ask
SeedMatchGroup is an independent, supplier-neutral procurement platform. It does not manufacture, engineer, install or guarantee agronomic performance. Yield, water and plant-density figures on this page are planning bands used to size a tender — the qualified independent suppliers, agronomists and contractors you select confirm the final design and any performance commitment.
The definition checklist that makes proposals comparable in the first place.
Section-by-section specification structure for a professional tender.
What actually moves CAPEX per m² — country, crop, loads, climate strategy, automation.
CAPEX, energy, water, labour, replacement and cost per kg over the asset life.
Normalise price per m² and flag missing scope across up to three quotations.
Normalise ventilation, cooling, humidity and water/energy OPEX before price.
Crop, climate, area, growing system and automation defined step by step.
One structured scope sent to qualified suppliers, so every proposal is comparable.