The aim of the work was to evaluate the risk of cultivation of cucumber pickling cultivars in Poland caused by unfavourable thermal conditions of soil. To achieve the goal of the work used starting data collected from 28 experimental stations of the Research Centre for Cultivar Testing (COBORU) and 47 meteorological stations of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) in 1966–2005 were used. Curvilinear regression analysis was used to determine the relation between the total and marketable yield of cucumber and soil temperature at the depth of 5 cm in the period of sowing-the end of harvesting. Potential, at least of 5%, reduction in the total yield of cucumber occurred when average soil temperature at the depth of 5 cm in the period from sowing to the end of harvesting amounted to ≤17.9°C and of the marketable yield ≤17.3°C. The highest reduction in yield, occurring in south-west and south-east part of Poland. The reduction was from 15 up to over 18% in the case of the total yield and from 12 up to 15% in the case of the marketable yield. On average, it occurred respectively every 1.5–2 years and 2.5–3 years. Taking into account the data from the whole country area in 1966–2005, a considerable increase appeored by 0.2°C/10 years in soil temperature in the period from sowing to the end of harvesting. The highest increase by 0.4°C/10 years was recorded in southern and central Poland and in the western part of the Masurian Lakeland where a risk of cucumber cultivation caused by too low soil temperature will probably in the incoming years undergo the quickest reduction.

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