Cucumber cultivation in Poland is connected with a certain climatic risk, producing small yields of the plant. Selection of areas suitable for cucumber cultivation should be based not only on soil conditions and agrotechnical recommendations, but also on knowledge of the rate of growth and development of the plant. The aim of this work was to determine the effect of solar conditions and the thermal conditions of air on the variability of cucumber developmental stages in Poland from 1966–2005. To achieve the goals, data was collected from 28 experimental stations of the Research Centre for Cultivar Testing (RCCT) and 50 meteorological stations of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMWM) concerning respectively: the duration of cucumber development stages and sunshine duration and air temperature from 1966–2005. The relationship between the duration of developmental stages and the examined meteorological elements was determined by analysis of linear and second degree polynomial regression and thermal requirements of the cucumber in the period from sowing to the beginning of fruit setting, determined by means of the effective temperature sum method. Results obtained in this work may be used, for example, in the process of adjusting field production of cucumbers to changing climatic conditions in Poland.

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