We studied the influence of gradient temperature regimes on various parameters of the formation of shoots and roots of cucumber plants, such as rate of leaf appearance, rate of growth, duration of growth and length of leaves, and the rate of growth shoots organs and roots. The plants were grown under the controlled conditions: at different combinations of day and night temperature, illumination 100 W/m2, and 12 h photoperiod. The comparison of constant and fluctuating diurnal temperature regimes has shown that in the optimal area for all studied indices, the highest values were recorded at the constant daily temperature (25°C for all growth indices of shoots and 20°C for growth of roots), while all gradient regimes either did not affect, or exerted inhibitory effects on the plant. Outside the optimum area, the effects of gradient temperatures differed. The main acting fluctuating temperatures, that exerted stimulating effects, combined low hardening (15°C) and optimal temperatures (25°C), which was earlier described for animals. The 15/35 and 35/15°C combinations were unambiguously inhibitory, since both temperatures are hardening for the cucumber. A lesser stimulating effect of gradient temperatures on the developmental rate in a plant, as compared to poikilothermic animals, could be due to a greater autonomy of plant ontogenesis because of autotrophy and, correspondingly, a greater degree of homeostasis. The mechanisms accounting for the responses to temperature gradients are similar in different groups of ectotherms.