I don't seem to be able to grow cucumber in a satisfactory way. The plants don't last more than 6 weeks, and usually succumb to some insect spread desease. A friend of mine suggested that I transplant seedlings, instead of relying on direct-sowing, but what is the best variety to choose? What kind of cukes are TRULY desease resistant (and possibly not GMO)?

Are you sure it's an insect problem? Cucumbers will often succumb to powdery mildew if they don't have enough light/space/airflow. You might have insects overwintering in the soil, too. But you could try floating row covers too--to keep off flying pests like cuke beetles.

I'm not up on disease resistant varieties because I haven't had the same problems--I grow "Mid-East Prolific" and "Lemon." My mom swears by "Diva"--and she has a lot of cuke-growing issues too.

Cukes beatles are most likely pest.
As for diva it has some resistance to the cukes beatle
as well as not requiring pollination so it can be grown underrow covers all season.

I start mine from seed four to six weeks ahead of time, and transplant them out in plantable pots (paper bags, actually). Then I cover them up with a floating row cover...I learned to do this in nebraska with ALL my cucurbits or the squash vine borers and squash bugs would get them. If the bug didn't kill the plant, the disease they carried would. However, once they were old enough to outgrow the row cover, I would sprinkle Bt and spray with predatory nematodes and keep an eye on the main three forks in the vine for any sign of insect damage. After that, I didn't have any problem. The larger and more vigorous the plant when the bug or disease attacks, the more likely it will shrug it off. I also suggest that you bury a couple of nodes on the vine in soil or compost and manure to provide a little extra root mass.

What zone are you in? Are you growing them on bare soil or on black plastic or trellising them?

Thanks for the reminder, I've got to get those cucumber seeds started. I've been growing Diva for several years and really like it. It seems to do better if I don't direct seed it.

Where are you Gardpro? In my area, planting cukes and squash after June 1 greatly reduces the infestation of critters and disease. Besides that, they germinate and grow faster once it's really warm.