Well, this year I am going to be trying two cucumbers. I dont have my seed yet for the ones I want to try in containers, but I do for the ones I will be trellising.
SO what are you growing? How are you doing them?
Do you do better as an early crop or late?
Blossombuddy - I usually sow cucumber seeds, but I have so many "volunteers" show up all over the place, that I'm not going to buy seed for next summer. Now that I've made that decision, probably not a one will show up!
I love cucumbers! I grow almost exclusively marketmore and poinsett because they're resistant to CMV. Last fall I had a few armenian type cukes show up in the bed and we loved them but they weren't very disease resistant. They grow year round here.
A few weeks ago we dipped to 27F, very rare here. The cukes were damaged, but are still producing. We had sprinklers running most of the night to protect them. The seedlings I covered with clay pots.
My mom always used clay pots to cover seedlings when the nights were cold. I don't think we had plastic pots back in the "old days"
Just in case anyone is in the mood........I thought this was interesting.
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/HG-44.pdf
I bet you could do the same thing with a pumpkin, gourds or winter squash.
My neighbor asked me yesterday if I was planning on growing cucumbers again this year. I answered no, but they tend to come up all over the place anyway, so perhaps she'll get lucky :)
Interesting article. Would be usefull for teaching kids about growing food. I'm going to save the article for my neice. She homeschools her kids and knows alot of homeschoolers in the area that are always looking for projects for the kids.
I grow most of my veggies in large containers as we have sorry soil. I trellis my cucumbers on cattle panel hoop houses and they go crazy. I love cucumbers especially in the hot summer.
I know for a fact that this would work for a tomato plant as well. I grow all my crops in containers of soil sitting in water so it's a hybrid hydro/soil/container system that defies a proper name. It grows marvelous tomatoes, peppers, cukes and squash. Tomato plants will send out 18" roots into the water and fill the pot as well. No cracking or blossom end rot. Cukes are never bitter with a steady supply of water.
Most plants are very adaptable to hydro. This experiment allows a clear understanding of how crops can be grown anywhere if their basic needs are met...
nutrients, water, temp and light.
Well, I hope I can get some started. I have a desperate need for a victory garden this year. Im gonna try to trellis some
I trellis my cukes on 16' hog panels I place over the plastic mulch. I'm a Diva buliva. LOL Diva cukes from Johnnys' are mighty tasty, and I'm sold on them.
ImaTulsaDawg, do you ever have problems with the cuke vines getting too hot on the hog fence? I"d been thinking of using a panel of hog fence but wasn't sure if it'd work.
Im gonna be putting my cukes on a hog fence....
Burpless cukes here...
I'm growing a hybrid cuke, Alibi, and Straight Eight, an open-pollinated variety this year. I'll be trellising on partial cattle panels, cut to about 6-feet tall. I'm thinking that may be optimistic on the height, but I'd rather have too much than too little. I cut the panels so that there is about 8" of wire to stick into the ground, with a small (3') fence post to stabilize the ends. I may arch the top over a little, to help the climbing and to make picking a little easier. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow.
David
Started seeds in peat pots today, trying Diva, Diamant and Cool Breeze, along with seedless watermelons. Using my heating pad that did so well with the peppers this year. After I plant them out, I will train them on metal mesh panel. Last year's cukes (can't remember which variety but they were a free sample from a seed order) failed, but we had a weird spring and they just didn't recover.
Blossombuddy ~ have you gotten the seed for your container cukes yet? Which one are you going to do in containers?
Only growing one kind this year & in containers... Spacemaster. We enjoyed them last year and I expect a repeat performance. Already in bloom...
No Podster I dint. I have not started any seed.. Got those at a local nursery.
Gardening this year has gone down the tubes for me. So had to punt. I will be lucky if I see pickles from these with my schedule now.
So pray!
I wasn't going to sow any cucumber seeds, but I found this opened package dated 2007 and thought "What the heck!" so I sowed some between my tomato transplants. Last year some volunteer cucumbers grew along with the tomatoes, and both did fine.
If the grow, they grow, and if they don't.... (shhhh) I'll probably sow more seeds!
I am not sure if I will put these cukes in a container or in the ground and let them climb..
I got a weed patch to sanatize before ground planting so they will be in a larger container first. I just might cut the bottom off the can they will be in though and let tme go to China that way.
I'm trying to figure out how one would sanitize a weed patch (scratching head) - personally, I just lug the darn things out by the roots :)
China? That's a long way to go for a cucumber sandwich (giggle)
LOL! Yeah it will be specially if the plant goes upsidedown! LOL!
I usually direct sow my cucumbers, but last year they didn't sprout.
This year I started them in peat pots 3 weeks before my frost date. They are already big enough to transplant and soon will outgrow their pots - and it looks like my frost date will be late this year. It is still freezing every night.
I will put them out under "Wall-o'-Water"s as soon as I get a decent afternoon to fill them up.
I planted Diva, and I will grow it up a chain link fence. It works okay as long as I don't let a cucumber form in one of the links. I do have a problem of being able to see the ones on the opposite side of the fence better than the ones on my side - It helps to have a second person to give directions.
Trellising them is supposed to make them grow straighter - but I haven't noticed that it makes any difference. I grow things on the fence because it is a good use of a fence that is there anyway.
Here's a post I saved from last year. I tried it and it works.
Horseshoe wrote:
If you pinch off the main vine after you see 6 sets of leaves it'll cause side-shoots to grow. The more side shoots you have the more cukes.
Once fruit begins to form you can pinch out the growth one set of leaves beyond the cuke, which will again create more shoots.
I have Tendergreen which is a good open pollinated one, Orient Express and Suyo. I have them planted by a trellis of sorts and the wind has been so strong the past couple days that their little tendrils all broke loose. I'll help them back up tomorrow.
Last year, I had no luck with cucumbers at all, but I'm trying again this year. This year I'm growing 3 types, Lemon cucumbers, white wonder, and Marketmore. Had the most problems with the squirrels digging up my seeds! They've all germinated (finally) and have at least 2 sets of leaves on them now.
I've been tempted to grow vines on my fence, but keep reminding myself that hubby sees deer on the other side some mornings before I get up. I don't want to give them an excuse to jump the fence - although why they haven't already done so is a mystery, the fence is only about 4' high. Perhaps it's the doggy smell.
Just happened across this thread. Last year we planted our cukes on this cattle panel placed like an A-frame. We had so many cukes it is a wonder we didn't turn in to one. By the end of the season the vines were up and over the top. I could stand, kinda, inside to pick the ones hanging. Of course we planted way more seeds than needed cause we like cukes so much.
I made lots of pickles refrigerator type and bread and butter using Splenda instead of sugar.
I do have a question, we usually only plant burpless because we like them better. Would pickling cukes make that much difference in the crispness of my pickles.
Love the info, wish I could understand the growing in soil and water as Twiggybuds posted on March 29th.
thanks,
Joy
I am trying to grow cukes this year in Juneau, Alaska. You may as well call it Fantasy Island if I manage to get any. I planted the first batch in peat pots and when I set them out for a few hours on a sunny day, they all croaked. Yuk.
So I started over.
I germinated several cuke plants over this weekend and put a few in the ground, a few in a container and a few into peat pots. I have planted the following cukes all from Baker Creek Seeds. All have some sort of protection such as a hoop house or a lean-to enclosure.
1. Dragon's Egg
2. Crystal Apple
3. Delikatesse
4. Telegraph Improved
Joyus, I am dying of cucumber envy.
Rick
Here you go Joyous. A new twist on container gardening. It works year round in zone 8 but for sure would work anywhere in the normal growing season.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1029953/
Burpless Slicers vs Picklers:
Pickling cucumbers texture usually holds up better to processing. That is true of a lot of fruits and veggies - the ones that are best for fresh eating are often too bland and soft when cooked. If you have extra slicers, you could give them a try.
You can use the recipe for cucumber pickles to pickle other types of vegetables. My sister made Bread-n-Butter pickles out of a mix of yellow summer squash and zucchini, and they turned out pretty good - I would think that they would be as soft or softer than a slicing cucumber.
TB, I started reading your thread last night and have it saved. What a lot of information.
Rick, remember they are last year's cukes and who knows what this year will bring. Can't believe your zone is so close to mine. Of course this year was not as cold as usual for us.
Pollengarden, thanks for the info, I don't think a cuke could ever be crisp enough. I don't think DH would even try a pickle from squash, seems I raised him to be picky over the years! LOL I usually do pickle the slicers but did buy some pickling seeds this year.
I wasnt' planning to plant cucumbers...but then I started ordering seeds and...
I planted Lemon Cucumbers. I remember them from my Mom's garden. Since this is my first veg garden in 20 years, it seemed like a nice connection to the past. I have 2 seedling that are doing well. I gave away several seedlings and many are doing well too.
I have them in a pot...but may transplant into the main garden.
I like that, I"I wasnt, but... " LOL! Got carried away didja!?
My zukes sprouted today.
I'm growing lemon cucumbers, and new this year will be trying Crystal Apple and Marketmore. I have a wooden arbor that my swing is in; it has lattice sides that I tack some netting to for the cukes to climb. No one sees the netting, and it provides me some nice shade for my swing. The cukes are planted in an earth box, and get lots of sun in that spot. Worked well last year, so I'm going for it again this year.
mom, ya gotta show us! That sounds awesome!
Will do after we get growing this season. Still a few weeks from planting cukes here (maybe longer the way our weather is going!!!!). For years I've grown decorative vines on the sides of this arbor....finally decided last year to put it to a more "productive" use. My suburban yard is too small to let space go unused.
I have really tried to focus on using whatever supports I have in place....I have rabbit fencing surrounding my veggie garden (which is inside of my decorative fencing) and I grow my peas up along my rabbit fencing--works great.
Mine are still in the GPS too. Im hoping it does not get cold, we have been having chilly nites.
Here's my list:
Muncher - heirloom from Germany
National Pickling
Lemon
Poinsett 76 - Have tons of seeds from the last two years that needed to be planted
Chelsea Prize - the only hybrid in my garden; these are old seeds that I wanted to use up
All of the seeds are from years past. Still had close to 100% germination. Almost all of my cucumbers are pretty tall now with flowers just about to open. I was thinking about thinning out the plants since all the seeds came up. But I will just leave them alone. There will probably be a million cucumbers this year. Anyone know any good cucumber/pickle recipes?
mom2goldens - I have been looking at all the "spare" spots in the garden and all the empty pots lying around. I hope to get busy during the next two weeks and put "something" in those pots. There are some sweet potatoes sprouting in my kitchen, and I have lots of "old seeds"
I feel more experimentation coming on :)
I have the Cucina tiny gourmet cuke from Parks Seeds, Cool Breeze bush type, and the long English types. There are babies on most of them but nothing edible yet. The Cucinas are just divine but the seeds are pricey.
Hope to be eating cukes in about three weeks.
