[sunshineband]

There is an odd looking squash plant on my plot, gift for my DD, with lost label 

Prickly leaves kind of courgette shape but smaller, sprawling kind of habit. A few smallish flowers. Not very exciting, until Mr Sunny asked if it was a climbing courgette as it had tendrils.
Low and behond, it is a cucumber (DD said telegraph) and picked one yesterday about a foot long. 
The ones in the greenhouse, mollycoddled along, are only on their first little cues 

and I always though cucmbers needed looking after 

[Beetroot queen]

we have a few suprise ones, we thought it would be fun to see what happened

one tonight looks like a butternut squash no idea on the others 

[Trillium]

I grow only outdoor cukes and other than regular watering, I never fuss with mine. It's always a big surprise to find many large cukes that need eating asap 

[Spana]

I've stopped growing greenhouse cues because they just get covered in red spider mite and die. 
I'm going to try some outdoor ones next year after reading this. 
Do they taste as nice as greenhouse ones? 
Do they grow just like squash?
 I never thought they were worth trying in our climate. 
Is it just this hot summer that has made they do so well?

[JayG]

There have been many posts on here in the last few months celebrating (!) the cucumber's legendary commitment to dying as soon as possible and for any reason it can think of!

Cool temperatures (day or night) will usually finish them off until they get established so yes, this year has turned out to be quite helpful to them after a poor start (I've got 1 left but it's doing OK now!)

They grow like squash inasmuch as they have trailing vines and male and female flowers; to anyone claiming they are as vigorous as most squashes I say "  "

Living in Cornwall should give you a better chance than most places in the country! 

[paintedlady]

In the past I've only ever grown Marketmore outdoors and sorry to say this Jay, they have grown as vigorous as most squashes, and as prolific as courgettes     This year I'm also trying Crystal Apple/Lemon and La Diva, both growing outdoors and there's no doubt the warm weather has been very helpful and there are loads of baby cukes coming along

[JayG]

Mine are is Marketmore and I can only say I am very pleased for you Paintedlady!   

[Trillium]

This might be helpful. I remember watching British telly shows from the 50's and 60's where people growing cukes did so in large cold frames. The frames freed up precious greenhouse space and kept the cukes warm to start off. On nice days the tops were removed for airing and to avoid mold problems, then closed up for evening. On cold days the tops were left on so the cukes stayed snug. Perhaps more cuke growers should be using this method again. This year's heat in the UK is a bonus, one not likely to be repeated.

[shokkyy]

Strange you should say that. Last year I grew Marketmore outdoor cukes, had a few small fruit but they didn't really do well and overall they were a big disappointment. This year I'm trying Marketer variety but lost most of the seedlings in the cold snap so had to start off a second lot. I've got some in grobags, medium size and no fruit, but I had one odd one that I didn't know what else to do with so I stuck it in a big pot and put it in the coldframe. The only reason I put it there is I have to keep it away from my dogs because they're obsessed with eating the leaves of cucumbers and courgettes for some reason. In the space of a few weeks it's grown like a triffid, is way bigger than its fellow seedlings and has some fruit on it. It's so big that it's now completely filling the entire coldframe

[jabailey]

I grew La Diva outside last year and even in the poor summer it was prolific and we had a surplus of Cukes. This year I am expecting a bumper harvest!

[sunshineband]

Last year I grew Marketmore and they were OK but not as nice as Telegraph, which is supposed to be an 'indoor' variety.

That surprise plant is covered in cukes now and has covered about a square metre already. I've given it  ateea and planted abottomless bottle to get the water down to its roots, as they will need lots to swell properly 

[1st time veg grower]

My outdoor cukes always (she says...this is only my second year growing them! ) seem to do well! Last year I grew a mini variety which kept producing until the first frosts killed the vines - this year I am growing marketmore, burpless tasty green, Chrystal lemon and also melonie in the green house. With the outdoor ones I ate my first Chrystal lemon cuke about a week ago, another will be ready soon and have a marketmore that I've had my eye on picking for the last couple of days. Lots of embryonic fruits on all the plants. In total I planted 8 seeds and still have 8 plants - though admittedly one is clinging on for dear life after a slug ate almost through the entire stem! With my indoor ones there is lots of foliage but no flowers and no fruit...a bit rubbish so far...