Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Growing in Greenhouses & Polytunnels => Topic started by: JayG on July 23, 2014, 12:39

Title: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: JayG on July 23, 2014, 12:39
As many members will remember, probably a little wearily, I have failed for 3 consecutive years to get Passandra cukes to stay alive long enough to produce anything in the GH.

I now have lots of little Picolino's, one or two of which are ready to pick today (what do you mean "They're a bit small aren't they?" - they are supposed to be!  :tongue2:  :lol:)

Am I chuffed? Well, fairly:   (http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/dancing/funny-dance.gif) (http://www.sherv.net/)



I'm not blaming the variety for previous failures, I think they were just getting too much sun (if you look at the pic carefully you can see I've not totally overcome the leaf scorching but it's nowhere near as bad as before.)

(http://dl.dropbox.com/s/o1o1igpdgt5a3m3/First%20GH%20cukes.JPG)
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: Lardman on July 23, 2014, 12:49
 :D

May you have many a happy cucumber sandwich.

Will you like me now be giving up growing cucumbers ? :lol: 
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: Springlands on July 23, 2014, 12:59
Very nice JayG. They look perfect.  :D
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: Beetroot Queen on July 23, 2014, 14:11
Lovely well done
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: Growster... on July 23, 2014, 14:25
Excellent result, JayG! Well worth the perseverence!

Will you now be writing notes on how to grow cucumbers in a concrete block? Surely this is a new idea!
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: Lardman on July 23, 2014, 14:47
Will you now be writing notes on how to grow cucumbers in a concrete block?

Probably got more nutrients in than been and queued multipurp has !
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: mumofstig on July 23, 2014, 14:52
 :lol: True!
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: JayG on July 23, 2014, 15:37
Will you now be writing notes on how to grow cucumbers in a concrete block? Surely this is a new idea!

I suppose I could pretend that having taken on Lardman's advice about treating 'em mean I went to the trouble of constructing surroundings as much like a Soviet Gulag as possible, and you can't get much meaner than that!  :ohmy:

Truth is the concrete blocks are the uprights for my removable staging - not quite such a strange choice when I confess I bought them to make the base for the GH and then changed my mind!

Larders - will I give up growing them now? Er, that partly depends on what they taste like, and possibly whether any neighbours want some too, although I suppose I shouldn't get carried away and start counting my cukes just yet.  :unsure:
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: sunshineband on July 23, 2014, 20:36
Many congratulations, JayG on such lovely looking cucumbers  :D

and they will of course taste glorious, you know that  :nowink:

Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: Growster... on July 23, 2014, 21:45
Nice response, JayG!

Of course you've got a success story, and an excellent result too!

I don't really understand why I didn't use some blocks like that, we have loads everywhere..;0)
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: adri123 on July 28, 2014, 20:28
Great Stuff!!!.

I think this growing season has also been good for cukes.  We've also had success and now having to give away.

Make a great pickle.  Sliced cuke, Salt, Sugar and white wine vinegar.  Lovely cool from the fridge.
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: grinling on July 29, 2014, 20:32
are they all female cukes?
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: mumofstig on July 29, 2014, 20:36
Yes, they are.
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: JayG on August 03, 2014, 18:09
There are two plants, and they both produced a single male flower early on alongside the female ones - I pinched them off and left a copy of Germaine Greer's 'The Female Eunoch' in the GH for them to read and inwardly digest - no more male flowers since!  ;)

They are delicious by the way, thin-skinned, tasty, juicy without being watery.
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: Growster... on August 03, 2014, 18:39
Great result, JayG!

It seems that this year has been pretty good for cuces, and it makes up for all the years when we've sat and watched them die and flop everywhere!

We went down to 'The Patch' last week, with eleven cuces, and on the way down, we just gave them to everyone we met - including strangers!

Made a few friends I suppose...
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: Ma Lowe on August 07, 2014, 08:38
Well done JayG here's to many more little cukes.  I have grown Marketmore this year along with carmen (I don't seem to have much trouble growing cukes ..... Blows on fingers)
Anyway the Marketmore have tougher skins and the carmen seem to be a bit bland so will be trying a different make next year.
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: Lardman on August 07, 2014, 15:36
... the carmen seem to be a bit bland so will be trying a different make next year.

I thought the carmen pretty much supermarket fodder too. Looked the business, thin skinned but do real taste. The Iznik mini-cukes seemed much better.
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: cadalot on August 07, 2014, 16:28
I spotted two more little marketmores today, I'm hoping that there is enough good weather for them to reach a reasonable size. That makes 5 and I have picked one.
Title: Re: "We" have greenhouse cucumbers!
Post by: beesrus on August 10, 2014, 14:34
Always nice to see continuing efforts being rewarded.  :D
Contrary to popular belief, even rotting cucumber stems can recover if you take drastic action immediately ... ie ... don't water anymore at all  anywhere near the stems.... If they're in pots, and mine always are, it's always a good idea to find a method of keeping the pots tipped at an angle, so any accidental over watering quickly drains to a hole you've made in the compost with your fingers. Future watering goes straight into that hole and roots under the surface all gravitate to that side of the pot. As I've always used a slightly peaty compost for cucumbers that can hold water too easily, this gravity thing of tipping the pot is the best answer I could come up with. I've saved many cukes on death's door in May this way, and they just go on to produce plenty of fruit with a damaged constricted knarled old exposed stem, almost akin to some sort of hydroponic thing. They really can be quite hardy.