Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Dan1957 on June 30, 2020, 13:48
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I grow cucumbers in a greenhouse. After years of successful growing, I'm having real trouble this year. Plants are generally not thriving (yellowing/slow growing) and new cucumbers are dying off, some before the fruit has properly formed. Plants are in new compost and watering and feeding regimes are unchanged from previous years. I don't think it's a pollination problem as tomatoes in the same greenhouse are thriving and fruiting well. Any suggestions gratefully received.
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The weather is weird and cucumbers have a deserved reputation of being difficult to keep happy.
Sorry but that's the truth...
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What variety are they?
Tomatoes reliably self-pollinate, all-female cucumbers don't need pollination, but some varieties do, which can be a problem in a greenhouse if not frequently visited by pollinating insects or pollinated by hand.
As for poor growth, as mum says, they can be fickle - my Divas have lived up to their name this year - currently looking quite good having looked like death was imminent on a least 2 occasions, and they've only been in there about a month!
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As for poor growth, as mum says, they can be fickle - my Divas have lived up to their name this year - currently looking quite good having looked like death was imminent on a least 2 occasions, and they've only been in there about a month!
I tried Beit Alpha as well as my last few Divas thought Beit would be less fussy - nope that's the one that has hardly grown since I planted it, but I've had 3 cukes off the 2 Divas. Cukes are weird, is all I can say ::)
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I've had 2 this year that have only thrown out seed leaves and nothing else, not even a small amount of stalk above ground; both Marketmore from a new packet of seeds (I keep coming back to this variety as we like it most despite trying others). One is still very much alive but just sitting dong nothing in the pot it was sown in almost 2 months ago. The other went in the ground to try and gee it along but was devoured by the slugs.....
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Thanks for replies.
Varieties are Louisa and Pony. Both all female. I agree about the general sensitivity of cukes but normally once they get past the initial live or die stage they romp away and thrive all summer. There's definitely something odd about them this year.
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Only thing I know for sure is that young cukes are easily damaged by overwatering, which can lead to the plant dying.