[shokkyy]

I've got a few outdoor cuke plants that all look very healthy. Some are bigger than others, but a couple of them are making a bid for world domination. They all have lots of small fruit on them and the bigger plants are smothered in them, but the fruit are just not growing. They've been small fruit for weeks now and they're just not getting any bigger. I feed with tomato feed once a week and water daily. Some plants are in grobags (2 per bag) and a couple in big pots. The variety is called Cetriolo Marketer, which I've never grown before.

Any ideas why?

[Pellynut]

Try a High Nitrogen feed instead of the tomato feed. 

[Yorkie]

Surely a high nitrogen will target leaves rather than fruits?

[andy135]

I concur with Yorkie. I would stay with the Tom food. I have had the same problem with my indoor cue's but they have suddenly started growing this week. It's a very strange season.

[sunshineband]

These are quite short cucmbers aren't they? I meant is that how big they grow to?

[shokkyy]

These are quite short cucmbers aren't they? I meant is that how big they grow to?

Oh good lord, I certainly  hope not. When I say small fruit, I mean the size of a paperclip

[viettaclark]

Can I suggest you ignore them for a few days? I was inspecting my cues, squash and courgettes twice daily and nothing was happening.
Today I picked 3 cues and 4 HUGE courgettes and I just didn't look too closely for a few days!!
Magic!
Now I'm expanding my pretend lack of interest to the green tomatoes........wonder if it will work....
(I water and feed everything with my eyes closed.....)

[sunshineband]

These are quite short cucmbers aren't they? I meant is that how big they grow to?

Oh good lord, I certainly  hope not. When I say small fruit, I mean the size of a paperclip

  whoops , I thought you meant far biiger

Just water then with a touch of tomoato food in  and try not to stare at them.. maybe they are very nervous sorts 

[totalnovice]

Can I suggest you ignore them for a few days? I was inspecting my cues, squash and courgettes twice daily and nothing was happening.
Today I picked 3 cues and 4 HUGE courgettes and I just didn't look too closely for a few days!!
Magic!
Now I'm expanding my pretend lack of interest to the green tomatoes........wonder if it will work....
(I water and feed everything with my eyes closed.....)

This method certainly worked for my cucumbers, and for my squash, they never set to fruit for AGES and now i have lots of little fruits!

[Pellynut]

You're right Yorkie - high nitrogen will make leaves grow - but I was advised to try this last year - Chempack 2 - and it certainly helped with lots of cues - same this year.  And if you look on the back of a pack of Chempack 2 it does say for cucumbers, as well as other green leafy veg.

[KT]

Oooh im glad it's not just me having trouble, im exactly the same i have 4 cuc plants' i've had 1 cuc off one plant about 1 week ago and the rest are the size of paper clips. I've actually gone out today and put a poly over them (they are supposed to be an outdoor variety because i thought it was too cold perhaps)

[shokkyy]

Oooh im glad it's not just me having trouble, im exactly the same i have 4 cuc plants' i've had 1 cuc off one plant about 1 week ago and the rest are the size of paper clips. I've actually gone out today and put a poly over them (they are supposed to be an outdoor variety because i thought it was too cold perhaps)

I'm happy to report I cut one big cuke about a week ago and I've got one that's just about big enough to cut, and a couple more about halfway big enough. And in fact I think I let the first one grow a bit too big before cutting, because it was just starting to go a bit hollow in the middle. I think they were just a bit slow starting. I did start giving them tomato feed once a week, so maybe that's what did the trick. but now they've started I have a suspicion I'm going to be drowning in cucumbers in a few weeks. Maybe 6 plants was a few too many

One thing I have noticed is the ones I put in grobags are doing way better than the ones I put in pots. They were smaller seedlings yet they've caught up and overtaken the ones in pots. And they are very big pots, so it's not that they don't have enough room. I'd say they've got far more compost than the ones in grobags, so I don't know why.

And slightly off track here, but what's the difference between a cucumber and a gherkin? I mean, I quite like gherkins on my burgers, so if I do end up with a glut of little cucumbers would they be suitable for making pickled gherkin with, or do they have to be a gherkin variety?