[lesley1322]

just a quick question, i'm planning on growing my cucumbers in grow bags this year as last year they ran out of space and shrivelled and died after producing 2 cuc's in pots... but how many plants can i put in one normal sized growbag? it says on the back to plant 2 or 3 but surely thats far too many??

i was planning on putting just the one in but obviously if i can have 2 i will... what does everyone else do?

[Runwell-Steve]

I usually put 2 cues in a growbag in the greenhouse and they do fine in their.  I do always buy the big thick growbags of about 5 - 6 inches and not the stupid thin ones that only have about 1 - 2 inches of compost in them.

[RichardA]

I generally buy big bags of multipurpose potting compost (70 litres ) lay them flat bounce them a bit to loosen content and then would put two cues in each plus an empty plant pot as  a watering point. Still expect to feed though as the nutrients in a grow bag or in compost are soon exhausted.
R

[Pompey Spud]

A good tip was given to me about grow bags.

1. give the bag a good kicking to fluff up the content.
2. make the soil deeper by only using 2/3rds of the bag..ie fold the final 3rd over
3. Plant into a bucket with bottom cut off and plant this into bag.

worked well for me.

[Yabba]

1. give the bag a good kicking to fluff up the content.

And then some ... won't take long for been n queued to realise it's harder than their chipboard and then all your kitchen units will be built from growbags

¥

[lesley1322]

thank you everyone for your replies, i might put two in now i know its ok to do so...

i am growing "telegraph" cucumbers, does anybody know if there is anything special i have to do with the male or female flowers? last year i just had an all female hybrid and didnt have to do anything. this year i think i might.... never grown normal cuc's before.

[DD.]

You will need to remove the male flowers. If the female gets pollinated it can lead to bitterness.

[lesley1322]

how do i tell the difference when the flowers first form?

[DD.]

The female has an embryonic cucumber behind the flower, the male only has a thin stalk. (Titter ye not).

I'll see if I can find a piccie to help, it's of a courgette, but it's the same principle.

[DD.]

I've actually found  previous ones of cues that I'd posted before:

Female - note embryonic cucumber behind the flower.....



Male - thin stalk only...