[Sparkyrog]

all female F1s have always failed me in the Greenhouse ! But in the polly its a different story ,last one I grew in 2011 turned into a triffid I watered daily fed weekly ,it ended up 15ft tall and I was throwing cukes away .Last was cut on december the 4th .Its's an 8" raised bed of pure compost with a double layer of weed suppressant fabric at the bottom to keep out the mares tail (a certain spray is now starting to have an effect on that ) it was a GC plant so don't know the variety but hope this helps 

[hightide]

I can't stand these things raw, I can only eat them pickled! After much pleading and refusal of OH to believe they are hard to grow I agreed to trial in our unheated green house. I surprised myself and much to OH's delight I successfully grew Beth Alpha F1 and agree with Auntiemogs they are a prolific and attractive fruit. Emboldened I tried Marketmore next - complete disaster inside and out. For the last two seasons I have grown Femspot F1 so successfully the neighbours now hide.
I cannot use my border soil as it is pure builders spoil encased in Hertfordshire clay, so I use the earthbox system, also for melons; the benefit is that you only need to keep the water level topped up. I grow the cucumbers as a cordon up bamboo canes and when they reach the centre line I pinch out the growing tip and also side shoots. Off topic, I have to leave the melon side shoots on as this is where the female flowers form. 

[devonbarmygardener]

I have never been good with cukes, until last year when I grew outdoor 'Marketmore' in my greenhouse and I got about half a dozen cukes which was thrilling!!

This year I have 'Marketmore 76' in pots outside against the back wall of my house (it gets the sun from luchtime onwards and the bricks hold the heat for hours, even after dark) and they are doing well.

I have also tried grafted 'Passandra' this year and they are currently prolific!! Loving it. The cukes are about 7 inches long, sweet and delicious and they keep on the plant well too.

Will go with grafted again next year

[Totty]

I don't think I'm doing anything seriously wrong but then it doesn't take much to upset cukes does it? 

Indeed  - I did ask people to say how they were growing them, cos I'm obviously doing something wrong as well   

I have 3 varieties growing this year, long John, Carmen and Delizia. They were started off in 4 inch pots of good multi purpose, mixed with plenty of grit. I always sow them a little deeper than suggested, I find the seedlings then tend to develop the first leaves closer to the compost surface, the stockier and less spindly they are the better IMO as the base of the stem is often the point at which they rot.
When well established, they go straight into the final growing position, in FRESH compost.

As soon as they start developing flowers I start feeding them with both phostrogen and nettle juice. The more nitrogen the better.

With the bigger fruited varietys, I usually nip off all sideshots and fruits to start with and get them well established before letting fruit start setting. When they really get going I let a couple of shoots grow and train them horizontally on strings. I'm convinced that allowing just a few side shoots and the leader to keep growing keeps plants tidy and crops are big. I always water through pots buried next to the plants and feed sparingly around the surface but always avoiding the stem.

Some sodden half rotting straw in between plants is watered every day, this keeps the atmosphere around the plants humid, something the cukes love and also keeps the dreaded red spider mite away.

Seaweed extract foliage feed really seems to work well with cukes, and at the first sign of a pest or disease and I spray them with vitax organic 2 in 1. The greenhouse is quite heavily shaded with cool glass as the hot direct sun seems to do them no favours.

It has worked upto now!

Totty

[Muls]

 Devon, I find the best down this part of the world are Melen cucs, hard to get hold of, haven't found any seeds yet but can let you know where to buy the plants - near ish you!

[devonbarmygardener]

Devon, I find the best down this part of the world are Melen cucs, hard to get hold of, haven't found any seeds yet but can let you know where to buy the plants - near ish you!

Are they for pickling?
I've never done that. I love cuke as simply cuke!

[mumofstig]

the best down this part of the world are Melen cucs

I'm trying a Carosello Barese is it one of those types? - it's put a spurt on with the warm weather, but no flowers yet 

[JayG]

Can't speak for MumofStig (who started the thread  ) but I'm finding all this information very useful.
Thanks to all, and don't stop on my account! 

Even though my 8X6 greenhouse only gets full sun through one of the narrower ends it was still enough to curl up my Inca toms growing next to it this year, and their recovery, and the partial recovery of the Passandras, has coincided with covering that end with bubble wrap to diffuse the light somewhat.
I've also put a tray with wet gravel underneath the cukes to try to raise the humidity a little, and watering, with added tomato feed, is sparing and from underneath to avoid wetting the stems.

Meanwhile, I am about to be over-run with ridge cukes from the outdoor Marketmore, but it's the Passandra I really want to get at least 1 cuke from after 2 years of complete failure. 

[devonbarmygardener]

I've not shaded my greenhouse at all this year and normally this scorches the cukes to death!
There is a 6 ft fence around 2 sides of the greenhouse and a large buddleia on the other side, but it gets sun from the early morning onwards.

A couple of the leaves touching the glass have gone a bit yellow and scorched looking, but the plant is managing to carry on.
They are grafted plants 'Passandra' as I've said previously - may be they are a bit stronger than non-grafted plants.

By now, any I've sown have succumbed to what I thought was too much sun, despite shading in previous years.

[JayG]

I certainly would hope for your sake DBG that the grafted Passandra is more robust than those grown from seed (they're more than expensive enough for me!  )

Cukes are renowned for looking for an excuse to die, which to me is another way of saying there are many different cultural mistakes you can make, any of which can kill them off.

They don't like the cold, and probably don't like excessive sun through glass either - the extra warmth probably helped compensate for not shading your greenhouse this year (not that it worked for me!  )

[mumofstig]

What I've noticed today is that the roots have started to grow out into the water at the bottom of the self watering pot (made with youtube instructions  ) and I have cut my first cuke  Let's hope they carry on now they've worked out how to do it 

[devonbarmygardener]

I certainly would hope for your sake DBG that the grafted Passandra is more robust than those grown from seed (they're more than expensive enough for me!  )

Cukes are renowned for looking for an excuse to die, which to me is another way of saying there are many different cultural mistakes you can make, any of which can kill them off.

They don't like the cold, and probably don't like excessive sun through glass either - the extra warmth probably helped compensate for not shading your greenhouse this year (not that it worked for me!  )

I am going to buy the grafted cukes again next year - that's for sure!
Picked 4 lovely cukes off them an hour ago!

[AnneB]

I have had success with Miniature White from Real Seeds.  It is fine for a cool greenhouse, someone on our plot has it in theirs, but I even manage to grow it outdoors, although they expired without cropping last year.  This year my two are rampant climbing up chicken wire, with some early assistance.  Picked the first one today, it is 3" long, enough for 1 meal.  There are at least another 30 small ones that will be ready soon.  Planted them out the same time as my courgettes.

[Springlands]

I certainly would hope for your sake DBG that the grafted Passandra is more robust than those grown from seed (they're more than expensive enough for me!  )

Cukes are renowned for looking for an excuse to die, which to me is another way of saying there are many different cultural mistakes you can make, any of which can kill them off.

They don't like the cold, and probably don't like excessive sun through glass either - the extra warmth probably helped compensate for not shading your greenhouse this year (not that it worked for me!  )

JayG - I wonder if cucumbers since the growers anxiety and then just up and die for a laugh. 

[JayG]

JayG - I wonder if cucumbers since the growers anxiety and then just up and die for a laugh. 

Moi, anxious about my cukes?