[BARNACLE BILL]

Has anybody grown outdoor cucumbers in the North with good results ?

Thanks

[Annen]

I grew La Diva and marketmore last year and had loads of cucumbers.  It was an exceptional summer though.

[Mattgregory27]

When did you plant them outside?

[AnneB]

I grew Miniature White from Real Seeds last year here in Yorkshire with great success.  Previous 2 years, they were all eaten by slugs, but they were both horribly wet summers.  Planted out first week in June.

[Tracybutton]

I'm in North Yorks. and just planted mine out under cloches today. I'm trying Marketmore as I think they are supposed to be a bit hardier than some others.
My neighbouring allotment grew cucumbers last year and he got loads of cucumbers on just four plants.

This is my first year of allotementing so I think I've been a bit keen and planted a fortnight early, so fingers crossed.

[Irene]

I grow my outdoor cucumbers in pots..sometime with starts, sometimes directly with seed.

Below is a photo of one of last year's. The do wonderfully well and with a few pots I have fresh cucumbers for us and our neighbors.

[Tracybutton]

I grow my outdoor cucumbers in pots..sometime with starts, sometimes directly with seed.

Below is a photo of one of last year's. The do wonderfully well and with a few pots I have fresh cucumbers for us and our neighbors.

How many plants have you got in that pot Irene ? They look great.

[shoozie]

I grew marketmore for the first time last year - outside - not prolific, but a few good fruits.  Last summer probably isn't a good indicator of our usual summers here, so time will tell.

[Annen]

I've got 3 gherkins, currently expiring in the greenhouse at the moment

[Irene]

Tracybutton:

There would be three or four in the pot and I always have a trellis or cone stuck in to help with raising them.

They do very well here though I have to watch that they don't get too dry. I fertilize pretty regularly but its worth it with the production received.

This thread inspired me to get at it and I just seeded a pot with Bush Champion today.

[JayG]

Unlike my oft-confessed failures with GH cukes so far, I am usually successful with Marketmore outdoor ridge cukes here, although the summer weather does make a difference (last year was good, as others have said,) and I certainly wouldn't push my luck regarding when I plant them out (only sowed them a few days ago indoors!)

Grow them in MP compost in old dried chicken poo containers (with holes in the bottom of course) on a sheltered but sunny patio. I just let them trail over the slabs and they do pretty well - erecting netting or trellis would probably be better for them but a bit tricky to arrange in containers away from a wall, and to be perfectly honest I can't be bothered! 

[NewSteve]

How far apart should I space my cukes? The packet says 18", but can I plant them closer if I give them something to climb?

It would be great to fit a few more in, if they choose to live.

[Growster...]

How far apart should I space my cukes? The packet says 18", but can I plant them closer if I give them something to climb?

It would be great to fit a few more in, if they choose to live.

We're having three plants to a Levington growbag this year, in the past, with small bags it was only two, so your 18" spacing should be fine!

[mumofstig]

I grow 3 plants in a 30 lt tub - I'm guessing that they're planted about 12 ins apart, in that.

They need lots of feeding to do well though.

[pigguns]

I grew a Lidl Konsa from seed, it fed us nearly all last summer, one to a massive pot- sheltered but on the plot and outside filled with manure & homemade compost in the spring (I've got 10 on the go now  ).  Akito did well at home but not so prolific, again in a pot. 
I have teeny tiny baby cues on my indoor plants already; so cute! Greenhouse temps too cold overnight yet to put them out there....