[Lulu]

OK - I did a daft thing,  I bought 3 F1, All Female Cucumber plug plants and now guess what?

Yep - that's right I haven't the foggiest what to do with them?  they are currently enjoying the company of lots of other plants in the greenhouse.  Now I'm thinking thats where they should stay for the rest of their lives? Where about in the green house should they be planted - at floor level or on the staging??? How big are these things gonna get?  I really did mean to do some homework first but the urge got me in the shop

please help my little cuc's?

One day I promise I will learn my lesson!!!

[mumofstig]

You had better bring them indoors at night until we stop having frosts...they don't like the cold unless of course your greenhouse is heated 
When it's finally warmed up a bit you can plant them in a pot or in the greenhouse border. They need netting or strings to climb up and will reach the ridge fairly quickly.

[Zippy]

Howe large should the pots be? 3L?

[DD.]

Without going into a discussion about litres/cms/inches again, mine go into at least a 10" diameter pot.

[SarahB]

Cucumbers are vines - they just keep on going.  So you need to put them on the floor by the time they're in their biggest pots - I'd suggest 10" is a minimum!     The year before last we let ours keep going to see what it'd do, it grew up 8' high and then we trained it another 6' along a wire - it had fruit all along it and seemed perfectly happy so long as we kept it fed.  I do hope you like cucumbers though, you're going to get a lot off 3 plants!   

[Lulu]

Let the adventure begin   

Thanks everyone

[viettaclark]

I've got 4 plants because I want to pick most small for pickling!

[Jamie Butterworth]

I got given one cucumber and one courgette plant today, but never grown either before. Any tips?

[SarahB]

I got given one cucumber and one courgette plant today, but never grown either before. Any tips?

Both are liable to stem rot if they're kept too wet; when you pot on, it's best not to plant too deeply, and mound the soil up a little at the stem so that if you do top water, the stem isn't sitting in a puddle.

The courgettes I've grown have tended to be fairly self-sufficient.  You just need to remember to keep picking them, and check under all the leaves or they'll stop flowering and you'll find you've got a marrow or two! 

If your cucumber is an under-glass one (i.e. not a ridge cucumber), they prefer humid conditions.  In a greenhouse you can water the floor (bearing in mind that tomatoes don't like it too humid) or, if you're growing it in a pot, fill a tray or saucer with gravel, fill with water and stand the pot on that.  This creates a bit more humidity just around the plant.

The other thing with cucumbers is the flowers - the male ones need to be removed, as cucumbers with seeds in can be bitter.  However, a lot of cucumbers grown now seem to be F1 hybrids which are bred to produce female flowers only.  (You can tell the difference because the female flowers have the tiny beginnings of a cucumber behind the flower.)

[DD.]

If, however, you cucumber is a ridge one, you need to leave the male flowers on!

Confused yet?

[SarahB]

If, however, you cucumber is a ridge one, you need to leave the male flowers on!

   Glad you knew that - I've never grown them!

Confused yet?

I don't know about Jamie, but it's my usual state of mind.   

[Jamie Butterworth]

I just keep finding differant things to confuse me

[johnfh]

And what food should you be giving to these plants?  What, how much and how often please?  11 of my 12 free DIG seeds have turned into lovely courgettes which will go in the cold frame and I bought a cucumber which will stay in the greenhouse with the tomatoes.

[Digger Tom]

 

The other thing with cucumbers is the flowers - the male ones need to be removed, as cucumbers with seeds in can be bitter.  However, a lot of cucumbers grown now seem to be F1 hybrids which are bred to produce female flowers only.  (You can tell the difference because the female flowers have the tiny beginnings of a cucumber behind the flower.)

If, however, you cucumber is a ridge one, you need to leave the male flowers on!

Confused yet?

 On the instructions on the back of my seed packet it says remove male flowers before opening to prevent pollenation.
 Looks like I have bought the wrong type as I want to grow outdoors. Oh well back to the garden centre lol

[DD.]

Look for "Masterpiece" or "Burpless Tasty Green F1". I'm growing the latter.