Wednesday, 10 June 2015

The cucumbers go it alone.

My cucumber plants have grown too big to fit under their cloche any longer, so they have to take their chances with the weather. Despite it now being well into June, our night-time temperatures are still mostly in single figures (Celsius, that is). Even though they have been protected by a cloche, the plants are looking a bit yellow and blotchy, though strong enough by the look of it.


Hopefully when we get some decent sunshine the plants will green-up a bit. I have given them a dose of general-purpose plant food, which will also help.


In that tub there are presently only two cucumber plants, (one each of "Diva" and Mini Munch") but I plan to add at least one more in due course. My "reserves" were grown indoors and have become very leggy, so I don't think I will use them. Instead I sowed a couple more about 10 days ago, so if either of those develop into strong plants I will use it.

The "Reserves" have gone leggy

As you will have seen, I have also erected the support mechanism - some bamboo canes pushed into the soil of their container, and held together at the top by a purpose-made plastic ring.


Have I been over-optimistic in using 7-foot canes?!


Actually, I think not. I have grown cucumbers like this before, using 5-foot canes, and I always have to stop them when they reach the top. So this time I plan to have an enormous tower of cucumbers! The grandchildren will be happy if I do...
Posted by at

10 comments:

  1. Daphne Gould10 June 2015 at 12:55

    I hope they make it for you. And I hope your weather warms up a bit. We were getting some cold nights, but not we are in for a warm spell. I guess that is good as summer is starting. I'll miss the spring cool temperatures though as I like them for my walks better than hot and sweltering.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jo10 June 2015 at 13:01

    I got my cucumbers planted up at the weekend, I have to say that I've grown better plants in the past. I think the weather this year has a lot to answer for, it's either a case of planting things out and hoping the wind won't damage them or keep them inside where they grow leggy or turn yellow whilst they languish in their pots. Your late sowing might just prolong the harvest for you, in fact it will probably catch up and be a stronger plant as it won't have to put up with unfavourable conditions (hopefully).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spade and Dagger10 June 2015 at 14:49

      Totally agree with everything you say - it's been a very tricky year so far for summer veg. Most things are delayed this year, so late start ones won't be far behind and will probably be better for not struggling against the weather for weeks.

      Delete
  3. Margaret10 June 2015 at 16:47

    I planted out my cucumbers last week and so far so good. Last year, I had several cucumber casualties after they were transplanted and I'm crossing my fingers that I don't have a repeat performance this year. Diva is on my list of varieties to try so I'll be interested to see how they do for you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jane Strong10 June 2015 at 19:04

    Hello, once you "stop" a cucumber vine, does it still set new fruit? Do side shoots grow out?
    I have the exact set up you do, pots, bamboo stakes and all, but I am growing the long, skinny Japanese cucumbers. They have grown to the top of the 5 foot-tepee (which Is held together by a zip-tie), back down to the pot and are starting up again.There's lots of fruits at the tip, but only at the tip. I'm afraid to pinch it off, for fear of no more cucumbers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mark Willis10 June 2015 at 20:46

      Hi Jane; Yes, when you stop the cucumber, side-shoots do grow. How many fruits did you get from each of your plants?

      Delete
    2. Jane Strong10 June 2015 at 21:41

      Mmmm ... I don't count them, just eat ...

      Soo Yoo has 9 on the vine at the moment
      See http://janestrong.blogspot.com/2015/05/erysiphe-cichoracearum-and-california.html

      Tsuyataro has 2
      Last year: http://janestrong.blogspot.com/2014/06/found-objects.html

      Tasty Jade, new to me this year and a second crop has 3 on one vine, three vines to a pot; the above are one vine to a pot (5-gal.)

      Armenian and Persian are not flowering yet, part of the second crop, the first two were planted in Jan or Feb, can't remember which.

      Delete
  5. Lowcarb team member10 June 2015 at 22:41

    The weather this year has not been good. Cool nights and quite blowy.

    It must get better soon - hope the cucumbers do ok

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  6. Daisy Debs11 June 2015 at 10:50

    That is looking good ! I found some plants at a local charity shop that looked like cucumbers ....or maybe courgettes .....or maybe butternuts...or maybe pumpkins ....oh dear no label but the kind lady said I could have all four for 50p . So I,ve planted them and we,ll have to wait and see what comes .

    ReplyDelete
  7. David11 June 2015 at 17:10

    we've had a hot and rainy streak that has everything really taking off. Cucs are looking good. Interested to see if your teepee can hold the weight...

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking time to leave me a comment! Please note that Comment Moderation is enabled for older posts.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)