ewipf
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon May 15, 2017 11:14 am

Hydroponic Cucumber Plants

I have large cucumber plants in my hydroponic system and all they produce is male flowers. There are 2 female flowers on the vines which I pollenated by hand but my cucumbers don't grow. What am I doing wrong?

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

If the plants are young not a problem. Most gynecious plants will put out male flowers first to attract pollinators. It also takes multiple visits to pollinate the fruit so I would make sure you do a good job of pollinating the cucumber and make sure you are getting the pollen on the right places.

I prefer to grow parthenocarpic cucumbers. I get more fruit, and because the seeds are small, it is less bitter. Once in a while though, they will produce some male flowers and the bees will pollinate my cucumbers. Then they get fat on the blossom end and the seeds are bigger.

PingoBags
Full Member
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2016 6:31 pm

Mine started the same way. I don't even think I had one female flower. After a week or two, it was covered with both.
I pollinated with a fine art paint brush since I never had many pollinators in my greenhouse.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

The parthenocarpic cucumbers are perfect for the greenhouse since you really want to avoid pollination. Since almost all the flowers are female, yields are high. Small seeds = less bitterness. Parthenocarpic seeds are a bit pricier.

I like Diva and Tasty Jade for their long crisp cucumbers
Suyo long has a mild taste and can get quite long but it has a rough skin. I do grow it the most because it is also very heat tolerant.



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