meganb
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Cucumber cells need to be transferred?

My cucumber plants are about 6 inches tall already. Do they need to be staked? What is the best way to do that indoors? I'm afraid I started the seeds too early. This is my first try at organic gardening! I'm in Mass. so I think they will be inside for about 6 more weeks.

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rainbowgardener
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Oh man, yes indeedy, too early! :) Squash and cucumbers don't really need to be started indoors at all. I do often start some squash (same family as cukes) indoors, but if so I don't plant the seeds until my average last frost date. Your cuke, if it does well, will be huge in 6 more weeks.

The don't really need to be staked, they just sprawl. Are you growing them under lights or on a window sill? Either way the question will be what can you do with a large plant so that it all gets light.

meganb
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oh boy, good to know! so should I just scrap them or might they mature inside?

how about tomatoes, peppers and onions? will those be okay since I started them indoors so early?

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jal_ut
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I am giggling. Here I planted 2 squash seeds in a pot just cuz I had to grow something. It is a month before they could go in the garden and already they are blooming in the living room. My wife says I gotta get them outa here. So........ I am just going to toss them out.

The time to plant cucumbers is as soon as there is no chance of frost. In this country that is June 1. They can be planted where they will grow and actually do better that way than transplants. I have planted cukes as early as May 5 and sometimes they make it, but more likely they will get frozen. They do not tolerate any frost at all.

I doubt that they will produce much indoors, but it is your choice to try, or not. Oh, they will need to be hand pollinated if you go for fruit. Have fun.

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applestar
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:shock: :D It just makes me smile hearing that jal_ut sowed squash seeds in the house! :wink:

Even you couldn't take it any more, huh?

It sounds like they grow well for you, inside as well as out! :flower:

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rainbowgardener
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meganb wrote:oh boy, good to know! so should I just scrap them or might they mature inside?

how about tomatoes, peppers and onions? will those be okay since I started them indoors so early?
Whether they can keep going inside depends on whether you can provide the right conditions for a large plant, including lots of light.

The tomatoes, peppers, and onions should be fine. They are much slower growing than the cukes and they can be set out earlier. The onions are very cold and frost tolerant and can be put in the garden as soon as they are a reasonable size and hardened off.

The tomatoes can go outside to start hardening off if night time temps are at least in the mid 40's and can go in the ground any time after that that they are good sized, well hardened off, and low temps are staying mid to high 40's. Soil temperature should be 60.

Peppers are similar, except they don't want to come out until night time lows are at least 50. They need to be well and carefully hardened off. They can go in the ground when soil temperature is 65. Peppers are very slow getting started. I planted my pepper seeds at the beginning of February.

The cukes and squashes are the warmest of warm temperature plants and don't go in the ground until the soil temperature is up to 70. And as you have seen, they grow very fast!



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