Hi there,
for number of years now we are trying to grow cucumbers. I am almost at the point of giving up...
they start out nicely every year, get some small cuckes... but then everything starts to dry out.
First few years we have rented a small patch of community garden, and cucumbers were just fine but then we moved to our backyard and... no decent crop since.
over years we did try different strategies.Added compost, watering, companion plants...Last year we installed raised beds... and still no luck. So far, I did not have much issues with tomatoes, or anything else, but pepper and cucumbers. I am not really upset with peppers for now though.
Is there something we need to feed specific ? Do something ?
Our summers are hot and humid if this makes difference. Please help.
thanks in advance
Hey there!
Did the community garden get more sun than your backyard? Cucumbers need and love light. They require lots of it!
Also, plant some bee-attracting flowers near your cucumbers. Not enough polination may the the cause of the problem.
In conclusion, what were some factors that you don't have in your backyard that you had in the community garden?
Did the community garden get more sun than your backyard? Cucumbers need and love light. They require lots of it!
Also, plant some bee-attracting flowers near your cucumbers. Not enough polination may the the cause of the problem.
In conclusion, what were some factors that you don't have in your backyard that you had in the community garden?
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applestar
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Yep need more details -- what variety are you growing? Are you trellising? When you say they "dry out" do they turn brown or are they getting powdery mildew? Do you get a lot of cucumber beetle infestation in the beginning? -- they transmit disease.....
Where you growing them the same way in the community garden? - did they have some kind of spray programs?
...BTW I never give the cucumbers my full- sunlight locations -- those are reserved for squash, melon, corn, and tomatoes for the needy varieties. Only exception are c.melo cucumbers -- actually members of the melon species -- like Armenian "cucumber".
Where you growing them the same way in the community garden? - did they have some kind of spray programs?
...BTW I never give the cucumbers my full- sunlight locations -- those are reserved for squash, melon, corn, and tomatoes for the needy varieties. Only exception are c.melo cucumbers -- actually members of the melon species -- like Armenian "cucumber".
It would help if you update your profile with your location and zone.
Cucumbers like a a well drained moderately rich soil high in organic matter with a pH of 6.0 to 6.8 but will tolerate slightly alkaline conditions. They like warm weather at least 70 degrees. Use a starter fertilizer like 8-8-8 or 10-10-10. I generally like to keep numbers fairly even and below 15 if possible. I generally use 9-12-12 (tomato food) or 6-4-6 with minors (vigoro citrus food) since they work for most of the plants I have anyway and I do not want to add a lot of phosphorus to my soil. If it is colder they slow down a lot. trellis the vines up if you want straight cukes. Put the trellis in when you plant the cukes. Cucumbers grow pretty fast and they need even moisture. Mulch to conserve water and to minimize splashing on the vines. If you have temps that regularly go into the high 90's consider growing one of the tropical varieties like Suyo long, Beit Alpha, or Thunder,
Warm weather is nice, humidity and rain are problematic. In wet humid conditions you will have to have a regular fungicide program or the vines will become severely infested with mildew. Keeping the vines up will help[ improve air circulation which is something they need a lot of, so don't crowd them.
Cucumbers can be gynecious, monoecious, or parthenocarpic. Like other cucurbits cucumbers have separate male and female flowers and require a polinator to set fruit, except parthenocarpic varieties where you actually don't want polination at all. If a parthenocarpic variety gets polinated the fuit will be fat on one end and skinny on the other and the seeds will be larger. It is still edible, but not what you want.
I like the parthenocarpic varieties because they are relatively seedless and are not usually bitter bitter. Almost every flower will produce a fruit. Diva, tasty jade, Tyria, Sweet Success, and Suyo long (suyo long is a Chinese variety that is heavily ribbed but very adaptible and heat tolerant.
All parthenocarpic varieties are gyonecious but all gyonecious are not parthenocarpic. gyonecious varieties produce mostly female flowers but usually packets contain seeds of monecious varieties to provide male flowers for polination. gyonecious varieties out perform the other types but you have to have more than one plant and there has to be male flowers around since they have to be polinated. Dasher II requires a pollinator. Burpless cucumbers are less bitter
Monoecious cucumbers produce half male and half female flowers and require polination like Tasty green, Summer Dance
Poor performance is usually related to poor polination or incomplete polination which will cause fruit to be aborted.
Fruit flies will sting young fruit. We cover melons with newspaper after they are polinated to give the fruit a chance to develop. Once the skin hardens even if the fruit is stung it will still survive and it is still edible if you cut out the damaged parts. Cucumber pickle worms. If they are a problem you need to net the cucumbers and keep the moths out. Make sure if you plant gyoneceous varieties that you plant more than one plant and that you have at least one monoecious plant to provide the male flowers.
Marketmore and straight 8 are old varieties but I don't like them because they are bitter
There is a lemon cucumber which is yellow and round
Armenian cucumber is really a melon but it does have a mild cucumber like flavor and it can get quite long but it is best picked at about 8-10 inches. The skin is very soft.
There are bush cucumbers like spacemaster but they actually take up more real estate than a vine. They take up as much space as zucchini, the cucumbers don't last very long and should be eaten the day they are picked or they start to lose their crispness.
Cucumbers like a a well drained moderately rich soil high in organic matter with a pH of 6.0 to 6.8 but will tolerate slightly alkaline conditions. They like warm weather at least 70 degrees. Use a starter fertilizer like 8-8-8 or 10-10-10. I generally like to keep numbers fairly even and below 15 if possible. I generally use 9-12-12 (tomato food) or 6-4-6 with minors (vigoro citrus food) since they work for most of the plants I have anyway and I do not want to add a lot of phosphorus to my soil. If it is colder they slow down a lot. trellis the vines up if you want straight cukes. Put the trellis in when you plant the cukes. Cucumbers grow pretty fast and they need even moisture. Mulch to conserve water and to minimize splashing on the vines. If you have temps that regularly go into the high 90's consider growing one of the tropical varieties like Suyo long, Beit Alpha, or Thunder,
Warm weather is nice, humidity and rain are problematic. In wet humid conditions you will have to have a regular fungicide program or the vines will become severely infested with mildew. Keeping the vines up will help[ improve air circulation which is something they need a lot of, so don't crowd them.
Cucumbers can be gynecious, monoecious, or parthenocarpic. Like other cucurbits cucumbers have separate male and female flowers and require a polinator to set fruit, except parthenocarpic varieties where you actually don't want polination at all. If a parthenocarpic variety gets polinated the fuit will be fat on one end and skinny on the other and the seeds will be larger. It is still edible, but not what you want.
I like the parthenocarpic varieties because they are relatively seedless and are not usually bitter bitter. Almost every flower will produce a fruit. Diva, tasty jade, Tyria, Sweet Success, and Suyo long (suyo long is a Chinese variety that is heavily ribbed but very adaptible and heat tolerant.
All parthenocarpic varieties are gyonecious but all gyonecious are not parthenocarpic. gyonecious varieties produce mostly female flowers but usually packets contain seeds of monecious varieties to provide male flowers for polination. gyonecious varieties out perform the other types but you have to have more than one plant and there has to be male flowers around since they have to be polinated. Dasher II requires a pollinator. Burpless cucumbers are less bitter
Monoecious cucumbers produce half male and half female flowers and require polination like Tasty green, Summer Dance
Poor performance is usually related to poor polination or incomplete polination which will cause fruit to be aborted.
Fruit flies will sting young fruit. We cover melons with newspaper after they are polinated to give the fruit a chance to develop. Once the skin hardens even if the fruit is stung it will still survive and it is still edible if you cut out the damaged parts. Cucumber pickle worms. If they are a problem you need to net the cucumbers and keep the moths out. Make sure if you plant gyoneceous varieties that you plant more than one plant and that you have at least one monoecious plant to provide the male flowers.
Marketmore and straight 8 are old varieties but I don't like them because they are bitter
There is a lemon cucumber which is yellow and round
Armenian cucumber is really a melon but it does have a mild cucumber like flavor and it can get quite long but it is best picked at about 8-10 inches. The skin is very soft.
There are bush cucumbers like spacemaster but they actually take up more real estate than a vine. They take up as much space as zucchini, the cucumbers don't last very long and should be eaten the day they are picked or they start to lose their crispness.
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pepperhead212
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- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
- Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b
I used to have trouble growing cukes, but last year I got a huge harvest when I grew them in an Earthbox (SIP). It was probably the constant moisture,yet never too much water, in that which made them produce so much. This year, I am growing them in individual SIP, so that I can start them 3 weeks apart, so I won't get so many at once!
I can only grow County Fair, since they are resistant to the bacterial wilt, which the cucumber beetles bring.
I can only grow County Fair, since they are resistant to the bacterial wilt, which the cucumber beetles bring.
We use trolleys. I just planted a new batch and do not have pictures from past years. I do believe they just turn brown from end slowly reaching roots branch by brunch.
we do not pinch any branches, but I would think it should be more concern for crop, not for dying plants.
Fertilizer... I have planted first 8 plants. I usually buy small plants some pickling and some English (or English like). They all dry out.
WE are using some kind of support. This year I am planting in the raised bed 4*4 2 plants per square feet.
What flowers is preferable to plant? Last year I had marigolds and it did not help much.
We have black/red current bushes around and some other edible ones .
I have planted half of plants and planning to buy second half. When /how I should fertilize. What kind of natural fertilizer you would recommend? Is there something I can add in the water to get them more nutrition?
thanks
Jul
we do not pinch any branches, but I would think it should be more concern for crop, not for dying plants.
Fertilizer... I have planted first 8 plants. I usually buy small plants some pickling and some English (or English like). They all dry out.
WE are using some kind of support. This year I am planting in the raised bed 4*4 2 plants per square feet.
What flowers is preferable to plant? Last year I had marigolds and it did not help much.
We have black/red current bushes around and some other edible ones .
I have planted half of plants and planning to buy second half. When /how I should fertilize. What kind of natural fertilizer you would recommend? Is there something I can add in the water to get them more nutrition?
thanks
Jul
If they are drying from the end, how old are the? Cucumbers are annuals they do not produce forever.
If the tips are drying first, I think your bed is not getting evenly watered. Try a SIP container. In s a SIP you would put your fertilizer as a band before you plant. You just have to keep the reservoir filled and the plant in the sun.
If the tips are drying first, I think your bed is not getting evenly watered. Try a SIP container. In s a SIP you would put your fertilizer as a band before you plant. You just have to keep the reservoir filled and the plant in the sun.
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applestar
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Hmm... I think buying plants is the problem myself. Cucumbers like all cucurbits are a bit sensitive of having their roots disturbed. You can run into problems if they had been dried out in their containers at any point, and when I do transplant them I go to all kinds of trouble to not touch them directly -- MINIMUM handling.
I admit to doing a bit of experimentation this year (you may have seen my little seedzip cucurbits), but I'm expecting them to fail more than succeed and that's why I have so many going -- thus ensuring that's they all succeed by Murphy's Law
They are ridiculously easy to start from seeds, and you can sow multiple seeds where you want them to grow, then just clip and cull the weaker ones. You will have many more choices in variety, too.
I admit to doing a bit of experimentation this year (you may have seen my little seedzip cucurbits), but I'm expecting them to fail more than succeed and that's why I have so many going -- thus ensuring that's they all succeed by Murphy's Law
They are ridiculously easy to start from seeds, and you can sow multiple seeds where you want them to grow, then just clip and cull the weaker ones. You will have many more choices in variety, too.
Make your own Sub Irrigated Planter = SIP
other names = earthbox, self -watering containers.
Here's the website to make your own. I prefer to use the 18 gallon rubbermaid tubs. It gives the plants more root space and can grow more plants. 5 gallon containers are ok for peppers and a small determinate tomato. It only has 3.5-4 gallon of soil so not for a large plant. The 18 gallon tub can have a 5 gallon reservoir and 10-12 gallons of soil. Much better for plants with large roots systems like tomatoes and cucumbers. (In a pot, my minimium size would be 15 gallons)
P.S. I usually only get 11 cucumbers from my vines mainly because they get mildew in my humid climate and I find it futile to fight it. It helps to grow cucumbers that have some resistance like Diva, Suyo Long, General Lee, Tasty Green, or Tyria. If you really work at it, tie up the vines, pick regularly, regularly fungicide every week, and the weather cooperates you can get 30 or more fruit. My vines are only productive for about 6-8 weeks from when they flower and they are done.
https://www.postoilsolutions.org/documents/Earthbox.pdf
other names = earthbox, self -watering containers.
Here's the website to make your own. I prefer to use the 18 gallon rubbermaid tubs. It gives the plants more root space and can grow more plants. 5 gallon containers are ok for peppers and a small determinate tomato. It only has 3.5-4 gallon of soil so not for a large plant. The 18 gallon tub can have a 5 gallon reservoir and 10-12 gallons of soil. Much better for plants with large roots systems like tomatoes and cucumbers. (In a pot, my minimium size would be 15 gallons)
P.S. I usually only get 11 cucumbers from my vines mainly because they get mildew in my humid climate and I find it futile to fight it. It helps to grow cucumbers that have some resistance like Diva, Suyo Long, General Lee, Tasty Green, or Tyria. If you really work at it, tie up the vines, pick regularly, regularly fungicide every week, and the weather cooperates you can get 30 or more fruit. My vines are only productive for about 6-8 weeks from when they flower and they are done.
https://www.postoilsolutions.org/documents/Earthbox.pdf
thank you very much.
I just found video where lady suggested to place some cut nettle leafs to the very bottom of the planting space and mix it with soil. leave some soil on top and then plant cucumbers. She watered it first time with some kind of composted tea (alternative with same idea) . She swears that results would be perfect.... I might try that as well. I am not sure if method would help while using SIP though.
I just found video where lady suggested to place some cut nettle leafs to the very bottom of the planting space and mix it with soil. leave some soil on top and then plant cucumbers. She watered it first time with some kind of composted tea (alternative with same idea) . She swears that results would be perfect.... I might try that as well. I am not sure if method would help while using SIP though.
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pepperhead212
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- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
- Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b
SIP stands for sub-irrigated planter, or self-irrigated planter, another interpretation of it, which means about the same thing - they have a reservoir underneath the container of mix above, and some wicking columns that go down into the water, and wick the water up, and keep the mix moist, but not too wet. And there is a strip of fertilizer (or a couple small "patches" of fertilizer, in bucket sized SIPs), which slowly releases into the moist mix. The container is covered with a plastic cover - often referred to as a showercap - which keeps the rain out, so the fertilizer will not wash out, or burn out the roots, by being released too quickly. The reservoir has an overflow point, so that the water can't get too high. Here's a link that tells a lot about these; though there are other brands, and many of mine are homemade, Earthbox has about the most info you can find in one link, as far as setup, and how many of various plants/container, etc. https://earthbox.com/jul1799 wrote:I am not sure what SIP container is. Please give me a full name.
Plants are not old. in our climate we plant end of may -begging of June. I hardly have 10 fruits prior drying out.
Last year I got over 90 cukes from just three plants in one Earthbox! And there may have been a few more, that I didn't get to count, as some friends pick a few things when I'm not here. Here's a photo on 7-7-16, with a bunch of cukes all over them, and one plant over 7 feet tall. I had never had any production like this before.
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pepperhead212
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I start mine around 4-20 indoors, in a jiffy pellet, and put them out about 3 weeks later, when there is one set of true leaves, and maybe just starting that vine in the middle, this way I got a jump on the weather. This year I only did one this way, and about 5-15 I planted some seeds in the container AND inside, just to see what would happen, and the ones outside did better, so I tossed the inside one. Next week I'll plant a couple more outside, to get my third plant, hopefully spaced enough apart that I won't be getting so many at once.
I grow Marketmore and have for years. Unless it is a very dry summer, mine are NOT bitter. Consistent watering is key, not enough water during the little cukes growing stage will make a bitter cuke. I dig deep before planting my seed and put in a spoonful of 8-8-8 fertilizer, and some eggshells, if I have them. When the plants start to vine, fertilize again. After they have good growth going, I only fertilize with liquid fertilizer every 2-3 weeks. Spacing is about 1-2 feet apart.