Growing / preserving gerkins

[Primrose]

Thought I wouldn't hijack the Cucumber thread and would start a new one. Have been given a packet of gerkin seeds. Never grown them before but want to try a couple of plants in an open border. How many fruit does an average plant yield?
Also, as I love gerkins preserved in dill liquid, can anybody provide me with a recipe/method for preserving them in this way please. Obviously better if I can grow my dill from seed too? I'm not sure how much of it is needed for preserving a few jars.

[Westi]

Hi Primrose

I can grow cucumbers without a hitch but I've never had any success from Gherkins. I can get them to the point where there are little fruit but they just fall off the plant at this point. I presume they are stressed somehow but are treated no differently to the cucumbers which are usually abundant. Will look forward to the replies as I do like them.

My current favorite is one in a chilli vinegar. It appear there is just 1 long chilli in the bottle, they are not hot but the chilli does go into the gherkin so the flavor is there. Don't know how long they are left standing to get to this point though.

Westi

[retropants]

Hi primrose, I usually pop one dill flower head into the jar with the sliced gherkins and vinegar. Easy as that. My dad loves them, practically hovers them up! I grow mine outside, they are usually fine, but last year were a bit pants.

[Primrose]

Retropants, thanks for that. Sounds worth a try. Do you put any sugar into the vinegar? i want to try and reproduce the flavour of the commercial ones you can buy as we like them so don,t want anything that is too tart or sour

[FelixLeiter]

I've grown gherkins without doing anything differently from how I would grow cucumbers and they have been abundant. Unlike glasshouse cucumbers, gherkins need to be pollinated, which could be why sometimes fruitlets are seen to appear but then fail to fully develop. Stepping in with a rabbit's foot or camel-hair brush to spread the pollen around may help with fruit set.

Pickling, on the other hand, has not been quite as successful in that the pickle formulae I've attempted have all been rather too sharp, ranging from not very good to downright unpalatable, usually too salty or sharp. I've been aiming for a sweet pickle like the ones I buy but without success. I've got the flavour something near the mark, but the gherkins quickly moulder. I don't want gherkins that I have to keep in the fridge or eat up after a short period of time. To me, that's not the point of pickling.

[retropants]

Ooh, forgot to mention, you need to soak the slices in saline overnight, before you jar them up, rinse them we'll afterwards too. As for sugar, no, as that is how my dad likes them, but you may need to, you'll just have to do a taste test. Mine rarely last long enough in the jar to pickle properly, dad is just too impatient!

[Primrose]

Felix. Yes a match to the commercial ones is what I,m aiming at too, and definitely not short ,life pickles which have to be refrigerated. I think when the time comes it's going to be a matter of experimenting. The problem is that if you get it wrong you have to wait a year before the next crop and a re-trial! I suspect the secret is to make one jar up early in the cropping season noting the ingredient proportions and then taste and try again before the end of the season if you need a re-run.

[Primrose]

Am just sowing my gherkins now. As they were a bit of an afterthought this year and it's the first time I've grown them, the only spare growing space I'm likely to have is alongside my cucumbers in an open border. Is this likely to cause any cross fertilisation problems? I take it that in view of their habit they won't be happy growing in containers? Presumably they DO have the same trailing habit as cucumbers but just produce smaller fruit?

[Primrose]

Well I now have four little gherkin seedlings germinated and wonder if anybody can enlighten me on the risk of cross pollination if I plant them in an open border next to the cucumbers?

[alan refail]

Well I now have four little gherkin seedlings germinated and wonder if anybody can enlighten me on the risk of cross pollination if I plant them in an open border next to the cucumbers?

Inevitable, but only a problem if you're saving seed.

[FelixLeiter]

If the cucumbers you're growing are the traditional sort, you could end up with them tasting bitter. If any cucumbers do get pollinated, one end will swell (known as "bee stung") and these should be rejected. On the other hand, if you're growing outdoor or ridge sort, which are more akin to gherkins, these require pollen for fruit set and it's fair to suppose that pollen from gherkins will do no harm.