Kitchen Garden Forum

I am having the same problem this year as I seem to suffer most years with my greenhouse cucumbers (Burpless variety). 1 cucumber has set and produced an excellent fruit; the other fruits grow to about 4 or 5 cm long, turn yellow and give up. The plant itself seems very healthy. The same variety planted outside normally produce multiple fruits, although not as large as the (usually solitary) indoor fruit. What am I doing wrong?

I don't think I've ever fully avoided having some abort. There was a useful article in the magazine from which I picked up 3 helpful tips, but can only remember 2 of them ...

1: Pot on cucumbers promptly. Don't allow their growth to stall because of being pot bound.

2: Cucumbers are not tomatoes ! Tomato feed isn't right for them, they are a greedy squash that needs nitrogen. And they like more humidity than tomatoes.

I would add that it is best to pick them promptly when if anything they aren't quite fully swelled; letting them stay on the plant too long seems to trigger the smaller fruit aborting. And especially if it is not humid, keep a look out for red spider mite, which are often the death of indoor cucumbers.

I think tomatoes and cucumbers together in a greenhouse may be bad bedfellows because tomatoes don't seem to like humidity whereas cucumbers do. I've only ever grown cucumbers outdoors and keep them well watered and misted. Although they can sometimes be slow to start cropping in cold weather, they always give me good crops once they get going . Possibly the difference in temperatures that can occur in an average greenhouse may also be something to do with the problem?