cucumbers

[Brenjon]

I grow cus. in 2 gallon black plastic buckets in the greenhouse.
The lower 6 cus make large fruits but any of those above that have flowers and very small cus that wither and never develop
into usable fruit. I am obviously doing some thing wrong. What is it.
Answers please
Regards Brenjon
P.S They are F1 varieties both mini cus and normal ones

[PLUMPUDDING]

Do you leave the fruits on too long? If you pick them when they are smaller it puts less strain on the plant and also it will keep producing longer. If the plant thinks it has done its job and produced seeds in a mature fruit it won't bother producing more flowers and fruit.

That is just one idea - it could be something else like lack of nutrients, poor fertilization etc.

[Brenjon]

Hi Plum pudding
Yes i do tend to leave them on the plant until Quite large. But .
I am sure that is not all the reason
Regards Brenjon

[alan refail]

Brenjon

How and how much do you feed them? Could be the compost's running out of steam.

[Brenjon]

Hi Ala
Must admit not too much feed as I put a lot of manure in the buckets. I have quite a lot of wood ash would this be good to put on top of the buckets and water in .
Regards Brenjon

[MikA]

Are they AUDREY varieties?




/iLittle shop of horrors - Audrey IIi/

[Brenjon]

Hi Mika
Excuse my ignorance .What are Audrey varieties.?
Regards Brenjon

[MikA]

Little shop of horrors is a musical about a bloke who finds a small, talking, man eating plant and names it AUDREY II after the girl he's fell in love with..
One of the key songs sung by the plant when it gets really big is "Feed me, Feed me now"

I was just struck by the other posters suggesting your cucumbers may need feeding. Feeling happy today as dentist was yesterday, hence jokey mood.

MikA

[MikA]

Hi Brenjon

apologies for previous frivolity so here are some comments from my experience using a greenhouse for the first time this year so i'm no expert.

I think 2 gallon buckets are quite small ( less than 10 litres) for cucumbers and the compost will almost certainly run out of food quite quickly. I have two cucumbers of the same variety (cucino a bite-size fruit) - one in half an on end growbag and the other in a large pot with about the same amount of compost about 17 litres each. This last one was planted out a couple of weeks later than the growbag. The growbag one was ahead all the time and produced a couple a fruit then went very slow (few flowers). The pot one then produced a couple of fruit then it too went very slow. I have now started feeding them both regularly with the tomatoes and they are both just getting into full production and are about the same size. We had four yesterday and there are loads of flowers and small fruit but since these are picked when about 2 - 3 inches we are likely to have a glut for the two of us by next week.
Some of my dwarf french beans in pots were also looking decidedly sick but since I started feeding they have picked up.

I can recommend Cucino as a small cucumber. Picked small it is crunchy and doesn't give me gas like most larger varieties. It's ideal to pick a couple for a salad sandwich with fresh lettuce and beetroot. I'm looking forward to when the tomatoes ripen and the carrots are big enough and we'll just have to add bread and a bit of cheese.

[Nature's Babe]

I planted my cue a bit late so bought two for an earlier start, they turned out to be the same small variety you mention, early, sweet, tender and crisp. I am converted and will certainy grow some for early ones next year