Cucumbers, What are you growing

[nctomatoman]

Well, I had my doubts early on, but Diva has turned into a cuke machine. I have one hill of 5 plants, and they are churning out the most perfect looking fruit. But that didn't prepare me for the flavor and texture - my wife took a slice and couldn't believe how tender yet crisp, no bitterness at all, a hint of sweetness - this is one great variety.

[duajones]

Diva is a great cuke no doubt. Mine were a little slow starting as well, but like yours, turned into a machine.

[mdvpc]

My Diva was putting out a cuke a day for my wife and I. Then we had a freak hail storm here and the plant got shredded. Its coming back now with new fruit, but its hurting. I have 2 plants from seed from Sandhill for a variety called Greek:

"Greek: 60 days. Very productive and tasty. Not a real dark color and don't look like traditional type, but excellent quality. Pkt. $2.00"

Have never grown it before.

[shelleybean]

My cukes went in late because I was waiting for my lettuce to finish up but I picked the first ones today and my husband, my mom and I had a little cucumber tasting. Today we tried Snow's Fancy Pickling which I grew last year and was one of the favorites. Up agianst that was Boothby's Blonde. Both were good. We thought the skin of the BB was really thin, almost like it had been peeled already, but in the end, we all agreed Snow's had better flavor and crunch. It is also outproducing BB by a lot. I also planted Edmonson but that seed went in a little later so those are not quite ready to try yet.

[kelleyville]

Gosh didn't think all you hardcore tomato people had time for the likes of cucumbers

I am growing (not so well) Boston Pickling, Poinsett 76, Sumpter and Lemon this year. Had tons of baby cukes early on and tons of flowers but then nothing. Finally a couple of weeks ago I had two cukes then every couple of days I have one or two. The babies that did nothing all the sudden started growing. I am not sure these will be viable cucumbers or not. I never worried with cucumbers ever ! I just threw seeds in the ground and they grew! Because of all my problems I h ave started new ones elsewhere in the yard to see what might grow where. One second batch of Boston Pickling sprouted then vanished! Maybe it is this crazy weather we have had here in Georgia all year. Going to just take a wait and see attitude, can't eat more than one a day anyway! And I am picking all new varieties from this post for next year!

Kelley

[duajones]

Id like to try the Snow's fancy pickling cuke sometime. I liked the Boothbys real well and it was real productive. Diva is still my personal favorite with Poona Kheera a close second.

[shelleybean]

duajones, I have to say, I'm really happy with Snow's. It's a cuke machine! Thin skin, small seeds, great flavor and texture. I can send you some seed or you can get them at SSE or Baker Creek. I highly recommend it!

Kelley, I grew Boston Pickling two years in a row from two different seed sources. Both times I was impressed with the quality of the fruit but not production. It may do better further north but I think there are others I'd prefer for the Mid Atlantic and South. I grew five different picklers last year and did sort of a test. There were three clear winners--National Pickling, Chicago Pickling and Snow's (which apparently is a selection of Chicago Pickling). Keep experimenting until you find something that works in your garden!

[shelleybean]

I see a lot of talk about Diva here and I've grown that three seasons and Cool Breeze as well. The quality of both was excellent. However, after trying the parthenocarpic varieties, I find the season is too short. They start producing later and stop sooner so I've returned to the old fashioned cukes with both boy and girl flowers. I'm dependent on bees but I still get oodles of cucumbers.

[kelleyville]

Shelleybean,
Thanks for the info!
I am hoping to try Snows, Diva, Poona Kheera and oh I forgot what else! I think this yard just was not ready for vegetables and the weather has not helped either! and I have paid more attention to the tomatoes! I went out and seeded a few more patches along the fence, if they grow I will throw up som vege netting stapled to the fence! I don't see many bees around this year and the hotter it gets the less I see them. I have done some hand pollinating but the flowers have to be open at the same time and I have not had any luck in that department! These may take off any day now and straighten out! Been thinking of starting a bee hive!

Kelley

[feldon30]

If you grow Diva, start 1-2 seeds every week. That way you will get a staggered crop.

[kelleyville]

One of these years I am going to have a bumper crop of pickling cukes all at the same time for pickling I just added cool breezes to my list for next year! Wondering about all the European seedless variety that are said to be good in greenhouses, would like a recomendation for a variety name to try!

Kelley

[rubylune]

I swear next year i'm going to start off with 100 cuke plants so that way i'll maybe get 3 to survive.

All my plants seemed to be doing really well. I was doing a ton of hand picking of cuke beetles and they didn't seem to be doing too much damage, but then all of a sudden the plants are wilting and dying. I can't SEE anything wrong with them, they're just wilting and dying. Grr!

[feldon30]

rubylune,

Have you had a surplus of rain?

[shelleybean]

rubylune, it sounds like your cucumber beetles have given your plants bacterial wilt. The only variety of cucumber resistant to it is County Fair. I'd try that next year and being a little more aggressive getting the beetles under control and see if you have better luck.

[feldon30]

And it's not so much resistant as the cucumber does not produce the "bitter" substance near the vine end of the cucumber which is what cucumber beetles smell and are attracted to.

A suggestion which has been posited but I have not seen a definitive experiment, is to blend the bitter ends of ripe cucumbers in a blender along with Sevin insecticide and pour the contents into yellow plastic cups and arrange them around the garden. The only creatures that should find themselves in the bottom of those cups are cucumber beetles.