Cucumber need help

[tqn626]

Originally Posted by clkeiper

What kind of trees are growing in your surrounding gardening area/yard? How much shade are they getting?

Persimmons, Lemon, Lime, Longan, Passion Vine, Grapefruit, Cheromeya, chinese apples, Sour Starfruit, and tangerines.

I have some cucumbers that get only 2-4 hour of sun but I expected them not to do well.

More worried about the cucumbers that in pots in full sun.

I shall try putting a high nitrogen fertilizer on some, see if there's a difference.

[Keger]

Of course you could always just kick back and wait until the weather heats up a bit.

Sometimes I think we over apply a lot of things, I do it too, but am trying to do less this year.

Cukes want warmish/hotish weather. And rainwater.

[tqn626]

Been about 2 weeks since i started my next batch of cucumbers. My leaves aren't that big. The one I seen at my local nursery has double the size leaf as mines. Is there a trick to this?

[clkeiper]

Okay, I missed this when you replied...sorry. I wanted to make sure you had no walnut or butternut trees in the garden area. Walnuts will kill everything in its root zone. They make a chemical that suppresses the competition for nutrients.
Is it warm enough? cukes like it pretty warm, what is the soil temperature, over 60 ( you need a soil thermometer to check, they are about 6" long) and the day time temps over 70 with warm nights? are they in containers or in the ground? In the ground the soil takes much longer to warm up. in the garden it could be the temperature.
Are you direct seeding or starting plants to set out? they do not like to have their roots disturbed, either.
How big are the plants you are setting out? I don't put out plants that are any bigger than the one leaf stage. No tendrils no vining. I find they do better putting them out at that stage, carefully remove them from the cell pack or plant them in peat cups and make sure you bury or tear off anything that would be above the new soil line. The exposed part of the peat cups will act a s a wick and dehydrate the little soil mass. making them struggle for the duration of life.

maybe there is some info in this page from OSU that will help, too.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1608.html


Don't worry about the stuff from the nursery/garden center. You have no idea what was sprayed on it or used for soil or fertilizer, maybe not even the same variety. I grow lots of stuff and I grow as conventionally as possible. I don't use any growth control agents in my greenhouse. What you see is what you are taking home today and the same for the rest of the summer. A lot of greenhouses use a growth regulator to keep the growth compact on many plants, not so much vegetables, but none of use has any idea what they did to produce those cukes so we can't compare or tell you how/what they did it.



I planted my hightunnel cukes about 4 weeks ago and they are still struggling even though it has been really nice here. hardly past the one leaf stage on a few and a few aren't more than 3 leaves yet. I think it is really not warm enough at nighttime for them.

[Cole_Robbie]

Yeah, I just left my cukes in buckets. I'm almost ready to start picking.

[tlintx]

I have a handful of cucumber seedlings I started in ground that haven't done much at all, and a couple started at the same time in a box filled with mushroom compost that are putting on flowers.

The two big diferences are sun -- the ones in the box get twice as much and mostly afternoon -- and watering -- the ones in the box are sub-irrigated and the ones in the ground aren't. I suspect the ones in the box are in a slightly richer mix, too.

Obviously, the ones in the ground are getting replaced with something that doesn't mind a lot less sun.

[tqn626]

My new batch of cucumbers seem to be doing well. The leaves seem a little droopy, but the weather today is 100 degrees.

Is it bad to water the plants during the day? I water it in the mornings but it just so hot, so i water throughout the day.

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by tqn626

My new batch of cucumbers seem to be doing well. The leaves seem a little droopy, but the weather today is 100 degrees.

Is it bad to water the plants during the day? I water it in the mornings but it just so hot, so i water throughout the day.

I found that in hot conditions with relentless sun exposure, cucumber leaves wilt as a protective measure. The soil has plenty of moisture and watering doesn't help.

Some options are to apply shade cloth or Surround clay.

Next time I grow cucumbers, I will do so in a container and, as the season progresses, move the container closer to the house under an eave as the days grow longer.

[tqn626]

Originally Posted by feldon30

Next time I grow cucumbers, I will do so in a container and, as the season progresses, move the container closer to the house under an eave as the days grow longer.

Container gardening is the way to go. I have cucumbers in a SWC planted at the same time of my other cucumbers. It's doing much better then the one in pots.

Next year i'll do all container gardening.

Took this picture yesterday



Took these today

[Cole_Robbie]

ahhh, Sweet Success

[Crandrew]

deep rich green. Beauts! I picked another 2 Japanese cukes that had been hiding. after last years, abismal attempt, I'm loving having some cuke production again. YOu all seem to grow sweet success. Could you tell me where you procure seeds? thanks!

[clkeiper]

Those look very nice. I did a few millionaire eggplant in the high tunnel and a few in containers. The container ones are flowering and setting fruit and the ones in the ground are hardly growing.

[Crandrew]

eggplant love/NEED warm soil. In the past, mine that were in the ground would not set fruit until the outside temps got into the mid 80's.

[MikeInCypress]

I am pretty sure I bought them last time from Pinetree Seeds. Other places have them but they are not inexpensive.

MikeInCypress

[tqn626]

Anyone know what cause cucumber leaves to grow bigger. My cukes in black 1 gallon pots seem to be pumping out small leaves instead of growing the leaf. While my cukes in a white SWC leaves are giant.

I think it a moisture thing. I put 6 cuke pot that stand in water during the day, I removed the water at night. Also got 6 just hanging out.