straight eight cukes

[WilburMartin]

two plants in a 5 gallon bucket - already outgrown my trellis and almost sagging down to the top of the bucket

should I grab another trellis, or just let them sprawl? covered in female flowers - cucumbers will be coming out of my ears shortly

[kath]

Cucumber plants sprawl all over the place! My trellis is 6' tall and the vines get taller than that and also sprout new vines off of the main ones. I vote for another trellis, but I guess it's because I'd worry about things nibbling on the ones on the ground- or someone stepping on them! Some cukes don't grow as straight if they aren't hanging.

kath

[wildcat62]

We go with the sprawl....

[WilburMartin]

I decided to get some 6' bamboo stakes and give the vines some new real estate on which to climb. so far, so good - lots of male and female blooms, 4 developing cukes on the plant as of today,

[WilburMartin]

I got some bamboo stakes and have been guiding the growth - check out my cucumber sprawl

[kath]

Looks really happy! You'll be harvesting cukes in no time.

[WilburMartin]

I have harvested one cuke so far - it was a little bitter; there are 3 on the plant now, but holy jeez check out this sprawl of vines from the pics today - this thing needs a fence to run down

[luigiwu]

Bitterness is a sign of inconsistent watering. Thus self-watering container with a float regulator is ideal if you are not around to water throughout the day...

[WilburMartin]

harvested 3 cucumbers from the two sprawling straight eight cucumber plants this morning - they will not stop growing, but production has been low; may have to rethink my cucumber plant choice next year

[Nematode]

Shapes not right on the straight 8's.
They are not happy about something.

[WilburMartin]

gotta be inconsistent watering - but I try my gosh darnoodleydest to water a lot, and consistently

eh, nature - what cha gonna do?

[Nematode]

I was wondering if it could be poor pollination. That could explain the low numbers of cukes too, if you were getting flowers.

[WilburMartin]

lots of Bumblebee action around the vines, but I have seen more than one female flower wither and die.

[Ricky Shaw]

Straight Eight's went bitter for me too, dropped them long ago. Also a a few of the long Asian and Armenian varieties did not like the dry heat, and I'm done growing those too.

AS for an OP I went to Marketmore's several years ago, still water the same way and they've not been bitter. And Diva's are a good one too, I've got them on a fence line and it's been 105F for a month, still sweet and crisp, and they self-pollinate.

[WilburMartin]

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

Straight Eight's went bitter for me too, dropped them long ago. Also a a few of the long Asian and Armenian varieties did not like the dry heat, and I'm done growing those too.

AS for an OP I went to Marketmore's several years ago, still water the same way and they've not been bitter. And Diva's are a good one too, I've got them on a fence line and it's been 105F for a month, still sweet and crisp, and they self-pollinate.

Thanks for the tip - about to give up on these; I guess my climate and watering might not suit my straight eight plants