Cucumbers - is it time yet??

'straight eight' is a ridge / outdoor cucumber, so needs to be polinated to forma fruit, so this doesn't apply to them - its a minefield - there are greenhouse cucumbers, based on ridge varieties, that DO need pollinating, and outdoor ones that DON'T ... :(

No, they definitely need pollinating, otherwise they won't set fruit (ditto all the rest of the Cucurbitaceae family inc. marrows, courgettes, Melons)

 

It's true that it can be a minefield. As I said I am growing Telepathy F1's for indoors but towards the end of April I will be setting seeds for Marketmore which is a great performing indoor/outdoor variety whatever the weather, these do not require male flowers removing. In fairness though the instructions on the pack do tell you if the males need removing.

 

Marketmore is one of the varieties I bought. I am glad to hear it is a good one. The straight eight was fantastic last year, just wonderful, sweet and crunchy. I think my soil does them very well. I grew some Armenian foot long ones a couple years ago and really liked them but have not stumbled on the seed again. The small pickling cucumbers did not do well in two attempts.

I compost 3000 pounds of oak leaves a year and my raised beds are basically beach sand and compost with some sandy dirt mixed in. Some things love it, some not.​

 

OK

change that to "They definitely don't need not pollinating"

 

just to report we have ne cucumber starting to come through but its took its time so I might shove a couple more in and try them in the house

 

I succumbed yesterday and planted both melon and cucumber seeds. Currently getting some gentle heat to get going. Cucumber variety is Natsuhikari this is an F1, Japanese cucumber hybrid. For an F1 the seed is not expensive and it grows well under my conditions, but it still has male flowers that I try to remember to remove. I grow mine either in large pots or in bottomless pots placed in the cutouts of grow bags.

 

Can you collect the seeds from the F1 Cucumbers to harvest the following year or are they sterile?

 

No. They don't come true from seed. Also if it was an all female cucumber then I don't think any seed produced would grow.
Nigel

 

That's correct, the Telepathy that I grow for indoors is F1 but has male and female and the seeds will not reproduce, the Marketmore that I grow for outdoors isn't F1, it's all female and the seeds can be saved and grown on although I never bother because they are not expensive. I have been growing Marketmore for over 20 years and it is one of the most consistent varieties that I know, having said that, it would be good to know what others grow because I tend to stick with what I know performs and it would be good to try the recommendations of my peers.

 

I found a couple of young cucumber plants at the local market on Saturday and had to buy them out of curiosity. I've shoved them into the polytunnel for now. They have no name label but I was told they are F1 female. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens.

 

I grew 10 different varieties of Tomatoes last year. All the ones people on here said were their #1 favourites. It was an interesting year, but I've gone back to growing the three varieties that I have done for the past decade. Sorry to say and all that ...

 

After years of growing 'Telegraph'last year i tried Carmen F1...I must say i was pleased with the results...The Telegraph although a great cropper always succumbed to powdery mildew so thought i'd try the Carmen F1's said to have good resistance to PM...they did suffer a little bit but at the end of the season so held up well ,i'm giving them another go this year...

 

were trying telegraph - my dad recommended them - am I correct we need to pull off the male flowers ?

 

Yes, take all the flowers off that don't have a mini cucumber behind them.