I've got given a cucumber plant which seems to be living happily on my conservatory. I haven't seen a cucumber plant before let alone grown one! Do I need to polinate the flowers? It has loads but the petals seem to try out and they fall off. Is it going to keep on climbing? It's 1m at the moment and run out of cane. Any special care needed? I don't know what type it is I'm afraid, other than it might be a round one. cheers.
Hi Sparkle, Yes, it will keep growing, my greenhouse cucumbers have already reached the ridge of my greenhouse and travelled about a metre along a horizontal wire. They've produced at least 20 cucumbers and are still going strong. As for care, they need plenty of water, but not on the stem ( it's best if the stem is raised in the pot so that you can flood around it without getting it wet)and it will need an occassional feed.As for pollenation, if you bought it from a garden centre it is likely to be be an F1 hybrid and should self pollenate. However, that does rely on insects and or wind. So could struggle. If the plant is showing male and female flowers you can hand pollenate. Simply take a male flower, remove the petals and place the stamen into a female flower. They are the ones withe the baby cucumber behind them. give it a wriggle and remome. Job done. Cucumbers can be difficult when you don't know the variety as some need the male flowers removing or the fruits will be bitter, others, like Marketmore don't need the males removing. Hope I haven't confussed you. BigT Have a look at my blog, I'll take some photos of my greenhouse tonight. http://brassicabill.blogspot.com
Hi Sparkle, If it's an indoor variety you should nip out side shoots and train it by tying it to a vertical cane or wire. once it has reached the roof it needs training along a horizontal wire by tying it at every flowering point. You need to do this to support the weight of the cucumbers as they swell into full size fruits. Cut the fruits before they over ripen as this will keep the plant growing and producing more cucumbers. You can get up to about 30 cucumbers from one plant! Hope you like Cucumbers. I've taken some photos of my plants and put them onto my blog for you to have a look. Regards BigT http://brassicabill.blogspot.com
those are some impressive cucumbers! thanks for all the tips. Looks like I am well on my way to a conservatory jungle. Cucumbers ahoy!
