Topic: Newbie intro and question please?

[Leonie]

Good morning  :)

I've been reading the forum for a number of weeks and decided its time to pop in and say hello.  Im a first year gardener and promise to look through the archives before rushing in with questions!  I dont have an allotment just a greenhouse and a bit of room between hubby's flowers (well not really, I just sneak things in when he's not looking)

However (sorry  :)) I cant seem to find any answers for my question on cucumbers.  Basically mine is a couple of feet high and had what looked like a teeny cucumber and a new sideshoot growing from each leaf stem.  I read that you should take off the shoots and leave the main stem, so I did, i've taken all shoots and mini cuckes off except for the growing bit at the top where theres all sorts of stuff going on, even long curly things growing!

Have I done the right thing and what else do I need to do?  Its an all female cucumber.

Thankyou for any replies

[tim]

'Hubby's flowers' - that's a turn up for the books!!

'Correctly', one should remove all flowers, & side-shoots beyond the first 2 leaves, up to 2 feet, so that the plant can establish. Then just keep pinching out the side shoots after 2 leaves beyond the first flowers. Does that make sense?

Pinch out the tip when it hits the roof - unless you are going to train it along a wire - so that it makes 2 side-shoots which trail down. Theoretically! = Tim

[Leonie]

Thanks for that Tim.

Yaaay i've done the right thing then.  I think sometimes newbies like me can get too hung up on doing the right thing.  Im still at the stage where I pop down to my greenhouse every couple of hours to check on my new growth lol!

In our house the hubby grows flowers and makes the garden look nice, however I have only an interest in growing things I can eat (take after my dad for that!)

Im growing potatoes, tomatoes, peppers etc, mostly in pots but I do seem to be behind a number of people on here as I dont even have a tomato yet!  The flowers are just dying though so maybe theres still hope for me to be eating my own food before Christmas!

Thanks again for the help

[aquilegia]

Hi Leonie. Welcome 'onboard'!

I was thinking the same as Tim about hubby doing the pretty stuff!

Don't worry about the toms - I only have a few tiny (pea-sized) toms so far. Still plenty of time!

[tim]

Leonie - there's nothing wrong about being a bit 'behind' others - you can watch them fall into the pit. And cry for help!!

And after a lifetime of growing connections, I still visit the plants several times a day (fortunate in having them close by) to check on performance. = Tim

[eileen]

.....and a big HELLO from me too!!!  :D

You lot are lucky - my tomato plants are still only about 8" high but sturdy and healthy, thank goodness. I'm always way behind everybody else.  :'( :'( Still, one bonus, I'll be eating mine when all yours have long gone.  ;D  I grow them in pots and put them by the patio doors where they'll get the most sun. This year I'm trying out yellow cherry toms.

Ian's going to be getting his greenhouse this autumn and then he intends to grow veggies in it next year - HA - does he really think it's going to be HIS?. No Chance!!!!

I have been really generous to him though as I've allowed him 1 rhubarb plant in our 1/3 of an acre garden. Now can't be fairer than that can I?  ;) ;)

Hope you enjoy this forum Leonie!! Whereabouts are you from? I herald from West Lothian in Scotland.

Hope to 'speak' to you again soon.

Eileen.

[Leonie]

Thanks for the lovely welcome, its great to meet like minded people.

Yes it is rather unusual for it to be the man who does the flowers I suppose, but its the norm in our house, poor hubby is used to my practical nature. I'm never happier than when im experimenting with things.  At the moment im dabbling with hydroponics and have a few plants growing nicely in perlite.  They certainly seem to be growing faster than their soil brothers, however as my greenhouse is very badly sited im not sure im seeing the best results possible.

Right im off to look for tiny sized toms then, they should be here by now, its a good couple of hours since I last looked!  ;)

[tim]

Dinna fash if you find that some haven't set. Pollination is a very funny thing. Believe me - we have 4!! = Tim

PS Children, I should add!

[Leonie]

Hi Eileen, im in Leicestershire, (but a yorkshire lass) where the sun has been shining brightly but now the thick clouds are hovering over.

I've got a cherry tom near the patio door too, plus a couple in pots just sat waiting for the sun.  The only ones to have flowered up to now are the ones in the greenhouse though.  To be fair, the greenhouse ones were bought from a garden center whereas the others were all seeds.

Tim they better have pollinated, i've been down to the greenhouse with my little paintbrush everymorning! ;D

[tim]

I'm sure someone will put me right but, in decades of growing - occasionally satisfactorily - I have never felt the need to assist the mating process. Indeed, it might embarrass them??

However, some professionals do advocate misting, or shaking the supports at the critical time. = Tim

[Palustris]

Well, I am very definitely male (last time I looked anyway) and I have always grown the 'pretties'. Used to grow the veg too, but now my better (much) half grows them far more methodically and successfully than I ever did.

[Leonie]

Oh dear I thought you had to pollinate flowers so i've been there with my paintbrush everymorning.... I've probably tickled them all to death!!  I have just done my morning investigation (spurred on by aquilegia and her success) but nothing, just shrivelled up dead flowers  :(

I havent touched the outdoor ones as I guessed they would be pollinated by bees, so i'll monitor it and see if theres a difference in amounts.

Palustris we have a garden full of pretties and its a true joy to be out there, we inherited a beautiful garden and had to learn very quickly as neither of us had any experience of gardening.



 

[tim]

This might be of some help? I know that things like Brandywine like a tickle. = Tim

[Leonie]

Hi Tim and thanks for going to all that trouble, its much appreciated.  

Firstly I didnt realise that the male and female parts were in the same flower so I was trying to pollinate them with pollen from a different flower.  

Secondly I have been doing it first thing in the morning so maybe those first flowers will come to nothing.  Not to worry though as there are more flowers blossoming every day so I can follow your advice with those ones and hopefully have a bit more success.

Also, my greenhouse is in the shade all day (bad siting I know) so I feel that may be a big factor in the slow growth of things.  I had onions in pots in there and they didnt do anything until I brought them out and put them in the open garden in full sun.

I shall post as soon as I become the owner of a tomato!!

Thanks again

[Tenuse]

Aha - Tim this might explain my flower drop on my sweet pepper plants - they are from the same family aren't they!

Ten x