Looking for advice on how to grow these cucumbers. I am planning to grow the carmen variety in the greenhouse. Do you pull out sideshoots and grow like a vine tomato? The crystal lemon are to go outside on the plot. Do I just let these grow like a bush on the floor? I know the carmen is an all female variety. Will the crystal lemon have male and female flowers and, if so, do I need to remove the male flowers? Thanks
There are a few different things that I have heard about growing cucumbers but frankly. I just let them grow.
Tomatoes are a fiddly thing, side shoots and such.
Cucumbers are not as much bother, but they hate cold draughts and can curl up and die if you leave the greenhouse door open and a cold wind gets them. They also need more support. But I have never taken off any side shoots.
Peppers are easiest of all to grow. No support no side shoots to pick off.
Couple of questions does you GH go East to West or North to South, what hight and length have you got also where is the door.
The garden is south facing. The greenhouse is side-on at the end of the garden so the door faces west. The greenhouse is 8x10ft. We have 4 autovents and a louvre. Was only planning to put the carmens in the greenhouse. We have a bed in the ground, but there is room for large pots as well.
Carman is what i grow. the best method altho not always practical is to put the plants into the north side of the greenhouse 3ft apart and train them up toward the apex. As a side chute develops train it along a support toward each plant letting them overlap. you can let the cucumber grow till you have six side chutes growing ( 3 either side of each plant ) than nip out the growin tip. As the side chute travel along the suport nip off every other fruit.
The other method is to train it up to the apex when the side chutes develop nip them out after four leaves have developed but don,t nip the growing tip out.
TIPS
When you plant the cucumber plant it onto a mound keeping the base of the stem above soil level to avoid stem rot.
Don,t let any fruit develop below the bottom two feet of the plant.
Remove any tendrils that have not clung to the support as they can wrap around the stem and it will choke itself
remove fruit as soon as they are ready so not to starve other fruits.
Great thanks for the info Davy. I will attempt your method ;D Does anyone have an tips on the outdoors crystal lemon?
I grew Crystal Lemon cuckes outdoors a couple of years ago as I had a couple of spare plants, and confess I did little with them other than water them occasionally and let them wander over a small willow obelisk....still got a good crop!
Pick them before the fruits go orange though, the skins get very tough and need peeling to eat, still taste nice though! ;D
Mum and i did crystal lemon last year, we had cucs coming out of our ears! (is that the right expression? it doesn't seem right now i've written it... :S) anyway, they were easy peasy, we just bunged them in the raised bed, keps the slugs off as much as poss, and fed them every few weeks with whatever we had to hand (nettle soup, comfrey soup etc) they were yummy! i agree to pick them before they get too big and orange though. they're really good, enjoy!!
Biting an apple cuc is like having a refresdhing drink grew one in the pollytunnel a couple of years back and got to frightened to go in i was convinced it was waiting to grab me
Quote from: davyw1 on April 11, 2009, 22:19:58
Biting an apple cuc is like having a refresdhing drink grew one in the pollytunnel a couple of years back and got to frightened to go in i was convinced it was waiting to grab me
;D ;D ;D Did you name it Audrey...(Little Shop of Horrors.....)?
I grew Carmen for a first last year. Even though I was working away and did not get to see any fruit, my OH said they were very good. I had put them in the greenhouse and they were left to their own devices growing up canes.