Cucumbers

[Paul Bromley]

Hi all, advice appreciated ….

I have sown my cucumbers too early and as a result now have plants with huge leaves which I am struggling to control in the propagator which I am using as a mini heated greenhouse. My question is will they tolerate nighttime temps as low as around 9 as this is what my greenhouse is doing on clear nights at the moment ? I have read all sorts of conflicting opinions on this but has anyone had success having to put them out early ?

A lesson learned for next year !

Thanks

Paul.

[andy_j]

My greenhouse has gone down to 4 c a few times and the cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes, peppers, chillis and loads of other things didn't suffer at all.

You could always give the plants to someone who has the room and sow some more

Edit...ive just ready the "frost this weekend" thread http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...weekend-5.html and it says we could get a few nasties this week so just be careful with the tender plants.

[Bill HH]

Cucumbers are very fickle, they are just looking for ways to die, so be ready with some fleece if it goes colder. If you have any more seeds I would plant them so you can have a backup.

[Dorothy rouse]

I have some cucumber plants outside in plastic greenhouse, they are looking fine.

[rustylady]

First thing to do is to get them out of the heated propagator. Hopefully that will slow their growth down a bit. You really want to harden them off a bit.

[Two_Sheds]

cucumbers ... in the propagator which I am using as a mini heated greenhouse.

the heat is going to make them grow like mad, and not in a good way. Once things have germinated they should come out of the prop.

So are your cukes outdoor (ridge) or the indoor type?

[Paul Bromley]

Hi they are Femspot and F1 Prima varieties, they look like this ……


My daughter reckons they are triffids as they reach out to grasp everything !!

[Two_Sheds]

Hi they are Femspot

sounds like a feminine hygiene product

"plant out in the growing site maintaining 21°C" ... I can see your problem. Although the seed pack says sow Feb-April, there isn't going to be anything near 21c in February, March & most of April.

[buddy of maidstone]

My grandad always put a fleece screen up in his greenhouse behind the cucumbers so it could be moved up during the day,and down at night,he always had bumper crops that tasted superb!!!


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[Paul Bromley]

Thanks all, I am going to be left with no choice but to give them a go outside soon as I can't cope with them in the heated bit any longer I am turning down the temp a night at a time ! The Isle of Man is a bit warmer at night than the UK at least in theory so lets see what effect the gulf stream does have (I'm betting nothing !!) at least it will be a good experiment for next year !!

[Alison]

I'd take them out the propogator (I only use mine for germination of seeds early in the season, when it gets to March I just use an unheated one and I always whip things out as soon as they show their heads as I prefer them to grow slower with more light) but keep them inside, at least during the night for now.

[Kristen]

My greenhouse has gone down to 4 c a few times and the cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes, peppers, chillis and loads of other things didn't suffer at all.

I disagree with this viewpoint. Those crops are usually described as needing 10C (probably 12C for Chillis, and I see that recently RHS has changed its advice of 10C for Tomatoes up to 12C).

The fact that cold does not appear to have caused any problems is not an indication that it hasn't happened. At the least the plants will have been stressed, and as a consequence more prone to disease during the rest of the season. At worse they will have been cold-stressed; for example this causes Tomatoes to fail to take up Potassium (which manifests by the leaves taking on a purple tinge), that causes the plants to "stall" - they shut-down various metabolism pathways and they can take a blinking long time to get cracking again.

The fall of temperature in a greenhouse is delayed, compared to outside, and as such the period of the night, particularly at this time of the year, with a critical temperature may be very short. Flimsy structures, such as "blow-aways" will cool more quickly, and the period of cold will be longer. I doubt an hour , or so, a degree or two below the advises minimum will cause a problem, but repeat or prolonged temperature drops will do so.

So if growing Tomatoes etc. early in the season it is important to be able to provide Heat and Light, otherwise there is significant risk that the crop will be cold-stressed by low temperatures (or grow leggy due to low light).

If these conditions cannot be provided it is better to delay sowing. Alternatively buy plants at a suitable time - e.g. mid May - as that will provide 6 weeks of head-start that the nurseryman has already done

[Scarlet]

Actually there are several other threads going at the moment asking if toms peppers and chillies are ok in the GH now. I put mine out during the day and they get to come in the house at night.they really don't like the cold.

[sparrow100]

I have most things out on a north-facing balcony at the minute, but I keep a careful watch on night temps and will whip them in if it looks like it will sink below 8C. I am about 10m up, so I worry more about air frost than ground frosts.

All my cukes, chillies and toms are inside for the next couple of weeks - currently Friday looks far too chilly for them to be outside without having a panic attack.