Cucumber Iwa

[roogrow]

Hey all, anyone familiar with "Iwa" cucumbers? They have started to flower but I am certain they are all female flowers and no male flowers can be seen.
from research I see that there are apparently varieties that do that but i wasnt aware these are of that type... if they are, how does it work without a male flower to pollinate? Cheers

[ameno]

According to this site:
https://gardenseedsmarket.com/cucumb...-35-seeds.html
Iwa is parthenocarpic, meaning it can set fruit without pollination, and therefore doesn't need male flowers. Indeed, any male flowers which do appear (they pop up occasionally, especially if the plant is under stress) should be removed, as if a female flower is pollinated then the subsequent fruit becomes bitter.

[roogrow]

Ah, thank you. Randomly today, 2 of my 3 plants in a container have both wilted whilst the third is fine, plenty of water - maybe even too much given the rain over the last week.... could being waterlogged cause it? And if so will they recover? They were doing really well up to now so I'm slightly disappointed...

[ameno]

Waterlogging is almost certainly the cause. Cucumbers are very prone to root rots. Mine used to get them every year due to waterlogging (I grow mine in pots in my conservatory, and since it's a conservatory, the pots need to be in drip trays, and if the trays fill with water, the pots can't drain).

They can sometimes recover, if you look after them right. They will have far fewer roots now, so will need watering more frequently, but at the same time you mustn't allow them to get waterlogged again. Put the pots up on feet if you haven't already, to better allow the excess water to drain out. If they don't seem better after about 3 weeks then they've probably had it.

You may want to sow a couple more seeds now as back-up, if you have spare seeds. It's not too late to sow them.

[roogrow]

Much appreciated, I will cross my fingers then. I have sown a couple of back ups as suggested- to be fair I thought I was too late so I'm glad you said that. Thanks again!

[ameno]

In warm conditions they should start cropping in about 2 months from sowing, so ones sown now should start from mid-August.

[Jungle Jane]

I sowed some back up plants a couple of days ago because of wilt I think was the cold we had,seven degrees etc,I water through a sunken plastic bottle so the top of the compost stays dry. There’s one good plant out there that has a bit of potato leaf protection next to it but about three plants look like they’ve given up,I’ll pull them out soon if things don’t change.