Cucurbit Growing 2018

[happyhumph]

Sowed today

Courgettes
Black beauty
Summer crookneck
Tromboncino

Squash
Spaghetti
Uchiki Kiri
Selection from a pack of 50 mystery mixed winter squash - who knows what I'll get????

Have lost my cucumber seeds - will try to find them tomorrow. Also sowed achocha fat baby, does that count?

Ten seeds of each - I like squash (but not at SP levels yet - need more space for that!!)

[Small pumpkin]

Sowed today

Courgettes
Black beauty
Summer crookneck
Tromboncino

Squash
Spaghetti
Uchiki Kiri
Selection from a pack of 50 mystery mixed winter squash - who knows what I'll get????

Have lost my cucumber seeds - will try to find them tomorrow. Also sowed achocha fat baby, does that count?

Ten seeds of each - I like squash (but not at SP levels yet - need more space for that!!)

What you trying to say
Have you grow fat baby before? Very nice plant, slightly triffid like. The actual fruit are very cool spikey little things, definitely a talking point. Just don't eat them very bitter.

[happyhumph]

Tried last year but they didn't do much. Final chance this year - if they're 'orrible I'll give them to people I don't like in a passive aggressive fashion

I'm not saying anything, just hinting that maybe, only maybe, you might be just a little bit keen on growing one or two different varieties of squash........

[Small pumpkin]

^^^^^ I want to like that twice

[Small pumpkin]

Here's my lot, doing quite well. Table gold, Turks turban & 2 varieties of courgette are really dragging their feet about germinating.



Here's all the spares

[HoneyChild]

Sowed Telepathy cucumber seeds in 09/04/18 then when they germinated a few days later I placed them under basic LED lights. On 22/04/18 I then pricked them out into separate pots:

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Left - placed on kitchen windowsill. Placed white card behind to reflect light. Kitchen is warm due to range cooker being boiler for central heating system. Window is SW so gets reasonable amount of sun.

Middle - placed in cold greenhouse all day and all night

Right - in warm utility room under basic LED lights for 14 hrs/day.



28/04/18

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Left - getting quite leggy but produced a nice true leaf with a second on the way.

Middle - only grown a little

Right - nice and sturdy (no leggyness), good true leaf and another on the way.

It's interesting to see how big a difference there is between the 3 plants in such a short space of time. Ideally I would have about 5 plants in each group but it's a good start.

Well, my mini experiment has to come to an end as I need space under my LED lights.

I'm astounded at how the different growing conditions have affected the growth in such as short space of time. If I didn't have photographic evidence I don't think I would've beleived it!



Left (kitchen windowsill) - massive growth spurt
Middle (unheated greenhouse) - grown a bit
Right (under LED lights) - grown the same number of leaves as on kitchen windowsill but the leaves are smaller and the plant generally more stalky.

Have been a bit unsure of what to do with them now. We've not been putting the heating on recently so it means the house isn't as hot as it has been and it's been very mild outside so I don't feel there's a lot of benefit to keeping them indoors. So far I've decided to put the one from the LED lighting into a bigger pot and placed it in the greenhouse.

[Jungle Jane]

The sun is better than lights when it’s here Mine have come out from the artificial light & onto the windowsill till they’re a bit bigger then they can go out,Ive got a load of sweet corn & melons under the lights now just germinating. Here’s some of mine-

[geepee]

Ive had Cuc's 'Mini munch' and Corgette seeds inthe Propogator for 2 weeks now at between 22*C and 34 C, ....NO SHOW...!!
Then put 'La Diva' Cuc and ? 'Tristar' Corg' in at a constant 22 C, Result = 2 x Cuc but poor, 1 xCorg'

What am I doing wrong...????

How should I have placed the seed ....flat, on edge or end ways up and if so which end up, pointy end or blunt end ..???
All Help needed before its too late to Resow!!!!.
Gp

[Small pumpkin]

I've never used a heated propagator for my cucurbits. Don't know why. Sown in unheated polytunnel.
I always sow on their edge and slightly pointy end down.
I've had a courgette germination problem this year. I'll probably try sowing a couple more seeds in the next day or two.

[Chris11]

Four courgette varieties so far:

Black Beauty
Early Gem F1
Venus F1
Yellow Scallop

And waiting for others to germinate. Everything later than usual this year because of the weather, but now everything will start to catch up.

[Snowwhyte]

My early squashes are now spending their days on the patio and their night in a mini greenhouse. They are not too happy. They really want some warmer weather and some bigger pots but it's probably another week or two before i'll plant them out.

[IainM]

Hello curcurbit people. I put left some corgette and squash neglected in the corner of the greenhouse, sown in March (I think, I didn't write it down, oops). They've been growing well. I put a defender corgette, an 8-ball corgette and a harrier squash into a raise bed yesterday, and potted the others up and moved them to the mini-greenhouse. I also have a cucamelon, somewhere. Here are the plants in the mini-GH (same varieties as the ones in the beds):


One of the 8-ball ones has open flowers already!

Does anyone have any tips for growing these or are they as simple as just watering from time to time? I'm planning to put them into 20L or 25L pots eventually.

[HoneyChild]

IainM, I've never had a huge amount of success with curcubits. However I was watching a youtube video from the Rusted Garden and he says if you leave in them in pots for too long they will become 'bonasai' plants. I think this has been my problem which is why I'm trying to make more of a consious effort to get them into their final planting positions more quickly/not sowing seeds too soon.

[happyhumph]

All my cucs have germinated now, and various squash and courgettes going well, plus the achocha.

[IainM]

IainM, I've never had a huge amount of success with curcubits. However I was watching a youtube video from the Rusted Garden and he says if you leave in them in pots for too long they will become 'bonasai' plants. I think this has been my problem which is why I'm trying to make more of a consious effort to get them into their final planting positions more quickly/not sowing seeds too soon.

Ah, I did notice that they were a little root bound when I transplanted them. I hope I haven't bonsaied (?) them. They are all producing flowers/buds. Do you know if it is normal for them to produce flowers at this early stage, and not because of their small container size?

Nice experiment btw!