Growing cucumbers for a longer harvest... can it be done?

[Snoop Puss]

So far, I've never had much luck with cucumbers. I get maybe half a dozen in quick succession and then that's it. So I was toying with the idea of not growing them but just buying them, as Mr Snoop doesn't really like them that much. But... I've still got a hankering to grow them, because they're much nicer freshly picked than shop-bought ones.

I've been reading this:
https://www.growveg.com/guides/growi...maximum-yield/

Do you have any tips on how to grow cucumbers so that you can pick them over a longish period? Is it to do with variety? All help gratefully received.

[nickdub]

Not sure I can help a lot, as my record is not that good either. However my neighbour grew two cucumber plants last year in pots in an ordinary greenhouse and got over 400 fruit. They were the mini ie bite-sized type.

[chris_m]

Not sure I can help a lot, as my record is not that good either. However my neighbour grew two cucumber plants last year in pots in an ordinary greenhouse and got over 400 fruit. They were the mini ie bite-sized type.

I'm glad you qualified that - until I read the last sentence I was starting to wonder how the heck he got into the greenhouse to harvest them ;-)

[Snoop Puss]

Thanks, nick. Do you know roughly what period he harvested them over? It's not so much volume as not wanting a load of cucumbers all at once. I eat them and hide them in food sporadically (gazpacho and tzatziki). But as far as Mr Snoop's concerned, they're a waste of water.

[Snoop Puss]

Sorry, I should perhaps have added that I grow them outdoors (no greenhouse). I've tried ridge cucumbers and growing them up a trellis. The ridge ones didn't produce a single cuc. The trellis ones gave me six cucumbers in a week, thereafter nothing. Not very practical for our usage.

[SelkirkAlex]

I grow small ones, last two years socrates, grow them in my polytunnel, if there is a trick it would be deep, well prepared and well fed holes. prepare well and they just seem to tick along prolifically,

my view others will come along soon

[nickdub]

While the gardener in question is definitely a lady - I think she started picking them about late July/early August and was still getting some on to the end of October.

[veggiechicken]

What about staggering the sowings - sow a couple each month starting NOW.

[Thelma Sanders]

Blame the summer heat and lack of humidity.
In Greece I had to grow them on the shadiest side of the house and keep the soil surface around them quite damp, but even then on the hottest days they suffered. Best results were always near the leaky water tank LOL it isn't that the plants are particularly thirsty, just that it was more humid there.

Might be worth making a mini drip or leaky hose type of set up, so the water is released on the soil surface for humidity?
Even here I grow them on the North side of the greenhouse and drape some thin polysheet over them if it gets really hot (when did we last have a hot summer )

[mat]

I think the most common reason why cukes run out of steam so early in the season is lack of nitrogen. We tend to think of them as fruiting plants, like toms, so the temptation is to feed them with tomato fertiliser. But (for whatever reason; it's beyond my knowledge) cucumbers really need plenty of nitrogen to keep them going after the initial burst of fruit. So, whatever you usually use a nitrogenous feed, use it 2 or 3 times during the season on your cukes.

As for what to do with them - I eat them pickled and fermented for the rest of the year. In particular, there's a Delia Smith recipe https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/...r-dill-pickles for sour pickled cucumber wedges which is just sensational. Best of all, you have to leave it for three months before eating it, so it nicely defers any glut problems!

[Cadalot]

I grow Marketmore and Burpless outside and always get far too many there again I normally gow six of each. Family and friends are always happy to receive them. I am going to try and stagger sowings this year to see if I can increase the harvest period Alans Allotment: First Burpless Cucumber

[Snoop Puss]

Sorry, VC, starting seeds off now is just plain impossible. You live in sunshiney Wales, I live in cold, grey Spain! Plus, the house is built to cope with sun in the summer, meaning very, very few windows. So not realistic to try and grow there, especially as I'm trying to chit my potatoes indoors.

Lots of good comments though. I was thinking of growing them up a trellis, but if too much sun might be a problem, as suggested by TS, then time for another plan. Although I've rejected your idea of starting seeds off now, VC, I think this plan might qualify as VC-standard: I was going to grow some runner beans in the lee of an olive tree, which will provide shade and a bit of wind protection. Now, in amid the runner beans, I could perhaps grow a couple of ridge cucumbers. A kind of two sisters arrangement. It's a bed that needs a lot of compost adding anyway. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And Mr Snoop won't have to look at them (or even see them...).

Anybody got any views on this for a possible method?

[Penellype]

I grow the small, all female varieties Cucino and Mini Munch, both outside and in my friend's greenhouse, started off under lights indoors. I've not tried growing in soil, but they do well in pots, particularly the Quadgrow variety with a water reservoir. They really don't like too much direct sun and I have even had to shade the outdoor ones occasionally when they have wilted in the sun.

For the last couple of years I have sown 1 seed (Cucino) in the last couple of days of March/1st week of April to grow in the greenhouse. Last year this plant produced fruit from June to October (with a break in the middle when the weather was probably too hot). The outdoor plant, sown at the end of April, fruited from mid July to October but more sporadically.

[the big lebowski]

im growing la diva cucumbers ,is it worth digging a hole and putting a 2 liter pop bottle in to water in and get the water down below the surface or do they have shallow roots that stay near the surface ?

[veggiechicken]

Sorry, VC, starting seeds off now is just plain impossible. You live in sunshiney Wales, I live in cold, grey Spain!

No excuses, Snoop
Here are my babies today -