Cucumber help.....

I need some helpful advice on successful cucumber gardening.........This is my third year into Veggie gardening.........and it seems every year I have a problem w/ cucumbers...........either powdery mildew, or cucumber beetles, or both.............I will have a crop, and the next thing I know the plants are in a slow state of death..........I live in Central Texas...........Hutto, north of Austin, Texas..........This year I would like to train the plants to grow up a trellis......get them off of the ground (maybe that will help).......pictured below is a Burpless cucumber in distress....any advice will be appreciate.....thanks in advance

Pictured below is my back garden............My cucumber bed is in the back right just in front of the tractor................I would like for the cucumber plants to climb up the fence pictured................How do I do this? .........I would also like to put up another section of fence giving 3 sides of fencing around the cucumber bed..................maybe even put a top on it......... if I can keep the plants alive long enough......Once again thanks in advance

This is a pic of my Earthbox cucumbers from last year climbing on a trellis of 2"x4" opening fencing attached to 6' hammer in metal fence posts. If the plants are directly below the fencing the main shoot tendrils should readily attached to it all by themselves. If not give them a little help by tying the main stem to the fencing, I use twist ties. Some of the side shoots tend not to attach as readily and I again tie them as needed. As far as mildew and beetles go, I have problems with neither but my only solution would be to use an insecticide and a fungicide. There are plenty both chemical & organic versions available at any garden center.

Rich

Richh......those are some beautiful cucumbers ya' have there pal............that's what I want mine to look like............what kind of cucumbers are they?............What kind of fertilizer do you use??.........how often do you water??.......We deal w/ mucho heat, and humidity down here in Texas..........Thanks for your help..

This message was edited Apr 5, 2006 4:54 PM

Hi Horn
i have if you are interested in a japanese climbing cuc , i did it last yr with great success.
LMk
sue

Hornstrider - I too deal with powdery mildew on my cucumbers. Although a tablespoon of dish soap in my 32oz spray bottles did wonders to not only help, but also get rid of the mildew. You need to make sure you are not getting a lot of water on the leaves. One of the reasons Ritch's probably do so well, is because they are grown in EB's which means they are watered from the bottom, and the leaves are not constantly wet.

The tendrils will automatically attach to your fence as they "reach for something to hold on to". Just keep those leaves from getting wet, especially since you are in TX and you guys get a lot of humidity out there.

I'm not bragging, but this photo of a Marketmore cuke I grew last year after I had to spray the plant because of the powdery mildew problem, and I used Osmocote fertilizer.

kanita

Also, you might want to stick to varieties that are resistant to powdery mildew, like the Sugar Crunch from Burpee they are resistant to all mildews and mosaic virus, and produce 60-70 cukes per plant.

kanita

Horn--mine are definitely grown vertically. Succession sowing helps alot down here--we have the lengthy season for it--I'm organic no spraying here--my favorite is Diva--try Willhite seeds in Poolville Tx--they have good varieties for Texas.

hornstrider: There are 3 EB's set in an "L" shape in that pic and are planted with (l-r) Park's All-Season Burpless, Sweet Success & Cool Breeze. All are parthenocarpic (set fruit without pollination). That's the only type I grow in the EB's. Kanita is correct that the EB's provide the ideal environment for cucumbers both because of the bottom watering and also because they love a highly organic & rich soil and in the EB's they are growing in potting soil to which a large dose of 100% organic 5-3-3 has been added. What I used to do when growing them in ground was to dig a 10-12" deep trench where they were to be planted and fill at least half of that trench with well rotted manure then backfill the rest with dirt. A lot of work that I can't do anymore but well worth the effort.

Rich

Here's that link:
http://www.soulofthegarden.com/

I don't find cucumbers to be that labor intensive--but I have really good soil.

Hi taynors, I am in Ohio 5 too. How soon do you seed your cucumbers outside? My package says after last HARD frost.

Thanks all for your imput..............Ya' know these E,B.'s seem foolproof.............I have never heard of them before I came to this board...........I may have to give one a try this fall..........but I won't give up on my gardens...........I enjoy the challange............I know I can eventually do it........especially w/ all of the good advice from you folks..

Hi Tammylp
i sow direct them about may 10-13 the last frost date, i learned the hard way they do not transplant well:(, but grow fast and had good luck, then got the mildew and BER i think. i m new to all this stuf and am learning alot from DG'ers whaaa whooo . So i let them go and tilled them under, i know more about the mildew and will be more pro active so i can get my hands on some yummy cucs and start pickling some too.
I wish i had herd about the EB before, wow .
Kanita can i find the resistant cucs seeds at a lowes or a HD? i would be more interested in trying those . i assume i can jsut go to Burpee .com ? Have you done any pickling with those sugar crunch ?
thanks
sue

Hey Taynors, sometimes you can, you just have to look around. For example, the Sugar Crunch seeds I got from Walmart for $.97 per pack. Walmart (at least in LA area) only sells Burpee seeds. The same seeds on the Burpee website are $4.97 per pack.

Also, Sumter (which is great for pickles) are resistant to mildews, and I bought a pack of Ferry Morse seeds from Lowes at $1.57, only to find them last week at Big Lots, Ferry Morse brand as well $.95

For those of you looking for different seeds, I don't mind going to my Big Lots and getting them for you and sending them to you, just reimburse me the cost of the seeds and postage.

kanita

Sue, I forgot to mention that I did not pickle the sugar crunch last year, but I will this year because I was told that they make excellent crunchy pickles.

Last year I pickled my Marketmore's, National Pickling, Straigt 8, and Milano Slicer, another mildew resistant variety I got at Big Lots, although the Milano Slicer was a little more expensive because it is an Italian Heirloom. It was $1.25 for a pack.

kanita

EB's???.....EB's???....so I did a search, saw some others and now I get it. Some were plastic tubs with hugh plants, almost trees. One guy had so many; how in the world does he keep all of it watered, as I saw no irrigation system. I have to water my large pots twice a day to keep them from wilting; so that seems like a lot to keep up with....or is there something special about the tubs....do they have some type of reservoir?

Earthboxes (EB's) have a water reservoir & fill pipe with a drain hole on one side at a height just below the screen insert that the soil sits on. It will hold 2 gallons of water. The screen has 2 cutouts in 2 opposite corners where the potting soil goes right to the bottom and comes in contact with the water acting as a wick to draw water as needed into the soil. There is a plastic cover the fits over the top and you plant by cutting slits in the plastic. Before putting on the cover you mix in your fertilizer if organic or lay on the soil surface in a stripe if chemical and that's it for the season except for filling the water reservoir as needed, maybe once a day in extremely hot weather or once every 2 or 3 days in normal weather. Results usually far exceed in ground plantings.They're a bit pricey but very well made and some of mine are 6 years old and still look like new. I have 14 of them and grow tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, lettuce, basil, etc. For more info you can go to www.earthbox.com.

Rich

ritchh.........I just called the EB folks.................four week delivery time..................sounds like they need some competition..............$39.00 is a fair price............seems like they would be easy to manufacture........hmmmmmmm..........Hornstrider Boxes................maybe I will need a different name......