Help with Cucumbers

Does anyone know how to grow, maintain crystal apple cucumbers ?
I am growing them in containers, so as they are not in the ground, any suggestions for things that they can climb on, how much space etc.
Help please.

Hi, we used to grow cucumbers commercially some years ago. We grew in a glasshouse and they were planted in black plastic bags in compost. We used liquid fertilizer on the plants as they grew. Once they had made about teh inches in height we loosely knotted a length of twine around the base of the growing stem and tied the top of the twine to a railing in the house. As the vine grew we twirled the growing tip around the twine. They always followed the path of the sun so we twirled from right to left.
You could do this if you grow it up a fence. We did not grow the apple cucumbers but the long green ones. I don't know if the growth habit of yours will be different.

You will need to make sure they get suffiicient water to allow the cucumbers to form well. Our operation was all computerised and they got set amounts of water during their growing period.

You may get a problem with white fly, we used predator wasps which came in a little sachet type container. The wasps hatched out and dealt to the white fly, but you would need to keep an eye on them and if you see a problem with white fly you would need to put a spray on or else live with them.

Good luck.

Took a pic of the twine for you.

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thanks again for that info, I ended up asking a garden person and they said that these cucumbers like to crawl along the ground, as I am growing them in pots on the deck I came up with this idea, (see picture) don't now if it will work or not but I like to try different things,
hoping that the vines will grow along the netting, the garden person said that they are very watery vegies also that the vines are watery so trying to get them to hang may be too hard for them - here's hoping it works. I will send more photos as they grow (if they do)

Hi wilflower
I have one cucumbers growing.
It covers an area of 1 1/2 x 1 mtrs.

Wilflower, what a great idea! But if they grow like gingers you will have to move them further apart or extend the netting support. Good luck and will wait to see the photos of how they perform for you :-)
.

They will grow either way.

I grow Apples and Lebs on fences / mesh spaced at least a metre apart . A friend a few doors up grows them semi commercially on the ground . Mine are easier to see and pick as he has to walk through his searching without wrecking the vines and they have a mark on them where they sit on the ground .

I like your idea .Ginger is spot on with the spacings and Ferrymeads commercial setup is the optimum ,sounds almost hydroponic ?


Good luck with doing something a bit different

Anyone afraid of FAILURE will NEVER invent. :-)

Holty.

Although these are Succini,
Still shows how big Things get.

thanks all for your info, little flowers have now started to appear, I think I read somewhere that the female flower actually grow the fruit and the flowers with no little bud are the males, here's hoping that the little bees and things transfer the pollen as I think they are supposed to be inter pollenated???

If in doubt use a cotton bud and make like a bee !
Yes Im serious , it works.

Hi,
Just had to send this picture, a baby bumble bee sitting on the first flower of the cucumbers, the female flower I believe as there is a little cucumber at the bottom.

Nice Pic.
Aint MN grand?

Great photo, that fat fellow is doing his job so well. You will be eating the cucumbers soon.