23,594 Garden Web Discussions | Vegetable Gardening
Well, that's plumb scary. Yeah, pumpkins are particularly ozone sensitive and resistance to damage will vary within a particular crop. Will be curious to see if the other varieties of pumpkin you have planted will exhibit the same response. If not, guess you'll know which ones to plant next year. Do you think the vines will hang in there long enough for the fruits to mature?
Yeah, as of yet they look like they will. Actually August 22nd is the maturity date from when I planted for this variety according to seed catalog but we had a wet, cool June so things got delayed a bit because of it so I'm guessing at least 2 weeks after that date until they are ready. I will try and get some updated pics posted and put them on a separate post as Ozone Damage.
I use lots of plastic mulch and leave it down if possible. the paths are permanent and stay down and just get more on top when they are holey. Most of the beds need to be replaced with fresh but I am trying to leave the cucurbit area and have that be potatoes and sweet potatoes next year without anything done. I use drip tape.
A lot of people think plastic mulch isn't organic but Jere Gettle uses it! I tend 22000 sq feet and need that mulch to be able to produce that much food and not spend 100 hours per week weeding.
There are biodegradable plastic mulches available but be aware that they often start to degrade before the season ends.
I agree of the importance of incorporating nutrients back into the soil. You can leave the plastic in place up to the time to renovate- I find it easier to pull up in the spring when vegetation has dried up and degraded a bit. It is just part of my farming routine that often takes less than 4 hours for me to accomplish and I lay (with tractor) over a mile of the stuff.
1. You can try to prevent it if you want.
2. Planting two varieties next to each other doesn't cause deformed fruit. Yes, they will cross pollinate but that doesn't affect this year's fruit, only the plants next year (if you save the seeds to plant next year). Deformed fruits goes along with number 3.
3. With planting in containers it can sometimes be difficult to provide adaquate water. Inconsitent watering is one reason for deformed cukes. Another cause is fertilizer related, which can also be a challenge to keep consistent in containers because the nutrients run out every time you water. Yet another is incomplete pollination. If the container is of the proper size and you provide the plants with the necessary water and nutrients then they shouldn't be stunted.
4. No reason to. Just pick them when you want to eat them.
Rodney
This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Tue, Aug 19, 14 at 19:01
The ones sold in grocery stores are commercail green house cucumbers and they are semi parthenocarpic.They develop seeds if pollinated. some varieties are Kalunga', 'Bellissma', 'Millagon', 'Discover', 'Marianna', 'Fitness', 'Aramon', 'Fidelio', 90-0048', 'E1828', 'Futurea',Bella and 'B-1157'. All were developed in Europe and probably descended from the Telegraph.
Here is a link that might be useful: English cucumber
Hi Dimitrig,
I found the following description from Johnny's website, which specifies a variety shrink-wrapped in plastic. It seems matching what you had in mind. Here is the link. I grew something like it one year and really liked it. But the seedling came from a nursery.
Dutch cucumbers such as Tyria are 14"-long, thin, spineless cucumbers usually grown in a greenhouse. Their thin skins contribute to their excellent eating quality, but cause them to dehydrate quickly. They are often found in supermarkets shrink-wrapped in plastic.
Here is a link that might be useful: Shrink-wrapped in plastic
The reason why is insufficient water and fertilizer and possibly too much competition from weeds.
They didn't self-seed.
Instead, the cloves you planted just plain failed to develop the multi-clove head you wanted because of the above reasons.
I get a tiny rash from cucurbits when handling them but my skin overreacts to most things so it doesn't surprise me. Someone told me the little spines are a defensive mechanism to deter birds. My skin freaked out with stinging nettles. I know everyone's skin does but mine lasted for 24 hours. Someone had grown the nettles in the plot I inherited this year and I didn't see them at first but I definitely felt them lol.
I get bad rashes from squash plants and have to go on Prednisone at least once per summer. Recently I forgot my gloves when in the field and thought I might as well just pick anyway. I have a small but very painful rash on my hand where everything touches. I am trying to find something natural to actually heal it. It itched before it blew up but now it just hurts. I have an ointment from the dr but want something to cure it faster.
Newbie -- all newbies are a bit stupid and we were all newbies once! ;-) Are you planning a garden for next year? I would suggest if you would like to have better results you could try a raised bed on top of your rocky soil and ask a lot of questions as you go along with your growing efforts. If you need to keep growing in containers, the container forum is usually pretty helpful and some people there grow amazingly well in containers.
The plastic around the base of your plant would be fine if it were in the ground, although I don't use it at all. In a small pot, it would not offer a good result. Might make the soil too hot and traps moisture which can lead to disease.
Ken, I stopped growing cukes too, and tried them again this year and had a great year. I tried a new seed from FEDCO - Ministro - and it worked out really well. I have a glut of cucumbers all ripening around the same time right now. I didn't really see a cucumber beetle this year either, which surprised me. I imagine I got lucky and they will find me next year though. lol
Thankyou for the advice, I'm going to do a raised bed where the stoney ground is and have a try at lasagne gardening in another part of the garden. I only got my garden in June, already learnt a few things from my mistakes. There is so much to learn though so thankyou for your help
I find that cuke plants have a shorter lifespan than most veggies so if you planted yours back in May or so they have already given their best and are now saying bye-bye. I get around this by planting cukes 3 times during the season, when the first ones bloom I plant set #2, when #2 blooms I plant set #3. Set Number 3 is now beginning to bud up while #2 leaves are turning yellow/brown and saying bye-bye with it's last cukes on the wane (Set #1 is long gone). Squash is similar in timing and planting.
As for the old soil, I don't use containers so that question is best left to someone who does.
I agree with vgkg -- cuke vines just give out after a while. I've been gardening a long time and it's always the same, lots of cukes in july then slowly the vines give out, turn yellow, then brown and stop producing. Staggered planting is the answer if you want cukes into the fall.