I grow many cukes and zucchini in containers, and will be trying container versions of each of the parthenocarpic varieties sold by Gourmet Seeds. Can't tell you how it will go, but as always, I'm starting the season with great expectations!

Looking forward to comparing notes next fall!
Jan

thanks, Jan.

Jennie, also, I've been reading intensively over at the earthbox forum and picked up a tip from a reader who grows cukes in one of her boxes. She says she never plants all the recommended 5/box (I believe that was the ratio...I can't imagine fitting five mature cukes in there) at the same time, but staggers them so she has summerlong harvest. I'm going try starting with one, and add another one every couple of weeks.

Jan

There's an Earthbox forum ?

I like Diva cucumbers. They are parthenocarpic and supposed to be unappealing to cucumber beetles. I usually grow 5 or 6 in a 20-gallon container and get an excellent yield. I grow them using a standard big box store tomato cage (the kind that's useless for tomatoes). A cage or trellis keeps them off the ground and much healthier.

Thanks, Ohiofem. That's good to hear.

Dickie, I wish GW had a forum for users of subirrigated planters like the Earthtainer, Earthbox, GrowBox and CityPickers but we don't so far. The best resource is the trademarked EB forum, which has been operating for quite some time. They have built up a lot of experience and research into this type of planting.

Jan

Hi, Jennie! I live in OKC and have an abundance of bees and other pollinators in my garden. Do you grow any good pollinator plants, like Gomphrena (Globe Amaranth), Cosmos, Basil (when it blooms), Lavender, Sunflowers, Zinnias, Borage, Hyssop, Mints (contained), Dill, Datura (I find loads of bees in the early morning when the blooms are still open), Cleome, Oregano, Marjoram (lots of herb flowers as you can see).

My garden is very bee friendly, and butterfly and moth and hummingbird friendly because I don't use any herbicides at all. If one uses these products, it's likely they will kill the beneficials along with the bad bugs. Honeybees in particular are in decline right now due to Colony Collapse Disorder, so I plant as many things as I can to encourage their presence.

Have fun!

Susan

Hi Folks,

I'm in Zone 10 Florida, hot, humid and buggy. My outside garden is only 8' from a brackish lake feeding to a mangrove bayou off of Tampa Bay, point being that even Diva succumbs to pickleworm quickly here even with weekly sprayings of spinosad. I gave up on growing cukes outside last year and moved inside my swimming pool cage in 3.5 gallon buckets nested in 5 gallon buckets. So far I've tried Sweet Success, Diva, Cool Breeze, Corentine, H19 Little Leaf, and Iznik, all in filtered shade with light similar to that of a greenhouse. Of these Cool Breeze did the best but the seed crop was a failure last year so I tried the substitute, Corentine, and it has also done well, the rest were duds for me except for marginal production from Iznik.

Here's a link to my recent post on our Florida GW forum.

Tom