Showing posts with label Cucumbers. Show all posts
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12:13 PM
Grafts form a new breed of cucumber.

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The cucumber (Cucumus sativus) is a vine-grown vegetable that favors the warm season. Long green slicing and pickling varieties are two main types of cucumber. While some grow from seed, others propagate through grafting. During the grafting process, the main stems of two different varieties of cucumber fuse together to form a new breed, which contains traits from both plants. In the case of cucumbers, one cotyledon grafting is the most successful.

Related Searches:Difficulty:ModerateInstructions Things You'll NeedRootstock and scion4-inch potPotting soilRazor bladeGrafting clipSpray bottleSuggest Edits1

Choose two cucumber plants to graft. Plant the main cucumber plant or rootstock in a 4-inch pot with damp potting soil. The second plant, or scion, will be grafted to the main rootstock and does not require special potting.

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Pinch-off the first true leaf from the rootstock using your fingers. Grip the leaf stem at the point where it meets the main stem and pinch to remove.

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Slice one cotyledon from the rootstock at a 45-degree angle using a razor blade. Perform the same cut on the scion, this time making the 45-degree-angle cut just below the embryo.

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Press the exposed tissue of the scion against that of the rootstock. Clamp the stems together using a grafting clip.

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Mist the grafted cucumber plants with water from a spray bottle to moisten. Place the pot in filtered sunlight and continue to maintain moist soil as the graft mends.

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Check the graft every few days. Remove the grafting clip when the union between the two plants heals.

Tips & Warnings

Cotyledons are tiny leaves that surround a plant’s embryo, forming a temporary supply of nourishment. These tiny leaves are often the first leaves visible after germination.

Always sterilize razor blades before and after each use with 70 percent ethanol to prevent the spread of disease from plant to plant.

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ReferencesCornell University Cooperative Extension: Grafting Cucumbers for Yield and Cold Hardiness in High TunnelsThe University of California: Vegetable GraftingThe Great Plant Escape: Seed StructureResourcesAmerican Society for Horticultural Science: Grafting MethodsPhoto Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty ImagesRead Next:

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5:03 AM
Cucumbers require a long, hot growing season.

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Cucumbers are vine crops related to pumpkins, melons and squash. Several varieties of cucumber exist for the home grower, including pickling cucumbers, slicing cucumbers and even specialty types like the lemon cucumber. Bush varieties and trellising allow gardeners with small plots of land to enjoy growing cucumbers. Poor pollination or lack of fertilizer can result in misshapen cucumbers.

Related Searches: Pollinators

Honeybees, bumblebees, leaf cutter bees and several varieties of solitary, ground nesting bees are the foremost pollinators of fruit and vegetable crops. Other pollinators, like wasps, butterflies, beetles, flies and moths also pollinate cucumbers. If these pollinating insects exhibit low populations in your garden, you may see misshapen fruit due to incomplete pollination. Limit the use of broad spectrum insecticides that may harm pollinators. Plant several varieties of nectar plants, like daisies, alyssum and borage near your cucumbers to attract honeybees and butterflies and consider leaving a patch of bare dirt in your garden for ground nesting bees.

Hand-Pollinating

If you've tried attracting pollinators and are still having problems with poor pollination, consider hand-pollinating your cucumbers. All vine crops, cucumbers included, have separate male and female flowers on their vines. Go to your garden early in the morning, just as the flowers open, and locate a male flower. Male flowers are on long, thin stalks and have a group of columnar stamens at their centers. Pick the male flower and gently pull off its petals. Locate the female flower. It is on a short stem, close to the vine. Between the female flower and the vine, you'll see a small, immature cucumber. Dust the center of the male flower against the vase-like stigma in the center of the female flower. Look at the female flower to ensure bright yellow pollen is covering the entire stigma. The cucumber will begin to grow in a few days if the pollination was successful.

Fertilizing

Infertile soil can also cause misshapen cucumbers. Contact your local garden center or your county extension agent for information regarding soil testing. Soil tests will help you determine what fertilizer is best suited to your garden and how much to apply. In the absence of a soil test, apply a balanced fertilizer, like 5-10-10, prior to planting at the rate the manufacturer recommends. After flowering begins, apply a fertilizer high in nitrogen. Apply nitrogen fertilizer again, three weeks later, but no more after that. Too much nitrogen can inhibit fruiting.

Care Tips

Cucumbers are tender and require a long, hot growing season. Use black plastic mulch to warm the ground early in the spring, keep it warm later in the fall and extend the growing season. According to the University of Illinois, cucumbers are shallow rooted and require regular irrigation, especially when they begin to set fruit. Harvest cucumbers before they turn yellow. Don't allow yellow cucumbers to sit on the vine, they'll prevent younger fruit from developing.

ReferencesUniversity of Illinois Extension: CucumberOhio State University Extension: Growing Cucumbers in the Home GardenNorth American Pollinator Protection Campaign: Pollinator Friendly PracticesPollinator: Hand PollinationPhoto Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty ImagesRead Next:

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8:43 PM
Pruning method depends on the variety of cucumber you're growing.

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Trellising and pruning both offer a number of advantages when it comes to cucumber production. The support of a trellis improves the efficiency and yield of harvesting and allows fruit to grow more uniformly on the plant. It improves sun exposure and fruit quality. Likewise, pruning encourages uniform growth and fruit production as well as straighter cucumbers. These methods require diligence from the gardener, but with some effort you can grow desirable cucumbers for cooking, eating fresh in salads or pickling.

Related Searches: Training

Whether your netting is composed of string or wire, it will require effort on your part to help train the vine to its support. This can be done by twining the stems and tendrils through the netting as the plant grows, which usually requires about three or four trips during the course of a plant's development to accomplish. Continue training until the vine reaches the top of the netting. Pinch the top stem tip to prevent growth from continuing upward. Ties can be helpful when attempting to train a cucumber vine to net trellis.

Tree System

The growth habit of seedless cucumbers makes a tree system preferable for trellising. In this system, the first four to six lateral runners, as well as leaves that appear in the first 20 inches of the plant, are removed. The higher lateral runners should grow naturally, but the stems of the growing tip should be cut off once they develop two leaves. The main stem of the plant should be attached to the top of the trellis structure with ties so its growth can continue horizontally along the top of the netting..

Umbrella System

When growing a seeded variety of cucumber, an umbrella system of trellising is used. In this system, all lateral branches except the top two are removed. These two main lateral branches are allowed to hang down on either side of the stem. Once they produce fruit and are harvested, cut the stems away and encourage a new set of strong lateral branches to take over as fruiting stems.

Pruning

General pruning practices are important, regardless of the type of trellising system applied. To ensure a balance of foliage and fruit, remove excess fruit and allow just one cucumber to grow with each leaf axil. In other words, each leaf should be paired with a single fruit to ensure a balance of fruit production. Too many fruits on a plant at once can diminish their quality as the plant may not have sufficient food reserves to support them. Dead or damaged foliage should also be removed to ensure a healthy crop free of disease and insect damage. Excess foliage can also prevent the fruit from gaining sufficient sun exposure.

ReferencesUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks: Cucumber Production in GreenhousesNorth Carolina State University: Trellised CucumbersPhoto Credit PhotoObjects.net/PhotoObjects.net/Getty ImagesRead Next:

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3:33 PM
Pickling cucumbers are half the size of slicing cukes.

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Crunchy, refreshing cucumbers are members of a large botanical family that also includes melons and squash. Cucumbers come in two main types, slicing and pickling, but both grow naturally in an oblong, slender shape. Since cucumbers are loaded with healthy polyphenols, it's good to add them frequently to your diet. One way to make serving these cruciferous vegetables more interesting is by growing them into different shapes. Shaping the vegetables won't harm the plant or diminish the veggie's nutritional value. Specialty kitchen supply stores sell reusable heart and star-shaped molds. These plastic molds are reusable if cleaned properly between growing periods.

Related Searches:Difficulty:EasyInstructions Things You'll NeedPlastic growing moldsSuggest Edits1

Place your cucumber plants in a large growing pot or in your garden. Cultivate the plant by watering and feeding it regularly. Cucumbers take six to eight weeks to begin producing bloom.

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Locate a young, growing cucumber 2 to 3 inches in length. Slice the plastic mold over the cucumber. Arrange the cucumber on the vine so the mold doesn't slip off.

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Allow the cucumber to grow for 10 days, then remove the cucumber from the vine. Slip off the mold and rinse.

Tips & Warnings

Tempt children to try this vegetable by serving heart-shaped cucumber slices.

Remove the cucumber from the mold while there is still wiggle room left. Waiting until it is too tight could make it impossible to remove.

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ReferencesThe Old Farmer's Almanac: Heart-shaped Cucumbers Make DebutInventor Spot: Love Cucumbers?WH Foods: CucumbersPhoto Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty ImagesRead Next:

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