Outdoor Cuc's

[Chuckles]

I've grown several types of cuc's this year and have just realised a couple of them can be grown outside. Does anyone else grow outdoor cuc's ?

As the GH is rather full I'm going to put my Mirella and Marketmore out in one of the raised beds, these can be grown outside. Are there any problems I should be aware of planting outside, will I need to net them ?

[Dutchy]

Hi Chuckles, I grew them outdoors last year but outdoors does not mean outdoors over here.
The minute you get a colder spell the cuc's curl up and stop growing into a nice long cuc, instead you get an interestingly shaped cuc that is not nice to eat, well the curled up bit isn't.
I decided then and there not to try again.

[Rosefriend]

Dutchy is right on the colder spell - cucumbers don't like being under around 13 deg C at night.

Apart from 4 years when I had a GH I have always grown cucumbers outside whether they were meant to be for a GC or especially for outside. I work with fleece covering them each night until the temps get better.

In the last 2/3 years I have moved onto mini-cucumbers which I am finding are a lot better for outside - growing time of course is less etc. Temperatures still play an enormous part and I lost two this year because the night temps were too low and I forgot to cover them up.

Apart from that I treat them as I would treat a cucumber in a GH.

RF

[Chuckles]

Thanks for the info girls, I'll see how they go outside. Pity the temps have dropped at night over the last few days but I do have ones that can stay in the GH as a fall back so I'll move a couple out this week

[Barbara]

I've grown cucumbers outside this year, Sharon got the seeds from a ''heritage'' site, but I have just noticed that they have spikes on the fruit, is that right.

[Rosefriend]

Quite a few cuc's have spikes Barbara, particularly the heritage and gherkin varieties - the Crystal lemon Cuc that I did this year has - they just rub off and are no problem, I did mine under running water...although sometimes they poke into your hand when you are harvesting them...

Mind you there could be a reason for cuc's having spikes...

I did hear, the "spikes" were used in prehistoric times as weapons against unfriendly cucumbers. Back in those times, of course, cucumbers had a miniscule brain on the blossom end that would sense when other cucusauers would infiltrate pure, but open-pollinated fields. Over time evolution took place where most of the other forms of vegetation no longer feared attack by other like or unlike forms of vegetation. Some of the cucumbers lost all spikes, becoming defenceless, and others kept their spikes to protect them from unfriendly predators like human beings and three-toed sloth's. : )

RF

[MamIDdau]

We grew our Burpless Tasty Green in the GH and they've done really well. Grew them outside last year and it was a miserable harvest.

[Barbara]

So RF, Now that they have grown legs they won't need the spikes any more, hence only the heritage types having them. ;D


I don't have room for them in the GH TT.

[Rosefriend]

Haha - yes that's it Barbara..only the heritage types...bit like us innit!!!

RF