Dar Cucumber (Bounty | Ended)

[areyoukittenme]

So... the cucumber had a bit of excitement this week.

... which was entirely my fault. I was pruning to clear out the oldest leaves that had curled up under the rest of the plant and weren't getting any light, and I accidentally snipped off the biggest branch. The one that had all the new growth I was excited about last week

But I think we're going to be okay, because that was on Thursday and it seems like the li'l plant took it in stride. The leaf closest to the camera in the foreground is entirely new since then, so clearly it's still growing and doing plant things. The flowers are new, too, although there was apparently quite a few hiding under all the foliage that I couldn't see before.

So here's hoping the cucumber plant does well and that I can avoid any more accidentally aggressive prunings!

[Sher]

I am so glad it's putting on new growth! I guess it figures, "If I can't grow there, I'll just grow here!"

[areyoukittenme]

Jun 19, 2022 21:53:19 GMT -5 Sher said:

I am so glad it's putting on new growth! I guess it figures, "If I can't grow there, I'll just grow here!"

It's got a can-do attitude!

I got the CALiMAGic I ordered, and today I added 4 ml to the Bounty!

[lynnee]

Cukes are willing branchers! So funny about your pruning mishap, areyoukittenme--after the fact, anyway!

[areyoukittenme]

The cucumber seems okay!

Aside from some light burn on that one leaf, that is. I've moved the light up a bit now - sorry cucumber! I'm doing my best to be a helpful little bee with these flowers. There's male and female ones and I'm going back and forth with a q-tip between them. We'll see how it works out!

[lynnee]

Love it!

If the Q-tip disappoints, try a kid's toothbrush.

[areyoukittenme]

I'll have to give that a try, lynnee! Although there's loads of flowers I'm not getting many of them developing into fruits:

It is quite nice how small this plant is, but that makes it tough to get in there and pollinate stuff. If there were a parthenocarpic version of these I think it would be ideal. Still, I'm looking forward to some cucumbers relatively soon!

[areyoukittenme]

After two weeks, the cucumber is embiggening nicely!

And she's got a little friend, too! Those are the only two fruits we've managed to set, though. This plant is so compact that it was difficult for me to get in there and pollinate things, and also I wasn't as diligent with it as I should have been. So, something to be aware of! I'm sure insects would do a much better job of it, and I bet this would be wonderful to grow outside.

[lynnee]

Yep, it's embiggening impressively, areyoukittenme!

[Sher]

Jul 17, 2022 21:44:25 GMT -5 lynnee said:

Yep, it's embiggening impressively, areyoukittenme !

Yes! Love that word!

And the cucumber!

[areyoukittenme]

My sweetie and I tried the oldest cucumber yesterday! I think I left it on the vine too long, though, because it was tough and a little bitter. So I'll probably pick the second one either today or tomorrow and see if that one is nicer (I think it will be).

[areyoukittenme]

Cucumber #2 was indeed much nicer! We sliced it up for a salad.

I'm going to call it quits here on the Dar cucumber, since I don't see any others that were pollinated. My final thoughts are that it's adorably small, but hard to hand-pollinate. The cukes are yummy when picked at the right time, and if I had somewhere outdoors to grow them I'd def give them a try there!

[lynnee]

An interesting project!

[Shawn]

It had a nice run.  Now what you going to grow next?

[areyoukittenme]

Jul 27, 2022 4:52:35 GMT -5 Shawn said:

It had a nice run.  Now what you going to grow next?

I was thinking about trying the green beans I had trouble with again. Now that I've been using the calmag that Sher told me about, I'm curious to see if they'd do better!