AG Cucumber (7/8/23)

[lynnee]

Started two AG cucumber pods in a Farm 12XL today (7/8/23). Label says they sprout in 10-21 days.

[scarfguy]

Hmmm... Why did you "like" your own post

[slw]

I got my AG cuke pods this week, too.  Unfortunately I just started the Izniks so I'll be waiting to try the AGs.   I'm interested in your results, Lynnee!   I usually try to avoid plants that need my assistance with pollination, so hopefully that part will be simple.

[lynnee]

[Source] scarfguy said:

Hmmm... Why did you "like" your own post

Fumblefingers! Trying to edit.  

[lynnee]

The AG cucumbers have sprouted! Too early for photos, though.

[gingercat]

lynnee, how many germinated seeds have you seen per pod? I recently started an AG cucumber pod, and five seeds germinated!

[lynnee]

I think there are at least two sprouts per pod. I'll check next time I go upstairs. Too lazy to make a special trip, because I'm all tired out from two days of Amazon Prime shopping!

[Shawn]

I have this kit as well but need my pepper to finish before I start.  Should be a couple weeks

[lynnee]

I got two strong seedlings in each pod. Sadly, I thinned them yesterday.

[lynnee]

Day 46. The AG cukes are coming along fast now. Their growth was stalled for a while because I was a week late with nutrients, and because I inadvertently left the light at maximum height when they were only 6" tall!

The white line around the older leaves is normal. All cukes seem to develop a white or yellow line around the leaf edges. After a time, the leaves start looking ratty--dry and crinkled--even though the plant is healthy and producing cukes.

[agnoob]

lynnee Your cucumber plants look great! I have 2 AG cukes growing in my Bounty. It's my first time using hydroponic system + I have a brown/numb thumb so I'll be following this thread to get whatever help I can 

The cucumber plants are 30 days old now. I've been seeing white edges on the older leaves too and thought it might be edema from not getting enough light/ air flow. Good to know the white leaves don't affect the overall plant. The roots are doing really well - they even smell like cucumbers!

[lynnee]

agnoob, Your cucumbers look great! The mottled and cracked lower leaves are also normal--don't take those off unless they start drying up completely.

Some or all of the little cukes behind the blossoms may develop into mature cukes. You can tell which ones are no longer viable by looking at the stems. When the stems turn yellow at the point where they join the vine or the little cuke, the plant has decided to shut them down. You can remove these because they will never mature.

[gingercat]

I noticed that there was an answer posted on the aerogarden seed pod kit Q&A for these cucumbers:

How big should I expect them to get before harvesting?

These cucumbers are smaller than the traditional outdoor summer garden cucumber variety. Our AeroGarden cucumber variety can be picked when it is smaller (4-6cm) and it will be pretty sweet tasting. If you would like to pick it a bit larger (at max 10cm) that is fine as well but it might not be as sweet. Pick the cucumbers when they are dark green and still healthy looking. The fruit will start to turn pale yellow when it is past maturity and on the vine too long

4-6 cm is quite a lot smaller than I was expecting! Some of mine are already bigger than that. I wonder if that’s accurate or if they meant inches?
.

[lynnee]

Yay, gingercat, you have cukes! Given that cm are mentioned twice, they probably meant cm. That means they are what I would call "cocktail" cucumbers, if there is such a thing.

4 cm = 1.57 in
10 cm = 3.9 in

Why don't you try one of your larger cukes, and see how it tastes? If it's bitter, then that would verify the cm measurement.

My Mini Munch cukes tasted fine when they reached a fat 6", even though they were supposed to be best at 3-4". I'm surprised that the AG cukes are even smaller than the Mini Munch!



EDIT: There was one 3" cuke on my right-hand AG vine, so I ate it. It tasted great. I didn't see any smaller cukes, so now I'm wondering, too, whether the measurement should be inches rather than centimeters.

[slw]

gingercat--I agree; the cm measurements sound really small.  Can you post a pic of your cukes?  Do they look filled out and mature?   I haven't started an AG cuke yet; I'm still dealing with the Iznik but I love seeing y'all's results. 

[lynnee]

slw, the single 3" cuke that I found wasn't filled out (it was pear-shaped), and I didn't have any smaller developed cukes anywhere. It does look like the cm measurement is wrong.

[gingercat]

I harvested and ate four of mine yesterday, ranging from 7/8 cm to about 11 cm. They were all delicious! The smaller ones were particularly sweet. The larger one was less sweet, but still tasty. These definitely are exceeding my expectations for taste and productivity. (I can't even count how many I have growing on my five plants--which all germinated from one seed pod!) The three in kratky jars are behind the ones growing in the Farm, but they are producing plenty of cucumbers as well.

These look pretty well filled out to me, though I'm no expert on growing cucumbers.

[scarfguy]

Looking plump!   I wouldn't hesitate to let them grow a little bit longer though.

[lynnee]

Love your photos, gingercat!

Your cukes look perfect to me, ready to harvest or to let grow another inch.

I found two more 2.5" cukes on my vines and ate them. Delicious! These might be Mini Munches, but I don't think they taste quite the same. Mini Munch isn't the only variety of mini-cukes, so the AG cuke is probably one of those. Mini Munch is slightly better, slightly crisper.

If we were to harvest these AG cukes at 1.57", we'd be eating buds! That AG message has to be wrong.

Whenever my MiniMunch had a cucumber that had reached the size of a pickling cucumber (because it had successfully hidden the cuke behind its leaves), the cuke tasted fine. It just wasn't so sweet.

[slw]

gingercat--how are you managing the vines in Kratky jars?   I'd like to see that setup.  What size jars/containers are you using?  I have only done lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and now a banana pepper plant in a jar but never a vine.  

I used to like growing sweet potato vines in jars (before I'd ever heard of "Kratky") just for the plant, but those never had anything but leaves.