AG Cucumber (7/8/23)

[scarfguy]

The question as to which variety the AG cukes are brings up a more general question I have:

Aerogarden, in general, never seems to tell you what variety, hybrid, or source their seeds are.

Does anybody know if aerogarden has their own breeding program to create their own hybrids with characteristics that thrive in their gardens?   Do they contract growers to hybridize products?  Do they just buy seeds like we do and hide the variety info.

If you bought an AG pod of deer tongue lettuce, would it be the same as buying deer tongue lettuce seeds from some other source?

[lynnee]

scarfguy, when I asked Aerogarden what tomato seeds they used, they responded with generalized instructions on choosing plant varieties that work--look for determinate dwarf varieties, etc. In short, "we ain't sayin!'"

I think they just buy seeds like we do. If Deer Tongue lettuce has a lot of hybridized varieties, then it's anybody's guess which one AG uses. Also, I find that even plants grown from "heirloom" seeds can differ a little, depending on the seed company.

[agnoob]

lynnee  My two AG cucumber plants are starting to get pretty big with tons of roots in my Bounty. Should I only keep one cucumber in a Bounty? I just bought a new Bounty on sale so I can move one of pants to the new one.

[lynnee]

agnoob, it might be a good idea to move one cucumber vine to your second Bounty. I have two vines in a Farm 12XL, but that reservoir is twice the size of a Bounty reservoir.

[lynnee]

At 52 days, I terminated the right-hand AG cuke, even though it was fruiting. It wasn't as prolific as the other vine, and I needed the Farm 12XL for the Slicing Tomatoes project. There is a photo of the two vines here.

Today I moved the left-hand cuke to a Bounty. I think it will be okay, because I was able to gently work the roots out through the hole in the grow deck without having to trim them.

Before, day 53:



Vine placed in busing tray for transport:



After, moved to Bounty, clipped to trellis:



Cukes that were ready to harvest today:

[scarfguy]

Wow, lynnee, you're not afraid to do major surgery on a cucumber plant! 

Hope that works out for you.

[lynnee]

Aug 30, 2023 17:25:46 GMT -5 scarfguy said:

Wow, lynnee, you're not afraid to do major surgery on a cucumber plant! 

Hope that works out for you.

No, I'm not! Plants have this incredible will to live! As long as you don't break the stems, leave them some good leaves, and keep the roots fairly intact, they will usually recover from anything reasonable that you do.

I nearly killed a nice green pepper plant by trimming the roots, but even it recovered and produced lovely green peppers afterwards.

The leaves on the cuke are drooping a little now, but the garden room is unusually warm. It's 85 degrees outside, and the window gets sun all afternoon. The upside down leaves will right themselves overnight--I was amazed when a previous cuke did that.

Tomorrow I have to move some of the Slicing Tomato teenagers to the now-vacant Farm 12XL. That will be a major test of the procedure, because there are six tomatoes in the current Farm 12XL.

[lynnee]

The AG cuke seems to be happy in its new location. It has turned its leaves right-side up, and the cuke you can see at the lower left in yesterday's photo is fatter.

[Shawn]

YAY!!!

[lynnee]

So far the vine isn't working on developing new cukes, but the growing tip is a couple of inches longer.

[swimmom500]

Sept 4, 2023 14:23:09 GMT -5 lynnee said:

So far the vine isn't working on developing new cukes, but the growing tip is a couple of inches longer.

Looking at your photos makes me want to start some cukes! The heat got to my cukes outside just as they started flowering! I was so disappointed. Hoping to try again in a couple weeks with the outdoor cukes.

[lynnee]

I gave the recently relocated cuke vine an extra shot of 4mg AG nutes on Sunday, to encourage cuke development. Cukes are heavy feeders, so this is usually okay.

The cuke responded by starting development of a cuke, and by continuing to lengthen the growing tip. Cukes are generally forgiving when you mess with their roots and vines!

[lynnee]

The cucumber vine has produced five cukes since it was relocated to the Bounty. Two of them are oversized cukes that it was hiding under its leaves down behind the grow deck at the back of the Bounty. You've really got to watch these cukes carefully to find the cukes that they are currently developing!

[lynnee]

The AG cucumber is curling around the trellis with almost no direction from me. It follows the overhead light, I think. Yesterday it had an R&R, and today it had six harvestable cukes! I harvest these at 3"to 4" if possible, when they are both sweet and the ideal snack size.