After adding shade cloth, an exhaust fan and a circulating fan, our greenhouse stays a little cooler than our garden does out in the direct sun. Given the more favorable conditions, I decided to try growing some vegetable plants in containers in the green house.
We enjoy cucumbers in salads, salad dressings and as pickles. Slicing cucumbers aren't ideal for pickling, but pickling cucumbers work for anything. I chose Boston Picklers as best suited for containers and vertical growing on a trellis.
It seems to me that holes on the bottom of a container have a good chance of being blocked, so I drilled extra drain holes around the bottom edge of the side of a large tub. For a growing medium I used a mix of sand, compost and organic potting soil, with about two cups of organic plant food mixed into the top four inches. Rather than dealing with transplanting, I planted a half dozen cucumber seeds in a rough circle in the center of the tub. Cucumber seeds work well for direct planting.
Companion plants always seem like a good idea to make use of the extra soil surface. Cucumbers don't have that many companions suitable for containers or hot weather growing. I read every reference on companion planting I can find and if one doesn't tell me what I want to hear I keep looking until I find one that does. Second opinions never hurt anything. At least one reference listed dill as a good cucumber companion and another said thyme could be grown with anything. I had both started in small pots and I transplanted them in available spaces. Radishes are said to repel cucumber beetles so I planted a few seeds. Since radishes bolt readily in hot weather, I didn't expect too much from them.
The cucumber seeds germinated in a few days and grew quickly. I made a trellis from a large section of hog panel and the plants quickly latched on with their tendrils and began climbing, filling the space quickly.
Cucumber plants have both male and female flowers and require an intermediary to transfer pollen from the former to the latter. I don't get many visits from pollinators in the greenhouse, so I have to hand pollinate. I use a Q-tip to pick up pollen from a male flower and transfer it to a female flower. Cucumbers and cucurbits in general produce far more male blossoms than female. Every morning I have to search carefully through the foliage to find the new female flowers to make sure I get a good rate of pollination. For awhile I was receiving help from little black ants, but they seem to have moved on.
My experiment with greenhouse cucumbers has been even more successful than growing them in the garden. We'll be making our first batch of pickles this weekend.
We enjoy cucumbers in salads, salad dressings and as pickles. Slicing cucumbers aren't ideal for pickling, but pickling cucumbers work for anything. I chose Boston Picklers as best suited for containers and vertical growing on a trellis.
It seems to me that holes on the bottom of a container have a good chance of being blocked, so I drilled extra drain holes around the bottom edge of the side of a large tub. For a growing medium I used a mix of sand, compost and organic potting soil, with about two cups of organic plant food mixed into the top four inches. Rather than dealing with transplanting, I planted a half dozen cucumber seeds in a rough circle in the center of the tub. Cucumber seeds work well for direct planting.
Companion plants always seem like a good idea to make use of the extra soil surface. Cucumbers don't have that many companions suitable for containers or hot weather growing. I read every reference on companion planting I can find and if one doesn't tell me what I want to hear I keep looking until I find one that does. Second opinions never hurt anything. At least one reference listed dill as a good cucumber companion and another said thyme could be grown with anything. I had both started in small pots and I transplanted them in available spaces. Radishes are said to repel cucumber beetles so I planted a few seeds. Since radishes bolt readily in hot weather, I didn't expect too much from them.
The cucumber seeds germinated in a few days and grew quickly. I made a trellis from a large section of hog panel and the plants quickly latched on with their tendrils and began climbing, filling the space quickly.
Cucumber plants have both male and female flowers and require an intermediary to transfer pollen from the former to the latter. I don't get many visits from pollinators in the greenhouse, so I have to hand pollinate. I use a Q-tip to pick up pollen from a male flower and transfer it to a female flower. Cucumbers and cucurbits in general produce far more male blossoms than female. Every morning I have to search carefully through the foliage to find the new female flowers to make sure I get a good rate of pollination. For awhile I was receiving help from little black ants, but they seem to have moved on.
My experiment with greenhouse cucumbers has been even more successful than growing them in the garden. We'll be making our first batch of pickles this weekend.
A male cucumber flower. Notice the stem at the base of the bloom.
A female flower. Notice the tiny cucumber at the base. If pollination is accomplished, the blossom will shrivel and the fruit will continue to grow. If not, the tiny fruit will shrivel and wither away.
Female and male flowers growing close together.
A developing indoor cucumber.
Cucumbers are good at hiding in the shadows.
Stephen's Tzatziki Sauce Recipe
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
2 cups Greek yogurt
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried dill weed
Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Chill for at least 2 hours, best if refrigerated over night.
Stephen
All photos are copyright 2017, Stephen P. Scott
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