Uh, Skybird . . . take a look at this . . . X

But, Digit.......

Which varieties did YOU grow? And which varieties did YOU like?

When I went to your link and tried to get to the A-L part of the list, I got, Page not Found! Couldn't get to the page you linked from the "Cucumber" Page either! Not sure what's wrong.

I managed to keep the powdery mildew off of my summer squash most of the summer this year by keeping them well watered, so I never got mildew on my cukes this year at all. Love it!

Skybird

no, no Skybird . . . stay on the "S thru Z" page and scroll down to your Tasty Green Cukes . . . note the name in the parentheses.

S'

Here is a link that might be useful: Cukes

OMG! I looked at it the first timeÂand COMPLETELY missed that part! (I keep telling you how sleepless I am!)

I guess the seeds in the one were just a difference in the two different cukes then! They were very close to the same size, and the one didnÂt have even the beginnings of seeds!

Ok! Now I really DO want another variety! Do you have a good seedless cuke you grow? Anybody else?

Sleepless in Denver,
Skybird

P.S. I was thinking of posting my two favorite summer squashÂbut they might be the same thing too (even tho they ARE different shapes) ;-)

Hey, my favorite sweet peppers and sweet corn ARE exactly the same variety!

The name "sweet" should have been a clue but it stayed right under my radar!

digitS'

If your peppers and corn are EXACTLY the same variety, I wanna know if the peppers are shaped like corn, or if the corn is shaped like a pepper!

:-)
Skybird

Okay, Skybird, here are my cukes for 2007:

Tasty King - I grew Tasty Green (under more than one name) for years and years and fully understand how likable they are. However, it was always obvious to me that they struggled in the more exposed, big veggie garden. I was afraid to discontinue them and couldn't quite bring myself to grow more than one variety of "English" cukes (notice they are from Japanese companies ;o).

Then last year (or was it the year before?), the seed company substituted Tasty Kings in my order . . . !!!! Turns out that they don't have such a tough time of it in all that sun, heat, and wind. The plants can fairly well last right thru the season and still have decent cucumbers. Yay!

Lemon Cukes - I don't know what there is about these. Never, I mean - never, let them reach the fully lemon look-alike stage. They'll be terrible. Early on, they are tender and either have an interesting flavor or I imagine they do - perhaps just because of their interesting shape & size.

The other varieties are in your Harris catalog, Skybird:

I've grown both Raider as an early American slicer and Turbo as a later slicer for at least a dozen years. I think Turbo is a first rate cucumber and Raider certainly isn't at all bad - but I believe I came up with a replacement this year.

Speedway - is a fine early cuke and stayed nice and healthy right thru the season. I think it has better flavor than Raider and I really need to take the plunge and go with Speedway & Turbo in 2008. (There, I've said it! Hey, I like cucumbers . . . During the heat of Summer, I don't think I could get thru my gardening day without 'em!)

digitS'

I hope this doesn't just stay a dialog between you and me, Skybird, no matter how entertaining we may be.

I'm curious why Alice has an "unopened packet" of "Cucumber 'Diva'" that she is willing to exchange. Alice don't you want to try the newest thing in the cucumber market??

These beit alpha cukes are mostly grown as greenhouse plants but the University of Florida claims they are gaining a legion of fans after only a taste test. Apparently, they have very limited need for nitrogen fertilizer . . . I wonder why that is . . . ? And, the powdery mildew resistance is strong.

Diva has been in the Johnny's catalog for a few years but I wasn't really looking for a smaller cuke. The ones I grow are plenty tender when harvested early and they are mild. Couldn't think of a reason to go with these Israeli varieties but now I'm wondering if I'm missing out. Oldroser had high praise for them this season on the Veggie forum. Heck, I think he's in his 80's, so what's my excuse for being stuck in the mud? (No, IÂm not inviting psychological evaluations . . .)

d'S'

Here is a link that might be useful: Beit alpha greenhouse production

The sliced cuke is a Tasty King at 10+ inches. It is a little short and a little skinny and was rescued out from under the frost-burned foliage a week ago. Virtually zero seeds but, I gotta admit, even sprinkled with the Italian dressing it was a little rubbery after a week in the house.

The two cukes behind are probably Turbo. I decided to save them one more day since they are heftier.

A carton of yogurt and it's lunch:

Because I am a lazy gardener Digit! Well, maybe it would be better to say "unorganized" or "procrastinate". Whatever the reason, the packet said to start these indoors, which I never got around to. And that was probably just as well, as there plants were swallowing each other up in the overcrowded garden this year anyway!

I could keep them for next year, but I guess my thought was that I wanted to devote the space I have to other things. I like the occasional cuke, but if I'm not going to pickle them, I figured I'd have to many.

Sooo... I think maybe you should be the RMG tester of the Diva!

Heh...I've grown Divas for two seasons now and I like them a lot. Tender, nice and straight, good flavor, and produces heavily. =)

There we go! RMG tester Tunnymowg reports favorably on Diva.

. . . any other varieties?

d'S'

I grew Diva when it first came out for a couple of years, and it is a good cucumber with more flavor than most. Now, I stick with Alibi F1 from Johnny's since most of what they get used for are dill pickles. These won't even form seeds up to 6 inches long, and they slice up perfectly for spears if I leave them too long. Good fresh as well.

This was my first year to grow cukes in Colorado. I tried to grow them once when I lived in Tennesee, and lost the crop to what I now believe was squash borers. Beautiful vines, cukes about to mature, then the vines started dying from the ground up. I was very discouraged (and young at the time : )

Anyway, I grew the Spacemaster Bush type this time. They got crowded out by the pumpkins, so they didn't produce as much as they would've if I had given them enough space. They were fine if you picked them when they were about 6", but then they would get really fat, and the skin would get tough (no cuke peeling here).

David, that Alibi sounds like what I need, since we want to eat them fresh, as well as make dill pickles. How much space do they need, or should I grow them vertically?

Bonnie

Bonnie, I usually grow mine vertically, but I've grown them horizontally as well. The vines will hit, by the end of the summer, 5 feet long. The vines seem to split on their own, so one plant will have numerous producing runners. I like to have about a dozen plants, so when they hit their stride, I can do all the pickles in two weeks - this year we did 24 quarts. Then I have cucumbers coming out of my ears. I threw out a wheelbarrow full this fall. So, space wise, 5 x 5 ft for 3 healthy plants.

This is how I grow mine UP, Bonnie (click to enlarge)

I buy 6' plastic stakes, cut 3" X 2" grid wire to the right size, and fold the ends over the stake to secure it. The bottom foot or so gets pounded into the ground. Then, because the cukes add so much weight at times, I tie the end near the fence to the fence to give it some extra stability. Mine are only about 16" apart, and it works, but a little more space would be better!

You can see the wire better in this pictureÂitÂs my peas this year, and I do them on shorter stakes. Been using wood for them, but they rot too fast, so IÂm gonna switch to plastic next spring if IÂm not too lazy! The one in the back with chicken wire was a last minute substitute this spring, but I canÂt get my hands thru the wire, so I donÂt like it and will definitely be replacing that one next year. The chicken wire is too floppy and unstable too. The grid wire is nice and stable and holds everything wellÂeven the heavy cukes.

Skybird

I'm planning on trying the lemon cucumber, just because I love the idea of a cuke that looks like a lemon, and the Early Russian cucumber next spring. I'm a sucker for fun named plants, either veggies or flowers. I made a jump from jamming to pickling so wanted to try to fit cucumbers into our small garden space next season. The veggie garden is going to be stretched a little by pulling out grass that isn't doing very well and I convinced a neighbor who has a great veggie space to let me give him plants and help tend them in exchange for sharing the produce. It helped that he loves hot peppers and I got 6 different varieties to try too.

Hadn't even heard of an Early Russian cucumber, Dafy. The early part may work well with the lemon cukes - they are surprisingly late.

You can let the lemons get a blush of yellow but I like to get 'em when they just reach the "round" stage. If you wait, they'll actually get a tuff skin that looks quite a bit like the citrus version. Inside, it will be seeds, seeds, seeds by that time. And, I don't think anyone really wants a tart cucumber.

Tender and crisp, it's fun to eat 'em like an apple. Maybe they should have called them . . . no, never mind.

d'S'

I didn't have luck with cucumbers this year. Got very few from three plants. I planted the cuke transplants in a brand new "lasagna bed" along the fence and I guess they didn't like it. Everything else did very well in the new lasagna beds? Oh well, next year.

I love the lemon cukes too and grew those last year. Very different from standard green cuke. I like slices in my ice water with lemon and mint.

I grew a variety a few years ago as a novelty for kids; I think it was called "Serpent." They were striped and if left to grow over the side of the raised bed on the ground, the cukes curled into snake like creatures up to two feet long! Fun and they tasted good too. I found a pic, I'll post it below.

I'd like to try the Diva variety. That's our goal next year, lots of pickles.

Charlene

Here is a link that might be useful: Striped Armenian (Painted Serpent) Cucumber photo

I can't remember who had posted about Seeds of Change but thank you very much (I think it was a tomato thread here). I started browsing and couldn't stop. It helped knowing to specifically look for short days to maturity and then narrow down by characteristics. I hadn't ordered seeds online before but couldn't resist the pretty pictures :^) and got my seeds within a week.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seeds of Change - Early Russian cucumber

Hey, I want to grow those Armenian "cucumbers!" Notice that they are Cucumis melo and not C. sativus - - they are a melon! While green, tender and crisp - these guys are supposed to be special. Never had one.

I grew snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina) in the backyard tunnel this year. (Posted a picture which included snake gourd and such on Shelley's weird fruit thread). It really requires HEAT so needed to stay under plastic until Summer. Snake gourd is not really a gourd, not really a cucumber, etc. It has a fruit that is very similar to Summer squash but really skinny. Not at all bad tasting . . . guess I could have snuck it onto Skybird's squash report.

Ah, the world is our oyster (or somethin') . . . I'm still waiting for someone to respond to a question about my Russian radish on the Asian Veggie forum . . .

d'S'

I've grown the Armenian cucumbers, --sort of tasteless. There must be some way they, meaning the Armenians, prepare them that I don't know about.

A friend of mine gave me some of those snake gourd seeds years ago and told me to eat them when small. I didn't care for them so I let them grow big. They didn't dry well, like hard shell gourds do. So I quit growing them.

The snake gourds were not permitted to grow big so don't know how they'd turn out. I believe it would be best to think of them as somewhat similar to luffa. Of course, with luffa you can harvest them young for the table or allow them to mature into sponge gourds.

Like pickles but one small kosher dill is about all that I'm interested in. Well, give me zucchini bread & a crisp cucumber any day.

d'S'