The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: suziequeue on August 12, 2011, 06:11:30 pm
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Ages ago I was advised by somebody on here (was it you Northfifeduckling?) to repot my cucumber into a grow-bag.
So I repotted one and left the other in its pot.
After a rocky start (Pic 1), the repotted one found its feet.
Here are the comparison photos......
So - an amazing difference.
Mind you - nothing compared with my friend's cucumber (Pic 4)
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excellent! ;D
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now feed the life out of it!!, i mix a good trowelful of fresh chicken poo (which i collect from a tray under the perch) in a builders bucketful of water and put it in the polytunnel to warm up and get stinky for a day. Try a potnoodle potfull in a watering can a day.ive used it neat before ;)
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Ah - was it you who recommended it deepinthewoods. I searched everywhere for the old thread... sorry.
I have got sheep poo and nettle tea..... will that do?
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im very glad it worked!
having looked at yours and your friends plants, i think they should be judged on overall yield ;) the cues will develop in the nodes between leaf and stem and yours is much denser.if yours and your freinds were sown at the same time, i should imagine yours will be later due to the transplantation shock. you can either grow it as a long cordon, or as a bush. as it branches pinch out the tips, once theres 3/4 babys on each branch ( you can root these tips in water easily)
really good support is essential, i tie the stems in to a net, every other node.
the feed i make is really thick and gloopy, more a soup than a tea! and it hums, after a week its positively alive! try it daily, itll love it, give it more when its really sunny ;)
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Right - I'll get going in the chicken pen tomorrow. We've just put all the bedding on the compost heap but there's loads around in the grass.
Thanks.
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I clearly haven't fed mine enough - they are looking rather small and sad!
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my 2 squashes have taken all the goodness from soil and light - nothing else is thriving in the tunnel, sweetcorn and cucumbers all rubbish this year! :( :&>
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my 2 squashes have taken all the goodness from soil and light - nothing else is thriving in the tunnel, sweetcorn and cucumbers all rubbish this year! :( :&>
I don't think there's been enough light anyway - sunlight - for many crops to do well up here NFD. My tomatoes are struggling to ripen, sweetcorn is slow although I think it will get there, butternut squash have lots of greenery but no fruit, other squashes are doing well but shading other plants as yours are, beans won't set properly so although we have enough it's certainly not a glut, and the cucs, after a good start now seem to have cucumber mosaic virus or similar so they are winding down early (I grew a new variety and I don't like it as much as the old one). Mind you, none of my crops have had any attention since I became ill in July so we are just cropping what there is. Outside the brassicas are romping away, ,loads of tatties but not enough sun and too much rain for the onions, shallots and garlic to grow and dry well.
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so good to see you back, FW! Missed you! I hope you are back in good health now :bouquet: :wave:
Don't mention tomatoes - blight in the tunnel, really disappointing. I can just make some sauce from a lot of half ripe half rotten fruits...tatties were blighted , too but we could rescue the tubers , that's something, I suppose ::) Cukes go back in the other greenhouse next year, never again with anything squashy nearby!
Lots and lots of weeds, I could spend all my time pulling (already seeding ::)) thistles and nettles and docks. But I found a young elder tree in between them, so I'm delighted in between plucking thorns out of my fingers and rubbing my nettlerashed arms ;D;D :&>
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After its initial shock being re-potted into the gro-bag, our cucumber is going great guns. It's produced three huge juicy cucs so far with another four or five in the starting gate. Tomatoes much better this year but we've been really strict about tying them up and pruning them and we are not surface watering at all so they are getting a better air circulation. I would say that we have fewer actual tomatoes but they are bigger, riper and no loosing so many to rot etc.
All in the new polytunnel nect year. Fingers crossed.
Squashes - same as everybody else - lots of greenery but no fruit. What is it?? - all wind and no trousers
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dont let the fruits get big enough to start to form seeds, pick them young, that provokes more fruit. lots of medium ones is better than a few huge ones. and keep the branches short and tied in.good luck! 8)
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Squashes - same as everybody else - lots of greenery but no fruit. What is it?? - all wind and no trousers
do you get male and female flowers? :&>
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Good point DITW
I have been waiting until they are pretty big so I will have a cull this evening.
The squashes have lots of flowers. I haven't really checked whether they are male or female. I will have a look tonight NFD.
Thank you
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do what Fleccewife recommended earlier - break a male flower off and expose the stamen (?) and dab it onto the inside of any female flowers (the ones with a mini squash). Any of those I did not pollinate like that are rotting and falling off (like unpollinated courgettes). Although plenty of insects in the tunnel they seem to need some help ... :&>
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I'm not lucky enough to have my polytunnel set up (got the frame up, but no cover yet) but do you think having a horticultural grow light in there would make any difference to the crops when we do finally get round to growing in it ?
I'm just thinking ahead and wondering if it's worth running a cable out for an outside plug ? We're putting in a new power supply to our pig shed anyway, so it wouldn't be a big job - but would it be worth it do you think ?
Karen x
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:wave: Grow lights cover only a small area so not suitable for general use in a tunnel - unless you are going in for something POTty :D I use a grow light in spring over a table with young plants on, about 1m by 60cms which is about the max area the light will cover. It is well worth using one at this stage. Mine is in my bedroom :D :D
Having said that, I always wish we had run a cable up to the tunnel at the start but now it would be too complicated.
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Definately not going POTty ;) ;D ;D ;D
But I saw the grow lights in one of the gardening cataloges and thought they looked a good idea. Think I'll budget for putting power to the tunnel though (might as well do it while we're doing the other stuff) you never know when it might come in handy ? We might even end up with chicks in there so the facilities to run a heat light would be good.
Thanks Juliet x
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hows the cucumber doing suzieq??
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Oh well - as you predicted, the one that we "potted on" into the grow bag finally found it's feet and we have had at least four big cucs off it so far with a couple more babies on the way when i last looked. The one in the pot has floundered after producing one cuc. It looks absurdly pot bound now - I just hadn't appreciated how big they would get.
I think the light situation isn't very good for them at all. Next year in the new polytunnel I am going to plant seeds directly into upturned gro-bags so there will be no risk of root shock. We will be using reclaimed peat compost - a friend can get bulk discounts. I won't put them "behind" the toms as I did last year. We'll probably only grow on plant in a good position as I think that will probably supply all our cucumber needs!!
The cucs themselves have been fantastic. Not nearly as "wet" as shop bought ones and keep MUCH longer.
Thanks for all the advice :)
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i would still start them in pots, say 5 inch,then as the roots show thro the bottom,put them in the growbag. im glad it worked for you. ;D 8)
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OK - thanks for all yr help with this DitW. Will report back next year!!
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Ages ago I was advised by somebody on here (was it you Northfifeduckling?) to repot my cucumber into a grow-bag.
So I repotted one and left the other in its pot.
After a rocky start (Pic 1), the repotted one found its feet.
Here are the comparison photos......
So - an amazing difference.
Mind you - nothing compared with my friend's cucumber (Pic 4)
Well the one in the soil bed is doing really well, and the one in the pot is having a difficult time. The photos say it all.
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just bumping this back up, as its time to sow cues!
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We'll - I've already had a disaster with my cucumbers.
I have done all the seedlings in the polytunnel this year as we have no house at the moment!!! Of the four cucumber seeds we planted, two never came up and the other two have already succumbed to frost :'( :'(
I have the gro-bags at the ready but I think I am going to have to admit defeat and get some plug plants this year.
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We'll - I've already had a disaster with my cucumbers.
I have done all the seedlings in the polytunnel this year as we have no house at the moment!!! Of the four cucumber seeds we planted, two never came up and the other two have already succumbed to frost :'( :'(
I have the gro-bags at the ready but I think I am going to have to admit defeat and get some plug plants this year.
me too! ::)
sown 7 seeds 3 came up, 2 became fed up with life due to the hot week we had followed by snow, 1 looks a bit dodgy and 1 left......... i've never met such a tempremental plant, although my cabbage in the polytunnel has bolted!!!!!!
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its not too late to resow, have another go!
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Good Gods!
I though everyone was doing blindingly with their veg, tomatoes ripening squashes etc om the go!
Took me till page 2 to realise it's a thread from last year :D ::)
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Same here, I was feeling so proud that a few had actually germinated. Came on looking for advice on what to do with them.
AnnS
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Well - I thought I would resurrect last years post about cucumbers and DitW's advice about putting them in gro-bags. So we've gone straight for gro-bags this year and they have started to "take" with little baby cukes behind the flowers.
A much healthier start :D :thumbsup:
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nfd?? :D
theyre looking good, time to stake them or tie them in to a trellis! ill put one up of mine in a bit
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::) ::)
Sorry.......I've changed it :eyelashes:
Dan..... humble pie face please :D
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i quite pleased with this one, but you can just about see the dead competition spuds...
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I'm no competition this year, only 1 cuke made it through the hot patch in the greenhouse and it's tiny! I never thought of using an growbag this way round :D ;D :&>
I've got a few courgette plants going spare this year - any swaps in North Fife for a cucumner plant? ;D
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I've got 3 good looking cucumber plants but my 4 courgettes died after being battered with wind and rain a week after being planted out :-[. Bit far for a swap unfortunately
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:bouquet: :wave: :&> not good to post either ;) , shame ;D
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We'll - we've managed to get four cucumber plants out of seven this year. I tried to grow six from seed and only two germinated which then got done in by the frost (we had them in the polytunnel as we have no windowsills this year).
Then I ordered three plug plants through the post and OH bought two at a garden centre. For a while we were overrun but one died from over-watering. So that's four.
Next year I'm really determined to grow them all from seed.
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None of my cucumber seeds germinated but mumsy came to the rescue as she was over run so I have 3 good plants now ;D
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Cucumbers going well now :D :D
leaves look a little mottled - not sure if that's a mineral deficiency or something - will have to look it up. Loads of baby cukes though.....
Oh ::) ::) that's the dog in the top one
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its worth picking them young, to put more energy into the newer ones. looking good, some really strong feed will help with the mottling.
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They look good. Much better than my puny little things.
:thumbsup:
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Thanks DitW - they have been sitting in almost neat sheep poo and nettle tea.
Maybe I need to get them some "official" tomato feed......
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ah that might be the cause, i wouldnt let them stand in anything, let the excess run out of the bag. the water draining out pulls the oxygen the roots need in behind it ;)
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SO I have duly emptied the dishes that the cukes were sitting in.
??? ??? so how do I water them? DO I just put a bit of the poo tea in at a time and let it dry right up before putting more in? And how long do I let them d=stay dry until adding the next lot.....
I sooooo want to get this right. I cannot believe how much better the cukes are compared to last year - and all from what I have learnt on here..... but still room for improvement.
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i just wouldnt have a dish...
the soil will hold water. when the cues have used most of that up it will dry out. try half a pint a day, rising to a pint on sunny days. dont let them wilt, ever. however strong you think that feed is, i promise its no where near too strong to hurt them. they will take it neat!! mine is so thick you can hardly pour it!!!
fill a bucket of chicken s..t to about a third of the way up. fill up with water and stir well. let it ferment for a week, then use that badboy ;) once a week at least, i give mine about a potnoodle pot full every couple of days. try it with one plant first. that feed is good for all cucurbits.
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So do you water it from the top DitW?
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yes, and feed into a potnoodle pot with the bottom cut off and pushed into the top of the bag.
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Doh!!! Yes - of course.... I have some empty soup tins..... no pot noodle I'm afraid...
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my guilty secret.heehee
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Barging in to this thread :innocent:
We have 3 cucumber plants in the polytunnel in big pots. They have all grown really well and are now producing baby cucumbers ;D
BUT - the plants and cucs are a really pale green...... are they deficient in something?? ???
Any suggestions gratefully received :eyelashes:
Tish
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nitrogen probably, refer to above.... :D
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Here is what mine looks like. I don't understand why the sheep poo and nettle tea - neat - doesn't provide enough nitrogen....
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lack of nitrogen sq. have you made the feed according to my recipe above? the cucumber has used all the nutrients in the gbag.
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I don't think I could get together that quantity of chicken sh1t.... we've only got a few hens. But I will have a go when I get back this weekend. In the meantime I have given strict instructions to feed the cukes ONLY the sheep poo and nettle tea undiluted.
I have a plan to make a deep feeder system to get stuff past the surface but well down into the roots
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just stick a pot in it, a couple of inches deep. having seen the leaves i would defo only feed and see if that helps. when a plants got a rootsystem that size, (and it should be filling the bag) it will take serious feeding, its relying on it, to fruit.
whatever amount of s..t you can find,including sheep, stir up and drench the plant with it. itll either die or thrive!! :D
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I have instructed OH to start collecting the chicken poo. He seemed happy to oblige as we have separated the cockerels now into a smaller enclosure and they are messing it up quite fast so......
Yes - the root system is throughout the whole bag because I saw one peeping out the bottom at the weekend.
We will continue with the sheep and nettle. We've got loads of sheep poo so I'll tell him to mix that in.......
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the thicker the better!
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so how are your cues doing? ive had 4 good ones so far.
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Well - we are getting masses of cukes but haven't managed the chicken poo side of things yet.
We are feeding them neat sheep poo and nettle tea but the leaves and some of the cukes are still show quite alot of chlorosis.
I can see why the chicken poo would be superior to sheep poo because the chickens excrete their urea in their poo rather than wee it out so the poo will have a much higher nitrogen content than sheep's poo (you can see I've been giving this alot of thought ;D ;D )
I am thinking of getting a high nitrogen feed. I can get a box of granules and I was wondering if I could just crush the granules and dilute them to make a liquid feed becasue the liquid feeds are sooooo expensive.
What do you think? I won't rest until I've got the chlorosis under control.
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;D thats would do it!
i put trays under the chooks perches and collect it, then let the trays dry out and store it in 'cakes' in a box!!
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Well - here are the woeful photos of our cucumbers.
We have had the first flush of about ten really juicy big cukes (Passandra) then "the lean years" set in. I think this was the fruit that was setting when the gro-bag ran out of nutrients and we hadn't quite got it together with the high nitrogen feeding. Then the second one is some more recent cukes that look a bit livelier. We pruned off the chlorotic leaves. :fc: :fc: we'll get a few ore good ones before the summer's out.
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that WILL recover!!! still loads to go in the growing season, dont give up on it sq! spend a few quid!
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Yes - I splashed out yesterday and got some high nitrogen granules and have been diluted that and putt it in.
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neat chicken sh.t. bonus!
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can I sneak in a picture of my courgette?? ;D ;D ;D ;D
just so proud of the outcome! :excited: :&>
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why of course! :excited:
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Well - the cucumbers seem to have resurrected themselves a bit.
I am literally throwing a handful of amonium sulphate granules into the water each week!!!.....
.....but it seems to be working :thumbsup: :excited: :cucumber: :cucumber: :cucumber:
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great stuff sq!, it just goes to show how much feed these plants need, save up all your chicken poo for next year!
im waiting for mine to get another flush of flowers, but i could do with some actual sun.
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Yes - I'm amazed!!!
I am planning to build a chicken coop over the winter which has a poo tray like yours so that I can just pull it out and tip the poo off..... ready for next year :D
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how are they doing sq? its time to start squeezing the last bits of growth left. im looking at some potash to push a flowering flush. then maybe pickle the babys?
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Well - after the mini resurrection with the nitrogen issue the cukes have started coming back but now we have been struck down with mould :rant: :rant:
So I have stripped off everything I can see and sprayed with bordeaux mixture.
Picked four big cucumbers this afternoon and would like to pickle some. Do you have any recipes?
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i noticed your post in tomatoes.
radically remove everything affected. removeand burn. its getting late but you could get a few more cucs. see what your left with foliage wise. as long as the rootballs working and you have flowers and foliage theres no reason why you shouldnt get a few more.
just make a dill crock. or follow a gherkin recipe. my gherkins this year are ace :tree:
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There's a few healthy looking cukes still developing. I've sprayed the rest of the polytunnel.
God - i hope it doesn't spread to the tomatoes :( .... they're only just getting started.
The suspense is killing me....... better than the telly ;D ;D
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open up all the vents!!! quick!!!
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They're all open :( I'll just have to inspect hourly and take my chances.......
The frustrating thing just that the two worst affected cukes are behind the swing door - so if I try to open the end door to increase the flow-thru....... they end up even more closeted :gloomy: .
I think next year I will have the admin area behind the swing door and the cukes up the other end by the main entrance sliding door.
So learning points this year:
Positioning... (again!!!)
Nitrogen
Decent trellising
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yep thats cool. ive had 14 good ones this year from one plant, and got more to come if im lucky. the seed cost £1 each and the 75lt sack of compost was £4. I'll re-use the compost and ive sold a few cues and given a few away and eaten the rest.
at least, one of my plants has returned more than it cost!!
ten plants, grown well, could make a good profit if you had a route to market. :thumbsup:
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I've made £1.00 from selling my cukes at work ;D ;D (2@30p and 2@20p)
Taking into account gro-bags, nitrogen granules, seeds, replacement plants etc etc - we've - er - run at a bit of a loss ;D ;D
But I am enjoying it so much and am learning so much.
Each year we are getting better.
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what?? a pound each, no less!!!! :D
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Oh ::) ;D
My typical rubbish marketing.... no wonder they got snapped up!!
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i figure if hydroponic imported tastless mushbags from tesco are 70p then its got to be a £. :D
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70p!!!!!
Cripes!!!
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:roflanim: brilliant!
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I'm watching my harvest 2012 grow - 1 plant made it out of 20 seeds - it has 3 fruit on it so far and it's a gherkin :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: . give me :sunshine: :sunshine: :sunshine: for them to grow now :&>