VEGETABLES - Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Growing in Small Spaces - page 54

They're an ideal crop for pot growing, in fact I've come to the conclusion that they do bet-
ter in pots than in the border of a greenhouse or in soil and, because you train the shoots up
canes or nets, they're extremely productive from a small area.
Some varieties have been bred for growing in the greenhouse and others for outdoors but
even 'outdoors' types will benefit from some protection and a sunny spot, giving you a longer
season.
The older varieties had both male and female flowers which meant that you needed to re-
move the male flowers as soon as they were seen or the fruits would develop a bitter flavour.
Modern F1 varieties with female only flowers are far easier, especially for the new grower.
The seeds can be quite expensive, but you only need one plant to provide plenty of cucum-
bers for a family and cucumber seeds can last seven years if stored correctly, so it's worth
paying for the best. Generally sow two seeds, one being a spare, and tuck the rest safely away.
Start them off by sowing one seed per 3 inch (8cm) pot in a multi-purpose compost on a
warm window sill. The seeds are flat ovals and should be sown sideways in the pot to stop
water sitting on them and causing them to rot off.
When the roots start to push the pot, move on to an 8 inch (20cm) or 10 inch (25cm) pot
(or an old bucket) or a grow bag but avoid sudden changes in temperature when you put them
outdoors. If the weather is bad and indoor space is limited, move onto an intermediate 5 inch
(12.5cm) pot to buy some time. They'll die if they get frosted and they don't like cold nights
either. Keep them under a warm cover or bring them indoors for the night until warm even-
ings arrive.
Cucumbers are susceptible to cucumber mosaic virus, which is passed by aphids, so con-
trolling greenfly is quite important but I've not actually found it a real problem. They can
also succumb to powdery mildew towards the end of the season like the courgettes. The di-
lute milk treatment can gain you a few more productive weeks.
The cucumber is a strange plant. The fruit is 95 per cent water and the plant has a lot of
foliage so they need a lot of water but the biggest problem is the stem rotting off where it
meets the soil when it is wet.
The answer to this is to sit the pot in a saucer or seed tray without holes so water is held
below the pot and then to insert a funnel or half a lemonade bottle top-down into the top and
water through that so the surface of the compost is dry. With grow bags, always water through
a bottomless pot into the bag rather than around the plant.
Having said that about the stem, they do like a high humidity so mist spray if you can in
hot weather. Although they like it warm, too much direct hot sunlight can scorch the plant so
provide some shade if we have a glorious summer.
When the leading stem has developed eight leaves, pinch out the growing tip so that side
shoots develop bearing extra fruits. Don't forget to keep harvesting as the plant will stop pro-
ducing if you leave fruits on. Feed as tomatoes when the fruits begin to develop.