I've grown all of them except the "Richmond Green Apple."

The Poona Kheera isn't russeted or brown as a young fruit, the eating stage, just when it gets older and matures. It does get very large. I have a pickle recipe called "Copper Pickles" which is kind of like a bread and butter type, made with the old, mature cucumbers -- it made a good pickle.

I just LOVE the White Wonder because it is truly white. Another white type is "Boothsby Blond" -- Pinetree in Maine used to sell this, can't remember if they still do.

Armenians are excellent, too, very mild and quite productive as long as you pick regularly.

I hope you don't have the new variant strain of Downy Mildew in KS. It came up here, the experts think, in 2005 with the remnants of Hurricanes Dennis and Katrina, and was just horrible in 2006 and again last year. In 2006, it killed all my cucumber plants before I hardly got a single one. Last year, I sprayed repeatedly with fungicides, but I didn't have the correct "cocktail" that Michigan State University found to deal with this fungus, so my vines succumbed about 4 weeks early, in mid-August, but I still had a lot of cucumbers from early July onward.

Den

Do you know the cocktail for this strain of Downy Mildew, Pseudoperonospora cubensis? I've only read recommendations for various fungicides with advice to alternate with other fungicides, unidentified.

And the advice is always to begin treatment before seeing any signs of it, once you know it's in your area.

Anney,

Here is a link to the MSU publications on Downey Mildew. The August 2, 2006 and August 7, 2006 Newsletters are the ones that laid out the spray program for this. It sounds like you have to be really contientious about spraying, but as far as I'm concerned, it will be worth it.

http://www.ipm.msu.edu/downymildew.htm

I haven't even tried to look for these fungicides -- last year, I used some different ones I had already, including Daconil, Bordeaux mixture, Ortho Funginex, and Maneb. They did buy me some time, but eventually, the fungus got the vines anyway. I had a crop for about 5 weeks, should have gotten another 4 weeks or so out of them.

I know that none of the recommended fungicides are probably going to be sold at your typical garden center or chain store. I figure I'll run out to a farm supply place and try to get these (unless they're something like $50 each for a little bag -- then I might have to reconsider).

I have one other plan I am going to try -- a sort of non-traditional approach. I was actually a horticulture major 20 some years ago at Michigan State. We used bleach extensively to surface sterilize plant tissue prior to propagation. First time I did it, I thought, "wow, this is nuts, it's going to burn this stuff up and kill it." But, 10% or even 20% bleach solutions didn't hurt the plant. I'm going to try spraying just a couple of my plants every day, top and bottom, with a fine mist of 10% bleach solution to try to kill the spores as they land. I might try alternating with a solution of something like lysol as well, to provide an alternate type of sterilant. Jerry Baker used to use lysol, mouthwash, and similar household products to treat diseases. Hydrogen peroxide might work, too. Just an experiment, the worst I can do is kill the plants.

The lemon cucumber has become a favorite with our family & friends. Very productive. Its quite a conversation piece. Not only does it look so unusual & it seems no one around here has ever heard of it. They don't beleive its a cucumber until they taste it. Oh, it also tastes very good...

Ps. The last two years, I found my seeds at Miejer's grocery store and just got'em again there.

Den

Thanks for the link. I've never even HEARD of those fungicides, but my experience is limited to Ortho's Garden Disease Control! Let us know later on if your experiment with bleach & Lysol works. I have some doubts about hydrogen peroxide, which kills things that need anaerobic conditions to flourish. But if it works, let us know that, too.

Painted Serpent (and similar cukes with similar names) is another interesting cucumber which is actually a melon. It's kind of late and not too productive for me. But it is very novel, with sweet flavor. Like Armenian, it is also very heat tolerant. It features light and dark green stripes and is not heavily scalloped at the edges as Armenian. I think there is an improved variety of Armenian out there somewhere, called "Duke" if I remember correctly.

I still prefer "real" cucumbers, though. An early variety plus "Summer Dance" for the heat of summer. Can't vouch for it in humid heat, but it trialed well for Pinetree in Maine. Long, perfect fruits.

Nubby little "Cool Breeze" gherkins are very early and will set fruit without pollination. And they're bitter-free. Diva is a smooth, chubby Mediterranian type which also sets fruit without pollination and is bitter-free. Two additional "looks" for cucumbers.

I absolutely love Suyo Long. Very tasty and very productive.

I ordered a packet of the White Wonder cucumber seeds. I'm glad someone liked them, I can't wait to see what they look and taste like!

Here is a link that might be useful: heirloom seeds