It's possible the soil may be a bit cool yet. At least here, the nights are still cool, even though it's hot in the daytime. Mine are not puttting on growth too fast either. I'm going to give mine a couple more weeks and if they don't take off, I will replant. There's still plenty of time. Another possibility: Cucs and squash are also usually happier to be started from seed sown directly into the ground. It's possible they experienced a bit of transplant shock. Again, with a couple more weeks, they ought to get going.

Seedlings go in right about now ... if you can find Afghan Melon of any of the rarer mid-East types, they are supposedly great. Commercially, they grow watermelon, cantaloupe and other melons all over AZ, so they must thrive here. BTW, Summerwinds has Armenian Cucumber :)

Tracy, The cucumber I have found most reliable in terms of disease and pest tolerance is County Fair. Many years it is the only variety that steadily produces a heavy load of cukes once we're having the hotter summer weather. It was doing really well this year until I got so busy with fires and so disgusted with the incredibly high water bill that I just stopped watering the garden and let it die...and die it promptly did, or at least most of it promptly died. Pest and disease tolerance are important because plants struggling with pest or disease issues often don't have the energy to produce well. So, since County Fair was producing here in high temps in the 105-112 degree range and had no pest or disease issues, I think it might produce well there for you. Lemon Cucumber is another variety that's always produces well here even in the hottest years, and so have Boston Pickling and National Pickling as long as I don't put them in the ground too early in spring. One reason that variety selection is important in terms of productivity is that parthenocarpic varieties tend to produce lower yields per plant sometimes so if you were planting only parthenocarpic varieties, that could be the problem. For me, County Fair is the exception to that rule because I think it is supposed to be parthenocarpic (but it is gynoecious and not monoecious, so that likely helps) and it will be seedless if it is the only cucumber variety grown within the pollinators' flight range, but it produces very well. My best guess on your cucumber issues is that it is some sort of stress. Cucumbers respond to stress by remaining unproductive. There are many forms of stress, and sometimes plants are stressed by conditions that we think don't bother them. One form of stress is tightly compacted soil. The roots of a healthy cucumber plant in good soil can spread out as far as the vines themselves spread and can go 2 to 3 feet deep, often growing 2 to 3" a day. If your soil quality or moisture levels do not allow for those roots to grow at that rate, your plants can be significantly less productive than they otherwise would be. They also can show other symptoms relating back to the tight, dense soil or low nutrition levels, including slow growth of the plants themselves, poor resistance to pests and diseases, very low yields and cukes that are very slow to enlarge and mature once they form. Another form of stress is cool temperatures. Plants that are exposed to soil temps and air temps that are lower than those they prefer often will produce poorly, if at all, throughout their entire life. Seeds that are sown when soil temps are below 60 degrees will sprout and will grow but often will not grow in a vigorous manner and will not produce many cukes if they produce any at all. In some climates, the spring weather goes from too cold to too hot very quickly and gardeners in those climates need to plant early to beat the heat, and that may mean planting in soil temps below 60 degrees. If that is the case where you live, you can warm up the soil by putting black plastic down on top of it for 2 or 3 weeks before your planting time. That might help keep the soil warmer and allow you to plant 'early' but also in warm-enough soil that the plants won't remain stunted and nonproductive. And, when I say stunted, I don't necessarily mean they won't be big plants, but just that their reproductive ability is impaired, which is a form of stunting that you can't observe visually so you don't realize it exists until you realize that your plants have failed to produce as they should. Do you know your soil's pH? Sometimes a plant will grow in a pH outside its preferred range, but it won't be healthy enough to produce. Cukes normally prefer soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Cukes are hungry plants and I think of them as heavy feeders. I try to give them really rich fertile soil that was amended well in the fall before I put the plants there in the spring. I don't necessarily measure the size of the cucumber bed and sit and calculate out exactly how much compost or manure to add to a raised bed because I just follow my instincts and add the amount of organic matter that 'feels right' but if I had to guess, I'd say I add about 60-80 lbs. of compost and manure to every hundred square feet of raised bed every fall. Sometimes it is more if I think the plants in that bed had fertility-related issues during the previous growing season, and sometimes it is less if the current plan is for a light feeder to go into that bed in late winter or early spring. In my garden, I have found it is almost impossible to add too much organic matter because 'heat eats compost' so that whatever I add one autumn is mostly digested and used up by the following year. In a more moderate climate with cooler summers, such heavy amending might not be necessary, but since high temperatures make compost break down so quickly, we do have to amend heavily to maintain great soil fertility. Another temperature issue I failed to mention above is extreme air temp fluctuation in early spring. Cucumbers need to grow in air temps that remain above 55 degrees consistently, and here in southern OK that can be hard to ensure. The last few years I've had overnight lows fall into the 30s in early May and that's hard on plants that already are enduring daytime highs in the 80s and 90s. Finally, be sure you are not leaving a single cuke on the plant too long. Remember that plants produce fruit in order to produce seeds so that they can ensure the survival of their species. If you leave the cukes (or even a single cuke) on the plant too long and the fruit/seeds are maturing, the plant knows (likely via a chemical or hormonal message) it already has produced seeds to perpetuate its species, so it does not necessarily get in a hurry to make any more seeds. If you pick all the cucumbers regularly at the younger, smaller size best for pickling, then production shouldn't shut down if all other things are the way they ought to be in terms of soil fertility, soil pH, available moisture, etc. And, as always if you have soil with a medium to high sandy content, when you pull up plants after they are done, carefully check the roots for signs of nematodes. Lots of folks never realize they have root knot nematodes in the soil that significantly impact the productivity of their plants. I hope that something I said here helps you figure out why cucumbers just won't produce well there for you in your climate. As for the Armenian cukes, I'd bet it is the heat because even though they like heat, they only like it up to a certain point. Now that the monsoon season has arrived, I bet they will be producing better. Dawn

Howdy, Esme! Welcome to the wonderful world of squarefooting! Ummmm, lessee. Veggies you can grow in Phoenix.... Fried potatoes, stewed tomatoes, popcorn (popped on the stalk, of course), boiled peas.... ;^D Seriously, pick varieties that say "heat tolerant." HIGH DESERT TIPS & TRICKS: I had a Squarefoot friend on another board who lives on the high desert. In a case even more extreme than Texas, he carried his heat-lovers into much of the summer by installing some raised beds under a carport. Other heat-challenged gardners have used the ancient trick of sunken squares, which provides a bit of relief to the plants, as well. (You dig a pit and put the mix at the bottom, or maybe stack a 24-inch wall of wood or cinderblocks, and put 8 inches of Mel's mix at the bottom--giving your plants some protection from sun and dry winds.) WHICH ALSO WORK FOR ME: His mint trick works wonders for my warmish, dry area as well: Get medium or large plastic storage tote. Fill with compost/dried leaves/Mel's Mix as appropriate. Drill a single 1/8-inch drainage hole in the side of the tote, 1 inch up from the bottom. (That is, NO bottom drainage.) This provides a permanent (sorta) damp spot for heat-stressed plants in 100-plus-degree temps. (Of course, in our sun-intensive areas, mint is a light-shade plant. Heh, I have a miniature rose blooming on a North-facing patio under a balcony, with a large shrub to block morning light. And I'm going to have to move the Meyer lemon away from the Western corner--the hour or so of afternoon sun is, um, overly generous. The ginger, tucked in the back center shade, needs a very long, thin parasol, I think. It is experimenting with horizontal growth, to hide behind other plants....) This same shadey spot has seen any number of herbs and flowers bloom and maintain flowering--so I suspect the top shade idea would probably work for you, too. HAPPY BEGINNING HEAT GARDENER: I started a Texas friend out with 6-inch deep plastic tubs, using the single side vent. (I also supplied coir and expanded shale instead of peat moss and vermiculite.) She reports good growth and flowering, and some harvest already from her first gardening attempt, which she started rather late in the season. Watering has not been the horrible issue for her that many report by this time of the summer in North Central Texas. She took the storage bins when the family moved, and set them on a patio that gets a little sun. She has a ton of male blooms already on the squashes. HEAT-PROOFING IN PHOENIX: You will want to mulch deeply (at least 3-4 inches, up to 1 inch from the plant stems) as soon as the plants are large enough to hold their own (2-3 inches tall, with several true leaves, perhaps). I strongly recommend the coconut coir and expanded shale rock, as well as an underlayer of dried leaves--which doesn't even have to be mulched--just stomp it down and expect settling. Dried leaves composting under the 6-8 inches of soil mix emit a gas that drives off bug pests. Do use completely finished compost (dark, sweet-smelling stuff that seems like dirt--no big chunks or strong odors). Do not use any form of yard dirt, sand, clay, or "topsoil." (You can get away with potting mixes that are made of Mel's Mix ingredients, but no dirt.) Your soil will still be better the second year--which will be good, because you'll be ready to really crowd those plants to Mel's numbers. DO plant things close together (giving room for the hefty growth of heat lovers, as noted in this forum). You WANT the leaves to shade each other and shade the soil, just to combat the heat. DO plant shade-tolerant herbs, lettuces, etc. in the shade of the summer stuff to get established--they'll get plenty of sun in time for their fall harvest. If your eggplants turn bitter, keep the fruit picked--they will recover when the weather cools a bit. Once cucumbers turn bitter, pull the plants and replace them after God turns the oven temps down--cukes never forgive. *wry grin* Take full advantage of winter gardening - you are the one who can be pulling fresh salads and root veggies all winter long (even if you have to take a high-summer pause for a few weeks). Explore the advantages of shade cloth in the summer and remay cover fabric in the winter. Above all, have fun and enjoy the challenges and rewards of your gardening experience!