10 vs. 14 doesn't matter, they all have the same ratio. The Armenian does better in the heat because it's actually a melon, not a cuke, just eaten as a cuke. I leave for work at 0500 so no opportunity to hand pollinate :-(

So, the inside garden is just a hobby, sure doesn't produce a plethora but it's still entertaining ;-)

Tom

I need to reverse what I said before. I had to pull up my Partenon yesterday because I could not keep up with the mildew on it. The growing pattern of the leaves is very dense and conducive to mold spreading. The plant was also very unproductive - I think I got a total of 2 zucchinis from it. However, my emerald delights (disease resistant but not parthenocarpic) are doing great. They have a very open growing habit and pointed, lobed leaves. The Partenon had many of those secondary kind of leaves growing toward the base. This has made it easy to keep up with the mildew through neem oil and cutting off the worst. They are also very productive (doing better than the butterstick), giving me about 2 fruits every day.

Tom, I did the exact same thing with the Target tomato cages :) They really were nice ones.

...I had to pull up my Partenon yesterday....

I'm having the same problem with mildew even up on the pool deck. Seems odd to me that mildew gets my squash up there on the deck but not my cukes. I'm having better production with the Parthenon than the Caveli but still probably won't grow squash again due to the mildew problems :-(

Tom, I did the exact same thing with the Target tomato cages :) They really were nice ones.

Great find huh? We don't get lucky like that often. I've picked a few Corentine's this week but it's looking like Corinto may catch up over the next few weeks ;-)

Tom

I thought I'd report on my Cool Breeze cucumbers.

I direct-seeded them outdoors 3/16/12. They are doing well now, growing fast and starting up my net trellis. There are no signs of disease or pest problems yet - here's hoping my luck holds until I can get some pickles made. The first blossoms opened today, and the plants are loaded with buds.

It's been a long time since I grew cukes - about how long is it between when the blooms open and when the fruit reach picking size?

...about how long is it between when the blooms open and when the fruit reach picking size?

Hi L, I'd say about six weeks....

Update on Corentine vs. Corinto, Corinto has caught up and is every bit a winner, very productive with full-sized great tasting cukes.

Corinto

Picked the cukes on the left Monday, the ones on the right Thursday :-)

Corentine

About a dozen so far, much more productive in the garden but here I can't overcome pickleworm :-) I'm sure L in 8B will do very well....

Tom

Tom, I have one Caveli squash and one Perfect Pick in the same 20 gallon container. Both are forming fruit. The Caveli is supposed to be 8 days faster than the Perfect Pick, but in this case the Perfect Pick is a few days in advance. I am excited as I have never successfully grown zuchini in Tampa. Never, and especially not in the summer. Your screen enclosure method seems to be a winner! Thanks!

I have six seedlings of Iznik cukes in a 25 gallon container just getting their first true leaves. I grabbed the seeds at Lori's meet. Here's hoping!

Glad to hear this is going well for you Shuffles. I was about to give up on the zukes but maybe I just need to try a bigger container, keep me posted on how you do. Do you get any dew in the morning? I'm still trying to figure out why the zukes succumbed to mildew so quickly yet there's been none on the cukes....

Tom

I am so jealous. I haven't grown vegetables here in Florida. So you really are growing them in shade??! I have plenty of that.

Where do you recommend I get seeds?

Tom, I don't usually get dew in the screen enclosure, but I have seen it. This morning, the garden area was covered with dew but none in the enclosed area.

chinchette, the zukes are in 50% shade - provided by a commercial shade cloth. The parthenocarpic cuke and zuke seeds came from Jung, via Tom.

Do you think I can grow them in my screened in pool cage in 50% shade even in the summer? ie: starting now?

Do you think I can grow them in my screened in pool cage in 50% shade even in the summer? ie: starting now?

Yes since you're 9b, you have to have a well draining container soil protected from soil heating, and pick one of the productive parthenocarpic varieties, but I'm coming to the conclusion that these cukes can be grown here year around in filtered sun/shade if protected from pickleworm. Send me an email and I'll send you parthenocarpic seeds to try now....

Tom

Tom, I don't usually get dew in the screen enclosure, but I have seen it. This morning, the garden area was covered with dew but none in the enclosed area.

I don't get dew inside the pool cage either BUT I've got a bayou to Tampa Bay 100 yards north and a brackish lake feeding to the bay 30 feet south of the pool cage, can you say HUMID? Where are you? I'm trying to figure out if bigger containers might give me a better chance with zukes....

Tom

On the subject of pickleworms, I have to say that all of my zucchinis got infested about 4 weeks ago. Every single fruit had them in them and there were some in the stems. I thought it was a battle lost. I sprayed around the fruit, main stem, and new growth with a neem product and BT about 3 times, 2-3 days apart and have not seen a single one since. I have never had anything respond so well to any salvation attempt. My mildew resistant zucchini and butter sticks (3 plants total) have given me over 75 zucchini in the past 6-7 weeks and are still going strong. I am guessing that it not as humid as where you are near all the water Tom.

Thanks Tom. I will do that. I miss growing vegetables but moreover, the store bought cukes are the worst!

Tom, I am wondering if you can give me any insight into what's going on.

10 of my 12 Cool Breeze plants set one fruit each, down at the first node on each plant. The other two plants have not set any fruit. Since then, all the fruits have aborted. After the petals fade, the baby fruit yellows and shrivels up instead of growing. If they weren't parthenocarpic, I'd say it was lack of pollination.

The vines are healthy and green, growing strong (the largest are a good 5' long) and blooming like mad.

Any ideas?

Give them time, not unusual for the first three feet to abort. If the rest do you may be over-watering, don't water until you see the first signs of wilting. Keep me posted....

Tom

Tom,

Try using Green Cure for the PM/DM in your pool cage. You mix it with water and spray it on as a preventative. I use a fog type sprayer.
I'm including part of their write up below;

GreenCure� is a potassium bicarbonate-based fungicide that has been proven to cure and prevent powdery mildew, blackspot, downy mildew, blights, molds and other plant diseases. GreenCure� fully dissolves in water and is easily sprayed on leaves, flowers, stems and branches. The patented formula contains just the right amount of potassium bicarbonate and surfactants so that there is no unsightly residue. It dries quickly and it dries clean. Vegetables can be harvested within 1 hour of spraying.
It spreads out evenly over leaves and provides complete coverage. Since "prevention is the best medicine" it is wise to apply GreenCure� at the first sign of disease or even when environmental conditions are favorable to mildew. GreenCure� kills mildew on contact and provides up to 2 weeks of preventive protection.

Lou

Tom,

I forgot to add in my previous post; Green Cure is potassium bicarbonate (baking soda) with surfactants added to make it stick to the plants.

Lou

lou,

Small point, but baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. Potassium bicarbonite is something else. I have a bag of it that I use in making homemade mineral water from purified water.

Thanks, Tom.

I didn't know that the first three feet could abort sometimes. If that's the problem, I should know soon: I have a lot of flowers at the 3'-4' level opening/about to open now. I'll watch the watering, too.

The cukes I have gotten so far have been really tasty - crisp, juicy, mild and sweet; no need to peel. Since there haven't been enough of them for a batch of pickles, I've been enjoying them in salads and other fresh uses.

One last oddity: one of the vines is throwing a mix of female and male flowers. Did a seed from another variety get into my pack, or do parthenocarpic cukes occasionally do this?

Laura

Shuffles,

That is a BIG point, I guess it's been way too long since I've had chemistry, the memory seems first to go with aging.

I'm glad you caught that, Thanks for correcting me.
Potassium bicarbonate is used in beer & wine making.

Lou

Here's irony for you, Tom: I went out looking today and I think there are some setting fruit again. I'll know for sure in another couple of days.

Perhaps complaining about them publicly was the trick? :-)

Lou - I have Green Cure, it didn't work here any better than sodium bicarb. I think with the bay 100 yards away and the lake 30 feet away it is just too humid! I might as well be in a rain forest :-( On a bright note only the very top leaves of the cukes get mildew, never the bottom leaves like in the garden so cukes definitely like being on concrete :-)

You getting zukes? If so you HAVE to try Parthenon, plants were was just loaded with fruit when the mildew set in :-(

LnF, You'll never have enough for pickling this way, but will have plenty for fresh eating. They will set off the top, you'll see ;-)

Tom

Wow! Got my seeds from Tom. Thanks SO much,Tom! I tried reading the thread about Al's mix, but it was a bit tough for me. Could you tell me what "CF" means, and "CRF"? Also, where can I get pine fines and dolomite? I haven't grown in a container before.

>>I'm using Al's Mix but have moved to a 4:2:1 ratio, I use a 3.5 gallon bucket and mix 2 parts peat and 1 part perlite to a 2CF bag of pine fines, plus 1.5 cups each of CRF and dolomite. Drains well yet holds just enough moisture....

Hi, new member here - wish I'd seen this thread a few months back. ;)

Does anyone have experience with "Sweet Success"? This is my very 1st yr growing cucumbers & chose this variety of parthenocarpic as I am growing in containers within a screen house in FL. Planted seeds indoors mid-March, transplanted 3 seedlings outdoors early April. So far I've harvested 4 11" cukes, with 3 more ready in a few days and probably another dozen "pickle" size in the works.

Wondering if this is average or am I having beginner's luck? LOL Don't get me wrong, this is my 1st time growing ANYTHING from seed, so I'm just happy they germinated...

Congratulations on your success, Denise. :-) I've never tried Sweet Success, so I can't comment on whether your productivity is typical, sorry.

But I was wondering how it tastes. Sweet? Does it have to be peeled? Any trouble with diseases yet? (I'm always scouting for new veggie varieties to try.)

L in FL: Really healthy so far - leaves as big as platters & rapidly outgrowing my trellis. Park Seed shows them as resistant to Cucumber Mosaic Virus, Scab, and Target Leaf Spot. I'm happy with the sweet & crisp flavor, but while they're advertised as smooth skinned, I'm finding little barbs on them, so I peel. Maybe picking them too early?

I'm eager to try other varieties mentioned above next year...

Could you tell me what "CF" means, and "CRF"? Also, where can I get pine fines and dolomite? I haven't grown in a container before.

- CF = cubic feet; CRF = Controlled release fertilizer
- I'd need to know where you live to have idea where you can get supplies.

Does anyone have experience with "Sweet Success"?

Hi Denise, welcome aboard. Funny you should mention Sweet Success, it has been my favorite of all the PCs I've tried. Big, long cukes and very prolific in the garden but still caved in to my problem with pickleworm. It didn't do well in my first caged trial but it was in the sun all day and I think the soil in the 3.5 gallon containers was heating up too much. This fall I'll try it and Diva in this cooler shaded area where I've grown Cool Breeze, Corintine and Corinto. Again, of the PC cukes I've tired I've been most impressed with this one ;-)

I'm still getting cukes off these plants after FIVE months, they may look ratty but the vines are still putting out new growth/buds and fruit :-)

Tom

I'm in Clearwater. Would a wine barrel with drain holes work?

@ Denisemb: Thanks for the review. They sound really good. I am doing well with mine, but I may give those a try next time for comparison. (Maybe even side by side.)

@Tom: You said:

"LnF, You'll never have enough for pickling this way, but will have plenty for fresh eating. They will set off the top, you'll see ;-)

Tom"

So I want to rib you a little:

10 pints of bread and butter pickles, made today. :-) Granted, those cukes were from three pickings - I held the first two pickings in the fridge until I picked again today. But all the cucumbers were from my plants.

Now I just have to stay out of the pickles until the flavors have time to marry. That's the hardest part of making pickles!

Chinchette - I responded a few days ago but it doesn't appear my post took. I grow all my cukes in OLNY *** 3.5 gallons *** of soil, cukes don't need much soil if you keep it from getting too hot.

L in Fl - Hear, Hear, I dub you the pickle queen and bow down to you ;-) Very nice!

Tom

Thanks, Tom!

I really need to learn to restrain my competitive side. I know you were just answering my questions and trying to set realistic expectations.

My cucumbers are happier since I cut down the adjacent cosmos. The cosmos was crazy big; it was supposed to be a 3' tall cultivar that was over 5' tall and still growing fast; bushy, too. I miss the flowers a lot, but the cucumbers' leaves are greener and they are setting more fruit due to the extra light and air circulation. (Next year I am definitely going to use dwarf cosmos for companion planting.)

Hopefully I can keep the bugs & diseases at bay long enough to collect enough cukes to make more pickles. I have some little dill plants in another bed. It would be a shame for the dill to go to waste, right? :-)

Well, that makes sense LNF, I thought you were growing them inside a cage in containers. My cukes in the garden always set twice the fruit but over a much shorter season, usually about three months because of the bugs and mildew out there in the garden due to my proximity to the water. Up here on the deck I get 5-6 months out of the plants so while the fruit set is reduced the longevity of the plants gives me just a much fruit but in reduced quantities over the longer period.

I love cosmos too but they do like to take over don't they. I'm realizing I'm going to have to confine them to containers to constrain them....

Tom

Tom,
I was just thinking of the aesthetics of the wine barrel and they are cheap right now at Depot. So I was thinking, cause its bigger, I could put a few in there. Do I just mulch to keep it from getting too hot? Such a novice at container vegetables! I had no idea that so little soil was needed for cukes. I just remember how far the vines would spread. Who knew?

You won't have to worry about the heat with a wine barrel; the large diameter won't allow side heating to become a problem like it can with a 3.5 gallon or 5 gallon container. It's a trade off I deal with in order to minimize the volumes of soil I have to make.

Tom

@L in FL: Since you've been dubbed the pickle queen, & since our Sweet Success is spitting out a 13 incher on a daily basis, do you have any dill pickle recipes to share? Preferably a refrigerator pickle for this newbie? TIA (thanks in advance)

Denise

So Tom, how do you keep your soil from getting too hot?

You know, I cracked up that Tom dubbed me pickle queen - I have made pickles exactly twice in my life! My first stab at pickling was last summer with store-bought cukes, and then this batch I just made from my own cukes. Both batches were bread & butter pickles.

I'll be doing dills later, if I can get enough cukes and dill at the same time. (My dill is still pretty small. I had to replant because something ate my first batch of seedlings.) I am still trying to decide which recipe to use. I was thinking about the one from my Ball book, but there are so many interesting ones out on the internet, too!

I haven't been doing refrigerator pickles, because my fridge is always full. It's all I can do to squeeze in the stuff I have to. So I have been using a boiling water canner in order to have shelf-stable pickles. Canning is really not hard, as long as your stove can accommodate the canner and bring a canner full of water to a boil. (Smooth top stoves can be a problem.)

There are some things you need to know to do it right and have safe food, though. I recommend getting a canning book or checking out the link below. I've linked the pickle page, but the site has a ton of recipes and a section that teaches the basics of canning.

Sorry I can't be more help! :-(

Here is a link that might be useful: National Center for Home Food Preservation - Pickles

So Tom, how do you keep your soil from getting too hot?

I keep these cukes mostly in the shade, they only get filtered direct sun for about 4 hours, and that is mid-morning...shaded in the afternoon.

They are almost done now, I trimmed out most of the leaves and have another half dozen cukes to pick so I'll probably make a fresh batch of soil next weekend, pull these plants and see if it's possible to start fresh plants this summer.

Tom

@L in FL - to one who doesn't know the 1st thing about canning, you're still the pickle queen to me. ;) Thanks for the info. :)

@tomcath - what the heck do you do with all your cukes??

Denise

tomcath - what the heck do you do with all your cukes??

We eat them fresh and give loads away. My fav is a tomato/cucumber/pepper salad drowned in Wishbone Robusto Italian dressing and coarse ground pepper...to die for :-)

Tom

Final report on the spring planting of Cool Breeze: 32 lbs of cucumbers from 12 plants. Put another way, 24 pints of bread and butter pickles, 9 quarts of sliced dill pickles, and a few cucumbers for fresh eating and sharing with family. Every fruit was crisp, juicy, and sweet, even when the plans were under stress. They held very well in the fridge, too. That trait was really useful, since I needed to collect 2-3 pickings to get enough for a batch of pickles.

Debby did them in; I've been battling mildew for weeks but after three days of near-constant rain every single leaf is badly damaged, even the newest growth. I'm going to give it a few days to see if any of the small fruit still on the vines will grow to usable size, then yank them. (Also, I need to get more seeds before I can replant.)

I had pretty much expected to lose them in the heat and humidity of summer. With the good harvest, I consider them a big success, and will definitely replant this variety in the future.

Note: The fruits I had this year were really spiny. I don't remember them being this spiny when I grew them years ago. I even had spines lodge in my fingers and break off in my skin. (The good news is that the spines soften up and fall out after a few hours.) If you have delicate skin, I recommend wearing gloves to harvest and handle them until you wash the spines off, or they soften on their own.

I'm glad you did so well, I always hate to see them come to an end too :-(

Are you sure you didn't grow Corentine? Cool Breeze was a crop failure in 2011 and the seeds just became available again a few months ago, up until then everyone was selling Corentine as the Cool Breeze substitute for a French cornichon type cucumber . Your description of the painful spines sure sounds like Corentine, very productive but excessively spiny, unlike the smooth skin on Cool Breeze.

Tom

Thanks for your report, L. I have some Cool Breeze seed on order, so I'm anxious to try them out. I was also ready to yank my Sweet Success, but it's been throwing out some new blossoms and baby cukes. Guess I'll continue with my "let's see what happens" sorta gardening. ;)

Tom, very sad to hear what Debby did to your yard on another thread.

I know I got my seeds from Pinetree Garden Seeds because that's the only seed vendor from whom I've ever ordered Cool Breeze. I'm sure they were labeled Cool Breeze. I'm sure there was no notification about a substitution on the packet or the invoice. (I check for those things, because substitutions without advance notice bug me.) So if the seeds were Corentine, Pinetree was really sneaky about it.

However, the Cool Breeze seeds might have been leftovers from an order I placed a few years ago. Unfortunately, I can't check that now. I don't have the seed packet anymore, and I don't have the receipt from this year's order, either.

/shrug

Sweet Success is definitely on my "to try" list. I'd love to hear your comparison of them to Cool Breeze after you've grown Cool Breeze.

I'm also interested to hear whether your Cool Breeze turn out to be spiny. After Tom's comments I wonder if there has been some stealth substituting (or accidental mix-ups) of Corentine and Cool Breeze.

Tom, very sad to hear what Debby did to your yard on another thread.

Thanks for the kinds words Denise, it's really not that bad since I take the summer off for the most part, I was just showing folks why I bucket garden ;-)

....After Tom's comments I wonder if there has been some stealth substituting (or accidental mix-ups) of Corentine and Cool Breeze....

L, another possibility. If Cool Breeze was an F1 and your seeds are new is it possible they sent F2 seeds that reverted to one of the parental lines?

Anything's possible. I never even knew Cool Breeze is supposed to be smooth-skinned until you told me. It'll be interesting to see whether there are spines the next time I grow cukes labeled "Cool Breeze."

Laura

...I never even knew Cool Breeze is supposed to be smooth-skinned until you told me....

Here are two pictures of Cool Breeze I grew in 2010 and 2011, wish I had a better pictures. Virtually no spines and certainly not painful like Corentine.

Tom