After several attempts this year to grow Japanese Cucumbers we finally got a few seeds to grow and set flowers. It seems like this variety really does well in cooler weather. The whole plant has several Flowers with both male and females strutting there stuff. My wife and I are hand pollinating them all and so far so good. This past summer we were up to our ears in Cucumbers and although my wife was not a big cucumber person she really started to like them. They just add a really fresh crisp to our food and I started adding them fresh, to all my meals. Even though its cooler these days I really hope this Japanese variety really hangs in there. It's kind of tough for our pollinators at this time of the year, they are all hunkering down getting ready to embrace the cold.Sunday, October 25, 2009
Growing Japanese Cucumbers
After several attempts this year to grow Japanese Cucumbers we finally got a few seeds to grow and set flowers. It seems like this variety really does well in cooler weather. The whole plant has several Flowers with both male and females strutting there stuff. My wife and I are hand pollinating them all and so far so good. This past summer we were up to our ears in Cucumbers and although my wife was not a big cucumber person she really started to like them. They just add a really fresh crisp to our food and I started adding them fresh, to all my meals. Even though its cooler these days I really hope this Japanese variety really hangs in there. It's kind of tough for our pollinators at this time of the year, they are all hunkering down getting ready to embrace the cold.
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2 comments:
Hello ATW. I noticed you've changed things a bit. I have just recently become a fan of gardening blogs in my attempt to gain much needed knowledge on the subject.
Have you eaten the Japanese cuke before? How does it compare to traditional cukes? Where did you get the seeds? I reside in SE Georgia near the Florida line. The heat and humidity can be devasting to gardens and I am desiring to learn what grows best and when to plant it? Good luck with your cukes!
WKJ- Thanks for stopping by. A year ago I was searching every gardening blog across the world and the wealth of information that I recieved is priceless. So many people have different ways of doing things and just about any problem that you may face there is a solution for it. So welcome to the gardening world where everyone loves to get dirty.
As for the Japanese Cukes. They have less seeds than the common variety and they have a much more intense flavor than regular cukes. Added to this is the unbeliavable shelf life they seem to obtain. This is just my observation. For some reason the japanese variety last alot longer than regular cukes; this happens for me anyway. But the one thing that seperates the japanese variety that really stands out from the common variety is the fresh crisp texture you get with every bite, its great!!
Living in central to southern GA definately has it's advantages for growing veggies all year round.However, there are some shortfalls with intense heat being one of them. If your not careful you can lose all of your crop if you plant to late. If you have some time I have a Zone 8 chart for when to plant what during the year. Even though the chart doesnt include every vegetable, just find the vegetable that closely resembles the vegetable you want to plant and you can use that as a guide line.
From my experiance growing in GA. I will tell you that in order to be successful you should start your seeds early preferably inside. You really shouldn't wait until the weather is optimum to grow things like leafy greens when the sun is and humidty are at its peak. They just wont survive. But with a little trial and error you will find what really works. But good for you, at least there is a myriad of garden bloggers out there who are sharing both there failures and successes. I wish you the best in your gardening quest and if there is anything you need assistance on please feel free to ask. Until then "Happy Planting"
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