Growing Cucumbers

[farmersmith]

Here is my page about helpful tips, tricks, and information about
growing cucumbers. http://www.growcucumbers.com

[cybersyb]

I'm trying out a new variety of "mini-cukes", one called Iznik. I'm
always very frustrated when my cucumbers, like my zucchini, sneak past
me to become bloated bombs rather than small, crunchy treats and this
might save the day (or the garden crop). Actually, my friend, Holly,
was the one who insisted we had to give this a try. Here's the blurb:
Cucumber Iznik NEW FOR 2009! This is a terrific and very rare find
that originates from Turkey. Compact, nearly bush-form plants are
abundant producers of small cucumbers. Great for container and
greenhouse production as well as open-field.

[GrubBoy]

Spotted my first new cukes yesterday. Plants were put in 01 May,
noticed first fruit 11 June...pretty good timeline. Now, if all four
vines produce well, I'll be sittin down eatin' this tasty gourd for
quite a spell throughout the summer and have some to share as well.

Hummm, now I'm wishing I had some picklin' cukes to go along with my
slicers. <sigh> Just added another one onto next year's list. Are
there any local favorites that I should consider for pickling next
year?

Hey, while I'm here and asking for advice; do I need to consider
rotating cucumbers around my raised bed, square foot garden to prevent
future issues. I had sorta anticipated the need to do this with all
the plants, but don't know if there are specific plants that would
benefit from alternating directly with cuccumbers.

Thanks ya'll,
Dean

[The Useful Gardener]

Hey, Dean!

How're the cukes doing now? I'm admiring the small but hardy cucumber
vines climbing up the trellises I just stuck in the ends of their
raised beds when it became apparent that my "bush" cucumber seeds have
taken their own path and turned out to be climbing, vining cukes. Go
figure. So much for reliable packaging. Guess these are not true Iznik
cucumbers, after all.

There is a wealth of books on compantion planting on Amazon.com and in
the local libraries - I continually get it all confused. My theory is
that everything benefits from being rotated. If any of my raised beds
seemed to have fungal problems, I rotate garlic and onion into there
the next season. Why? Herbally, those are anti-fungal remedies, so I
figure it can't hurt the plants. I rotate based on plant families -
you can find out what belongs to what family in this short publication
from Alabama extension (just cut and paste into your browser since the
discussion forums make it hard to do links:
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1254/ANR-1254.pdf

There's a neat little website you should check out that has a little
chart of like/dislike companion plants. http://www.companionplanting.net/ListofCompanionPlants.html
I don't know whether it would apply to rotation planting

The bottom line? What ripens and is ready to be replaced dictates
what goes where in my garden. Right now, the sugar peas finally
stopped (they went on forever!!) and I'll be pulling those to get more
basil, dill and cilantro in. (I dry a lot of herbs.) The garlic and
onion have to be almost ready, those will come out and beans will go
in. I plant beans late because the hot, hot weather doesn't bother
them and I miss a few bean beetles that way. Although we have five
acres to play with, my veggies are in six specific raised beds - alll
I care to care for anymore - so I really maximize that space!

[GrubBoy]

Enjoyed my first 'slicer' this past weekend...excellent taste, crisp
skin that borders on being a tad thick, and small/soft seeds. The
cuccumber was only about 5 inches long (packette said max length is
8"), but I want to test several different sizes to determine the best
size to harvest for a good quality snack. And believe me, I'm going
to have plenty to sample...my vines are loaded with cukes from 4
inches on down and more flowers popping every other day.

Good info on your provided links for rotating crops and I found
several others. The recurring them was plant families or groupings,
and I think that is the foundation for establishing a long-term (5
years) plan to reduce soil issues. And like you said, pay attention
to what is happening within the soil and it's plantings, then take
corrective action when necessary or adjust your rotation plan
accordingly. I just have two small raised beds (2' x 8') in a fairly
restrictive yard so my overall plan is a little more critical since I
will have veggies from all the groups/family growing in close
proximity with reduced options for which hole to plant them in next
year.

I had already started anticipating this when I planned it out this
year.