Pickling your interest - Part 2

Yes it's big.

And we're back. After tragedy struck the other day everything's back to normal. We still don't know if the tomato trunk will survive but as soon as we know we'll write about it. Continuing with our cucumber theme today. Cucumbers are 90%+ water therefore the key to growing them is consistent watering. If the soil is allowed to dry the cucumbers will taste bitter. When the weather is hot (as it always is in Puerto Rico) the vines (and the cukes) grow fast. Very, very fast. To support this growth you will need to provide a balanced fertilizer every week or so. (Editor's note: I know we haven't discussed fertlizers yet but who said we were writing this blog in any logical order.)

Once the crazy growth starts you will see a few males flowers blossom. A few days afterwards you will start seeing female flowers (the ones with a little cucumber behind them). At this point you can follow our advice for pollinating if there are no bees in your area. Once the cucumbers start growing you need to keep an eye on them. Never let a cucumber mature in the vine. If the skin turns yellow your cucumber has matured and the plant will stop producing cukes. Picking the cukes early and often will encourage the plant to produce more.

We still haven't picked any cukes yet but they are only a few days from being ripe. Once we pick the first we'll let you know how they taste. If you follow our advice you will be getting cukes yourself in no time. If you do let us know how they taste. Until next time!