Pickling your interest

Our cucumber container

So today we're going to talk about cucumbers (also known as pickles or cukes). Cucumbers are an ideal plant to grow in Puerto Rico. Originally from India cucumbers like hot and humid conditions and hate the cold (much like myself). Cucumbers will generally germinate only when temperatures are above 70 F (21 C). The warmer it is the faster they'll sprout. Cucumbers currently hold our current record for fastest germination: overnight! Seed today, plant tomorrow.

Cucumbers are usually categorized into pickling and slicing varieties. Slicing varieties are ideal for eating raw while pickling are better for making...pickles. In nature they grow in vines but plant breeders have come up with some variations that grow like a bush. Our cukes are the vine type. Vines can grow up to 6 feet long so take that into consideration when planting cucumbers.

Small strings attaching to the net

Space plants at least 1 foot apart with a minimum soil depth of 10 inches. Under the right conditions the vines (and the fruit!) can grow very quickly. Vines send small strings to attach themselves to any available structure. Trellises or other support structures are recommended for growing any vine plant, especially cukes. We used a net which we tied around some posts as our trellis. We then trained the vines to move around the sructure. We'll see if the net holds up when the cucumbers grow heavy.

Pollinating a female flower

Cucumbers produce two flowers: a male and a female flower. Both flowers are yellow but they are easy to distinguish since female flowers contain a small cucumber behind them. Bees or other animals pollinate these flowers but if there are no bees in your area you can pollinate the flowers yourself. Early in the morning pick up a small soft brush and go from male flowers to female flowers. Congratulations, you've just become a human bee.

Well that's all we have for today. If we pickled your interest join us tomorrow for more cucumber action. Who knows we may even show you our cukes!