Growth of cucumber Varieties
There are both subtle and significant difference between the seedllig to flower phases and the flowers to fruit phases in the growth phases of the five varieties grown (see Table and pictures below):
The pictures provide a snaphot in time to illustrate the growth patterns of the different varieties:
Ashley Cucumber - Cucumis Sativus
Ashley cucumber produces excellent yields of 8" long pale green cucumbers and is a perfect slicing cucumber for salads and easy to grow.
Seedlings to flowers
Ashley seeds were planted on Sept.7, and the resulting seedlings were ready for planting on Sept.21.
September 21
October 25
November 22
Flowers to Fruit
December 27
January 2
By January 2, an abundance of delicious Ashley slicing cucumbers started appearing in our salads.
Long Green Ridge – Cucumis sativus
Long green ridge is a compact variety and produces lots of 15 to 20cm (6 to 8in) long dark green fruits. The fruits are eaten raw, pickled or cooked. The Long Green is a perennial plant widely cultivated as an annual that produces bright yellow flowers, forming a heavy crop of medium-length, green fruit in summer. Ridge variety (grown outdoors). My wife Judy bought me a packet of seeds when she was in the UK.
Seedlings to flowers
November 1
November 22
December 9
Flowers to Fruits
December 29
January 3
Marketmore 76 Slicing Cucumber - Cucumis Sativus
The slender, refined "Marketmore long, slender, green cucumbers produce 8-9 inch fruits staying uniformly dark green even under weather stress. Begins bearing late but picks for a relatively long time—they have intermediate resistance to cucumber mosaic virus, downy mildew, and powdery mildew.
Seedlings to Flowers
October 28
November 7
November 22
Flowers to Fruit
December 29
November 22
English Cucumber - Trimax F1 Hybrid – Cucumis Sativus
Trimax is a disease-resistant variety making it ideal for organic gardeners. The fruits are produced in abundance, from 50 to 100 per plant, and have a mild flavour with no bitter aftertaste. Fruits grow from 32cm to 38cm. This climbing English Cucumber is easy to train up a trellis. The plant can reach heights of 2.5 metres and has a spread of up to 45cm. I purchased commercial quality seeds that had been pretreated with a fungicide coating.
Although starting to fruit late, this variety produced an abundance of fruit many with strange bends possibly due to the crouding of the vines due to the extensive growth in the small growing area due to growing seedlings in error in the picking cucumber area.
Seedlings to Flowers
November 7
November 22
December 2
Flowers to Fruit
December 29
February 11
The proliferation of the fruits increased steadily as the season progressed.
Home Made Pickles Pickling Cucumber
The home-made pickling cucumber is specially bred for home pickling. These attractive, tasty cucumbers, with their crisp flesh, make perfect pickles. They should be harvested at about 3-4cm for tiny sweet pickles or left to mature to 12-15cm for hefty, robust dill pickles.
Plants thrive over a long season, with excellent disease resistance for even bigger yields.
Flowers to Fruit
November 1
November 17
November 22
Seedlings to Flowers
December 2
February 2
