Poorly chicken

[chickencam]

My plant has rambled all over the greenhouse but not set any fruit, I have had female flowers but none have set.

[sjp]

might be that there were no male flowers as I doubt they set fruit that haven't been fertilized like modern cucumbers do

either that or the flowers are that small most bees can't get into them. mine have really small flowers I know there has been female ones but I'm not sure about male ones. and I know that the cue's and melons stopped flowering before the cucamelons that just leave the courgettes and the ornamental gourds which have had loads of male flowers on which why I'm wondering about flower size

[Busybee]

Hi, just joined the forum and spotted the thread about cucamelons.

By chance I bought some seeds early this year just because I had never heard of them before and they sounded interesting.

I put them in some small propagators on an open frame in the garden in mid April I think it was, before too long most of the seeds had sprouted.

I planted them out under plastic cloches to give them more of a chance and now they are all running wild up the wire mesh fence and about 6 foot tall and spreading.

Masses of small yellow flowers and literally hundreds of fruits

Have been picking them now for the last 3 weeks and they taste really good.

I think they will still be growing for weeks yet.

 

Will add some photos if I can work out how.

[Luvachicken]

Hi Busybee, sounds like you have had the most success with the cucamelons then

 

By the way, you can put photos on once you have made 5 posts I think it is

[Luvachicken]

I tidied up my tomato plants in the greenhouse yesterday and found 2 cucamelons almost ready for eating

I will give them a couple more days to get bigger and then see what they are like.

Not much produce for all that effort though.

[chickencam]

We have had one small one from our plant we cut it I. Half and decided it just tasted like a sharp cucumber, not sure I will bother again.

[sjp]

mine just aren't setting fruit I'm getting a mix of male and female flowers but their that small I don't think the bees can pollinate them but that said it's not been a good cucumber year for me this year either 3 types only produced a couple of fruit each the other still hasn't flowered yet but it was the same with this one last year

have got 2 small melons which is a first normally lucky if I get one

[chickencam]

My cucumbers were a disaster this year too

[Busybee]

Yes, sounds like everyone else's have been a disaster.

You will have to excuse a few quick posts, it seems I need 5 posts to get the photos on here.

[Busybee]

Since my first post I have been picking mini melons by the dozen

[Busybee]

Also I tried cucumber lemons and some patty pans

[Busybee]

Hopefully I can add photos now

[Busybee]

Worked out how to do it now.these are the photos of when I did the first post.

[Busybee]

Here are the cucumber lemons in half, very watery and very tasty.

 

 

This is of Sundays picked crop, I didn't know the patty pans had grown , they hide well under the very large leaves.

 

[sjp]

crystal lemon/crystal Apple cucumbers ( same variety but is known by 2 names) are one of the nicer old varieties of cucumber as long as you don't let them get to big, just the right size for a couple of sarnies with out having to put the spare in the fridge normally a very good cropper but mine were very poor this year

[Luvachicken]

Busybee you have grown some lovely things there.

My 2 cucamelons look just like yours and we hope to share them on Thursday.

They better be worth it.

[Busybee]

Hi Luvachicken, I'm quite pleased that it's all grown, it's the first time in about 6 or 7 years that I've had a chance to grow anything.

So far I've found that the cucamelons differ in taste , the darker green striped ones are very nice, the slightly paler ones are a bit sharp but still nice.

Hope yours are ok.

Well worth trying for another crop next year.

I'm going to save lots of seeds and I also read that if I keep the roots in dry storage for the winter , I can plant them out mid/ late spring for a quick early crop.

[Busybee]

Hi sjp, it's the first time I've tried to grow these lemon / crystal / apple cucumbers.

I couldn't decide if they were trying to grow on the ground like marrows do or if they were trying to climb.

Any handy advice you can give please.

 

They make an interesting snack if you are very thirsty, eaten just like an apple.

[sjp]

I grow them up canes in the green house in the hope it keeps the slugs of them and yes I've eaten they like apples before know when I've needed a quick drink. the trouble with them now is getting a good strain of seed mine this year have been useless

[Luvachicken]

Well, the only 2 I had I shared with family.

Really not the best thing ever

I will try again next year and treat them to a bigger pot and some food of some kind and see if that makes a difference, if it doesn't I will stick to my cherry tomatoes.

[Cat tails]

Useless plants...

Tiny melons formed, but then fell off!

Plants have now shrivelled up. Not sure I'll bother next year.

[sjp]

I've got one little one about half the size I know they grow to I'll give the ago next year through partly because I've still got seed but also I give most new varieties I try at least 2 seasons but normally 3 before I right them off as useless as I it could be that the seeds that grow this year were from poor examples of the species. I know cucamelons have a lot of fruit on them but are only about an inch long and are quite nice tasting as I know someone who's grown them

[Busybee]

Just by luck more than anything it sounds like I was the only one to have any real success with the cucamelons.

I'm wondering if I have just found the reason why.

Advice was that you could dig up the roots when the plants had stopped producing and keep the roots stored warm over the winter.

So, anyway, dug them out today and got a bit of a surprise.

Basically I think they need to go into the ground to get a healthy growth rather than being restricted in pots.

All the pot ones I tried never came to much, all the rest I planted out rooted a couple of feet deep.

 

 

[Busybee]

Also need some advice.

What is the best way to store them, don't want them to dry out and shrivel but don't want them to go mouldy or rot.

Any ideas please.

[sjp]

try putting them in pots of dry-ish potting compost or sharp sand they need to be about 10inch pots and put them under the bench in the potting shed or greenhouse not on a concrete floor through and they need to be frost free but not overly warm and well ventilated so they don't sweat otherwise they'll either go mouldy or rot