Why Are The Cukes Not Producing?

[GoDawgs]

This is strange. The cuke plants are healthy. There are a ton of flowers and a lot of bumbles visiting them. We've been having good rain. Temperatures have been in the low to mid 80's so they're not burning up. They've been fertilized. No sign of nematode damage. But they're only making a few here and there on seven vines. I can't figure out why. It's a 52 dtm cuke and we're at 63 days.

Could it be lack of sun? It's been pretty rainy and gloomy for the past week or two. Could a string of sunny days get them rolling?

I've not had cukes do this before so any suggestions or insights would be appreciated!

[Cole_Robbie]

Rain inhibits the flight of pollinators.

http://pollinators.blogspot.com/2013/07 ... s.html?m=1

[Whwoz]

Are there male and female flowers @GoDawgs

[GoDawgs]

Oh yeah, both sexes of flowers. This is an old open pollinated one called National Pickling. It's always produced a LOT for me. That's why I'm rather surprised.

You know, the one thing I just thought of that might make a difference is the pH in that bed. I've lost my tester and have no idea what the pH is.

[JRinPA]

Cucumbers are still a mystery to me, so I'm no help. In the past I tried national pickling, marketmore? and great eight? from normal store packs. I had enough to can pickles one time. They'd look great and not produce, and then the bugs wilt them. I was gonna do one of the special ones this year, partho whatever, but the website was fluky and I'm just as glad.

I've never seen pics of a "good" cucumber production so when you get them going, please post up. For me it was mostly the vines look good and start these little spiny starts, they'd get to 2-4" and then just stop and never fill out, and the vines start to yellow all over the place. From the yellow striped beetles that virus wilt it, I've always thought.

I helped dig a new plot at the comm garden in May, and they are doing about 12 ft of cucumbers. I sure hope it works out. At least one other guy is doing cucumbers as well, but last year his died off like mine do. Neither are trellised yet.

[GoDawgs]

I've decided to plant another row of these cukes in one of the beds that the beans just vacated. If the beans did that well maybe the cukes will too.

'Homemade Pickles' did really well for several years but then it decided it didn't want to play anymore. Over the years I've been through a lot of cuke varieties. I decided to go back through my garden records (back to '86) and found the following cuke varieties tried. The list starts with most recent and goes back in time.

National Pickling
Beit Alpha
AR Little Leaf
Double Yield
Eureka
Wautoma
Spacemaster
County Fair
Long Green Improved
Marketmore Select
Southern Delight
Muncher
Super Bush
Straight Eight
Marketmore 86
Suyo Long
Everbearing
Early Russian
Burpee Pickler
Saladin
Fancipak
Calypso
Carolina Pickler
Marketer ('87)
Miss Pickler ('87)
Wisconsin SMR-18 ('87)

From the Wayback Machine - I found a list of seeds I ordered in 1992. Some of the prices:

Asparagus roots from Hastings (long out of business) - Mary Washington, 25 crowns for $9.95
Honey and Cream corn from Burpee - $1.75/pkt
Early Riser pole bean from Parks - $1.45/pkt
Better Boy tomato from Hastings - $1.35/pkt
Park's Whopper from Park - $1.45/pkt
Viva Italia tomato from Parks - $1.15/pkt
Butterstick squash from Burpee - $1.35/pkt
Jerusalem artichokes from Burpee - $4.50/pound

From 1989:
Hot Pepper Mix from Gurney's - $.85/pkt
Floramerica tomato from Fields - $1.19/pkt
Sweetie tomato from Fields - $.95/pkt
Baby Hubbard squash from Fields - $.98/pkt.

How things have changed! And after reading a lot of those notes I also realized how much I've learned since then.

[friedgreen51]

Have you tried Wisconsin SMR-58 or Pick A Bushel Hybrid?
They have always done well for me.

[Paulf]

The past three years we have gone from not much production to an overabundance by growing Green Light and Diva.

[PlainJane]

Lol, you have really cycled through the cucumber varieties @GoDawgs.

[Seven Bends]

I don't know the answer to why your cucumber plants aren't setting fruit, but it's not the first time I've heard of this happening. One year, one of my aunts had a large trellis of beautiful, healthy cucumber plants that never set a single fruit all summer. No one could figure out why. Hopefully your issue will just be weather-related and will fix itself soon.

My mom has good success with "Picklebush" -- heavy production from short, compact vines. They do especially well for her when grown away from the rest of the vegetables (less problem with wilt from cucumber beetles, and with spider mites), so she grows some in a hanging basket on her porch, and some in the middle of a flower bed.

[GoDawgs]

Have you tried Wisconsin SMR-58 or Pick A Bushel Hybrid?
They have always done well for me.

Yes to the WI SMR-58 but it was a long time ago. Never tried the Pick A Bushel.

[JRinPA]

Straight Eight, that's sounds right, not great eight. And County Fair sounds right.
Boy I have not had much luck with cucumbers, at least 4 kinds. And there is a guy on the other side of town that grows them right next to his house. Some sort of burpless? It's not like they can't grow here, just not for me and my lack of attention/motivation/priority. And I saw the first cucumber beetles today on my grey zuchini.
Green LIght and Diva. Noted for future reference.

[pepperhead212]

I've had to grow County Fair for a long time, because it has been the only one resistant to bacterial wilt, which runs rampant around here. Little Leaf is a more recent variety that is supposed to be resistant, but it just didn't produce well for me. Wisconsin 58 does well - it might be because of the hairy stems and leaves, keeping bugs off, but I'm not sure. I have some new ones this season, but only time will tell.