@pepperhead212 I am constantly surprised that my stores sell lots of different varieties of cucumbers but whenever I grow anything other than County Fair, it gets bacterial wilt before I get more than 1 or 2 cucumbers. I wonder how other people grow these in my area but maybe they use insecticides and I don't.

I just ordered this year's County Fair seeds from Tomato Growers. It cost me over $6 for one pack of seeds with postage but it will last for 2 years.

2021 was a disaster for the cucumbers.

The two (2) seasons previous Sweet Success Hybrid was the Top Performer!

https://seedsnsuch.com/products/sweet-s ... YiEALw_wcB

The Gotch

brownrexx wrote: ↑Mon Jan 31, 2022 7:25 am @pepperhead212 I am constantly surprised that my stores sell lots of different varieties of cucumbers but whenever I grow anything other than County Fair, it gets bacterial wilt before I get more than 1 or 2 cucumbers. I wonder how other people grow these in my area but maybe they use insecticides and I don't.

I just ordered this year's County Fair seeds from Tomato Growers. It cost me over $6 for one pack of seeds with postage but it will last for 2 years.

I've heard a fix to get rid of cucumber beetles, which carry bw, is to mix diatomaceous earth with mashed cucumber (a store bought one, before your plants start producing), and placing it in a bowl near your plants. I don't know if this could be harmful to pets or wildlife.

@Tormato I can see that attracting some of the CBs, but I can't imagine all of them staying off the plants, even with many bowls of this mix around. I saw similar things on YouTube about attracting spotted lantern flies to bowls of various things, but none worked! One attracted some other insect, but not a single SLF when I tried them.

Tormato wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:45 am

patihum wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 2:48 am A good starting point for Tormato's cucumber salad Asian style -

1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey, or sugar)
1 teaspoon red chili paste (or sriracha, both optional) more to taste

Thanks, I forgot the ginger. But, on a hot summer day, for refreshment (like in the above post), I'd be leaving out the chili paste, or I'd need the beer. End of growing season cukes, on a cooler autumn day, is when I'd do the hot stuff. Why didn't I think of subbing maple syrup for sugar, living in New England? Maybe because it's summertime when I have that salad.

Kinda hard to find undiluted maple syrup in North Texas. We do have a lot of locally produced honey and I also have some some toasted seesame oil in the cabinet. If we keep talking like this, the mental pressure for an early spring increases.

brownrexx wrote: ↑Mon Jan 31, 2022 7:25 am @pepperhead212 I am constantly surprised that my stores sell lots of different varieties of cucumbers but whenever I grow anything other than County Fair, it gets bacterial wilt before I get more than 1 or 2 cucumbers. I wonder how other people grow these in my area but maybe they use insecticides and I don't.

I just ordered this year's County Fair seeds from Tomato Growers. It cost me over $6 for one pack of seeds with postage but it will last for 2 years.

I grew straight eight for many years, but got tired lf them dying early from powdery mildew. Started growing Sweet Success for many years. Sweet success started dying from various disease's. Started straight eight again and it has performed well for three years.

I had sweet success with sweet success. Diva did well too. I grew them in the greenhouse, which worked well until they got too much wind. I think the physical damage done by the wind opens the door for disease to move in afterward.

One year I planted marketmore 76 and straight 8 on 10 foot tall trellises about 20 feet long.
I planted the seeds in a row about 10 inches apart.

The soil was fantastic.
Needless to say I had cucumbers running out my ears.
More than I could possibly eat.

I’m trying Suhyo Long Long-Fruited Cucumber this year. Got the seed from fedco. Last year wasn’t a good year for me on cucumbers. I might pick up some additional Garden Sweet Burpless seeds from the feedstore when it’s time. That has done pretty well for me in the past.

The other place was less populated which means less choice bee flowers.
This meant as soon as any flowers developed the bees were there ready to work on time.
Here more choice flowers so the bees are more picky.
It's only after the other flowers in the area are gone that they hit melons and cucumbers.
I have observed this every year.
It doesn't do any good to plant way early only to have the vines start to get diseases and or play out before they come to pollinate.

This year, in addition to the usual National Pickler I'm going to plant a 6' stretch each of Beit Alpha and the H19 Little Leaf on a trellis as follow-on cukes. That way we'll have some cukes for fresh eating after the Picklers eventually succumb to the funk. No way of avoiding funk down here. it's just a fact of gardening life. Since the H19 has small leaves, I 'm thinking the increased air flow on the trellis might decrease the funk factor.

I might also use them for fall cukes too.

Marketmore and Beit Alpha have always done well for us and we'll be growing them again this year. I'm going to try Silver Slicer, too, which I haven't grown before. It sound like it should be good.

Someone in my neighborhood recommended Picolino F1, so I’m trying that one as well as Shintokiwa. Itachi F1 did well last year and I’m growing it again. Diva was the best one in the previous place I gardened, but in the scorching summers here it got bitter.

Wautoma is my favorite, and almost 100% resistant to any diseases

So, photo is of a straight eight and a suyo long cucumber each picked from the garden this morning. The suyo long is vastly better. Has a tender skin and almost a honeydew melon quality.

Suyo long from saved seeds year after year loses it's pricks and ends up looking like a same length straight eight.
I think this year I am going with store bought seeds instead.

I don't know if your paper plate says eat or fat.Hard to see clearly before my morning coffee.

Eat, plates evidently need words of encouragement these days. Maybe there should be a Fat version also. Okay, everyone has had enough food and here’s a plate to make the point clear. Hard to get fat eating cucumbers. Eating cheese might be a different deal.

Grateful just to be able to find paper plates nowadays.

@lee53011; "Wautoma is my favorite, and almost 100% resistant to any diseases"

That be Wautoma WESconsin...?

The Gotch