Growing Cucumbers for Exhibition

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Growing Cucumbers for Exhibition

Charles Maisey, Pontyclun, Mid Glamorgan

Growing cucumbers is an absorbing pastime, you get hooked on it, and although this article is primarily about growing for show the same points will help anyone to produce excellent fruits for the table. For show purposes, however, you must, first and foremost, have the right cultivars. I have had most success with 'Femdan', 'Aramon' and 'Carmen', all of which have nice smooth skins and are a lovely dark green colour that stands out on the show bench.

The techniques used to grow cucumbers have changed in many ways over the years. Long gone are the days when I worked as an apprentice in a nursery mixing freshly cut turf with fresh horse manure, a mixture that created the heat and humidity so necessary for good cucumber culture - but which meant hours of back breaking work. I have used that method in the past in my own greenhouse, but now I use grow bags with rings placed on top, giving a double depth of compost.

This depth is vitally important in cucumber growing as the roots like plenty of room to develop. When grown in the old way you can see white feeder roots coming to the surface and at this stage you must top dress with a good loam, each bucketful enriched with a handful of fish meal, spread evenly over the beds.

However, it is the grow bag and ring method that is used most often nowadays so I will concentrate on that.

Do not try to grow cucumbers for show in the same greenhouse as tomatoes unless you can close off a section at the end with polythene. Cucumbers need a close, humid atmosphere while tomatoes need plenty of air circulating through the plants at all times.

I grow one cucumber plant only in each grow bag. This gives plenty of room for root development and also allows the plant stems and leaves to grow without getting all entangled one with another, all too easy when plants are grown too close together. Make holes in the grow bags to avoid sour compost caused by bad drainage.

So that I can cover shows from July until October I grow twelve plants in an 8 x 12 foot (2 1/2 x 3 1/2 m) greenhouse. The seeds are sown at different times and my first sowing is in April followed by sowings in May, June and the first week of July.

Sow the seeds singly in 3 inch (7 1/2 cm) pots of peat based compost, this is a lot warmer than soil and so helps good germination. Place each seed on its side, not flat, to avoid rotting. Early sowings should be made in a propagator or indoors, in the airing cupboard, the later ones in the greenhouse as things warm up in May and June. Once the seeds germinate make certain they get the maximum light, to prevent thin, spindly growth, and keep a careful eye on root development. Never leave them in the pots too long as a 3 inch pot fills with roots very quickly. Set the plants out when they come to the side of the pot, if they are left after this stage they will be starved of nutrients, a sure way to disaster. It is important not to have any check in growth particularly in the early stages.

Plant out into rings placed on top of the grow bag. Fill each ring with a peat based compost. Make sure that the stems are not buried in the compost as this causes stem rot. For the same reason do not plant in a hole, sit your plant right on top, in fact just above the level of the compost so that water runs away from the stem.

Secure a bamboo cane to cross wires in the greenhouse and tie it firmly in place. Tie the plant in as soon as it is tall enough. If you are growing on laterals tie nylon cord across the greenhouse.

There are two ways to grow the plants on. One, by allowing them to fruit on the main stem, the other by growing the fruits on laterals. If growing on laterals you allow the side shoots (laterals) to grow, stopping them at three leaves and allowing one or two cucumbers to develop on each, until the main shoot reaches the top of the house. Using this method the fruits hang down away from the main stem thus avoiding those dreaded rough marks on the top of the cucumber, the handle.

It is important not to allow any fruit to develop until the plants are 2 feet (30 cm) high. This encourages a good, strong root system and it also avoids growing cucumbers that are marked or damaged by lying on the soil.

Once fruits are developing above the 2 foot mark feed with a high nitrogen feed. To ring the changes I also use liquid feed made from sheep manure soaked in a tub of water, or dried blood solution made up from a tablespoon in 2 gallons of water.

Cut the cucumbers regularly as they mature. The ideal cucumber for the show bench, at least those that get prizes at national level, has a girth of some 7 to 8 inches (171/2 - 20 cm) and is about 14 or 15 inches (35 - 37 1/2 cm) long. Once of suitable size they should never be allowed to remain uncut to take food from fruits further up the stem. This sometimes causes rotting of the ends and, also, impairs their development as they lack nutrients.

If you only grow a couple of plants you may have to take one fruit off two or three days before your show and allow the next to grow to the required length. Keep the first one in a cool place, wrapped in a clean, damp cloth. Try to keep a nice fresh flower intact on the end of each fruit - the quicker the cucumber grows, the fresher the flower will be on show day.

When making your final selection for the show you require fruits that are as straight as a gun barrel. They should be dark green in colour, free from marks on the skin caused by contact with the stem or leaves of the plant, have a nice fresh flower and be without long handles on top (a serious fault).

Pointing for cucumbers (house and frame) includes 5 for condition (make sure your fruits are not soft), 5 for size and shape, 4 for colour and 4 for uniformity.

Good luck, I hope these few tips help you to the red cards.

This article originally appeared in the Members Bulletin, the journal of the National Vegetable Society, which is sent quarterly to members. You can Join the National Vegetable Society here

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