Michele....I am growing Snow's Fancy Pickling for the first time, along with Suyo Long and a couple hybrids from the nursery...
The Snow's are beautiful and fat, but too bitter for consumption...The hybrids all taste fine...I have kept them wet, and yesterday was our first really hot day...
I have had good luck with NC White Pickling heirloom cukes from Sand Hill in the past too.
I would love to find an OP pickler (besides Poona Kheera) that does not get bitter so easily...
Eureka is my all time fav hybrid for growing in heat or cold, and I may go back to them next year...
I am getting multitudes of slender zukes and usually make bread and butter pickles out of those when the weather heats up...
My Suyo longs are not ready yet either...Let me know what you think of them ...

Jeanne

Jeanne, we must have the same taste in cukes! I grew Eurkeka for several years before I went back to OP's. So far my Snow's have no bitterness at all and I chalk that up to the mulch, really. We also had a cooler than usual spring and less humidity than normal until the last few weeks. Snow's is still my favorite. I've made three gallons of pickles so far and have used tons for salads and crudite. I'm sorry yours have turned out bitter early in the season.

Suyo Long...I've had them from Martha/Gardenmama's garden and my friend, Kristen's garden and theirs were much better than mine. I've had three so far and they are seedy with tough skin. Also not very productive. So I think this is my first and last try with those. My friend, Kristen, had the same complaints this season though, so maybe it's weather related. In the past, the skin was very thin and seeds were small. The size and shape were pretty uniform along the length of the fruit. This year, we both have them shaped like crookneck squash, with a sort of bulb at one end. Luckily I don't have too many of them though! :lol: I feel obligated to at least try them, ya know?

That is interesting as Eureka is not a very common cuke in this neck of the woods...

I was looking at a variety called Wautoma this afternoon on the net....Anyone have experience with this one?

I also tried some Armenian style cules(melons) from Seeds from Italy, but they did not transplant well and I can't tell if I have any survivors yet, as I didn't label my cukes...

Jeanne

For a long time, I could only get Eureka from Territorial or Stokes, but then a few other catalogs started to carry it.

My hay bale row. Socrates to left, one plant [slicer], Little Leaf H-19 to right about 10 plants [pickler]. I'm pleased so far with the row cover. Never had cuke plants last this long before the cuke beetles did them in. I think I may get an over abundance of fruit if I can keep the plants healthy. I'll never grow cukes, beans, collards, chard, etc. again without using row cover.

Those are beautiful Earl! I was thinking of using the bales next year for cukes but with the tomato trellis, all th ough then I might need a ladder to pick them ;)

Earl,
Your hay bale row method for growing you cucks looks like something I would like to try. I have real problems with cucumber beetles. Could you please explain a little on how you did it. no. of bales, ,added fertilizer, no. of plants, how long you leave on the row cover etc. If you did already in this thread I must have missed it. You have such great ideas. I always read you comments.
Thanks
Mary

Mary, here's how I did it. I bit different from usual threads on hay bales.

I bought the [supposed to be straw] bales last fall and stored them outside. They were heavy with water this spring but I flipped them onto a cart and hauled them to the row sight. I went with a double row type row, leaving a couple inches between the bales, and between the bales I sprinkled some Espoma fertilizer before adding potting [soil] I bought from the Odd Lots store.

Then I planted my homegrown plants in the potting soil, made a frame out of 1/2 pvc and put on the row cover [from Johnny's at $60 for a 10 foot by 250 foot role]. You'll need 10 foot wide.

I found the best deal on pvc clamps [these are a must have] to hold the row cover onto the hoops at
[url]http://www.atozsupply.com/Snap_Clamps_C106.cfm[/url]

The cover did extremely well when the plants were young, but as the plants grew and gave off more smell [I assume] a few of the cuke beetles have found their way under the cover. But not enough so far to do any damage. I"m also using the cover for other stuff. I love that 10 foot wide row cover! I give the bales a shot of liquid fertilizer every week or so and water every couple days if no rain. Now I wish I had made the rows 4 bales wide since the cukes are sending runners out like Medusa's hair-do.

My neighbors, when I covered the rows in June, must have thought it had snowed.

Thanks for the info. Earl
I'am going to make a copy of this post and put it in my cucumber file for next spring along with my varieties list.


This fall I'll pick up bales of straw and position them where
I plan to grow the cucumbers. If all goes well, all I will need to do in spring is to add soil, fertilizer, transplants
and the row cover. This will be great pickling cucks!
Plus it frees up more space in my garden beds for other
vegies.

This year i'am growing Sikkim cucumber. It's skin developes a very unique texture as it matures, looks like a rattlesnake's skin. Dark greenish brown with orangish under tones. very large for a cuck. picked my first ripe one yesterday. When I sliced it open it had a small hollow cavity inside. good flavor and crispy flesh. Definately have to grow them nrxt year.

Thanks again for the great information!
Mary



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