need loads help and advice..

[hiyatim]

Hi all, first day on the forum and first season of growing, i have a real mixture of things growing to see what does well and what doesnt..with loads of veg come loads of questions so ill start with a couple here...

i have recently bought trays with a foam in to retain water with the idea of helping my tomato's, pepper, cucumbers, courgettes, melons and seedlings in the hotter days, im watering daily while hot and sometimes when i get home there is standing water in the tray which my pots are sat in, can this lead to rot or other problems??

my cougettes are doing well atm, they arent that old put have some huge leaves now, i have read they can take alot of space so can be trained to grow upwards rather than out, at the mo its a ring of leaves with more growing from the centre, how do i get them to grow upwards as spce is a real issue??

i have been told never let a cucumber be pollunated so remove one sex of flower..whats people opinions of this??

many thanks

tim

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Tim, most courgette plants grow as a bush but some varieties do climb - which variety are you growing?? With your cucumbers, again which variety are you growing as not all need flowers removing.

[DavidT]

Good evening Tim and welcome to the site. Firstly, don`t water just for the sake of it, water when the plants need it. If you are using self watering trays, you don`t need to do it every day. Greenhouse cucumbers should have male flowers removed, however, outdoor, or ridge cucmbers, need to have both types of flowers left on.

[hiyatim]

hi both, thanks for the reply and welcome! Forgive my ignorance i hope this is the info you require, the cuc's are marketmore (cucumis sativus) and cougettes are black beauty's ( cucurbita pepo)

My water regime was water every two days, that was when the soil was getting dry but with this hot spell i moved it to every day, but when i was getting home i was finding some of the greenhouse plants seemed to be suffering so bought these trays, im just not sure if they are a step to far as the pots sit in a bit of water/on wet sponge all day

thanks

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Tim, Marketmore are fabulous outdoor cucumbers, my favourite! Do not remove any flowers at all and enjoy a great harvest!

[hiyatim]

Wow, lucky i joined, i have it as a greenhouse cucumber, ill move it outside tomorrow, will it benifit from netting, stop the pests? also shall i keep it in the sponge tray and just keep th sponge nice and damp?
thanks and sorry fo so many questions, i just want to get it right

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Tom, I've always grown Marketmore outdoors. Harden the plant off for a couple of weeks then just plant it and give it a cane to grow up, but you do need to tie it to the cane to encourage it to climb. No need for netting. Don't move it outdoors until the last frost has past, so you must check the weather forecast or grow in a container that you can move back into the greenhouse if a frost is forecast. I always peel the skin off before using. Courgette Black Beauty is a bush variety so it will not climb.

[hiyatim]

thanks for all the responses lesley, what a great help!! can i ask why you peel the cuc's before use..is this necessary or just preference?? ill get the cucumbers outside without netting. Will my courgettes require netting, at the moment they are under it as i have a good sized area netted off so almost all of my veg are under it, but the courgette take up alot of space and it would be good if i could take them out.

p.s can anyone recommend a good greenhouse cucumber??

Tim

[DavidT]

I also peel cucmbers before use. It`s supposed to prevent indigestion/wind.Telegraph Improved, is a good greenhouse cucumber but you have to remove any male flowers.

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Tim, my Dad told me years ago that cucumbers grown outdoors can have slightly bitter skins, so I have always peeled them. Only peel the part of the cucumber that you will use and leave the rest wrapped in cling film in the fridge for the next day. They are really juicy and tasty cucumbers!

Don't net over your courgette plant as there is no need to and you need the insects to pollinate the female flowers so that you will have courgettes to harvest!!

[Newtothis]

Do you know if the courgette Golden Delight is a cordon or bush type by any chance?

[hiyatim]

hey newtothis, i have no idea sorry but im sure one of these guys can answer that for you

thanks again for the tips on cucumbers, i was planning of self fertilizing the courgette plant under the netting but if its not likely to be wrecked by pests then ill take it out from there and make room for more lettuce and carrots

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by Newtothis

Do you know if the courgette Golden Delight is a cordon or bush type by any chance?

Hi NTT, Golden Delight is a bush variety.

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by hiyatim

i was planning of self fertilizing the courgette plant under the netting but if its not likely to be wrecked by pests then ill take it out from there and make room for more lettuce and carrots

Hi Tim, your courgette plant will not be wrecked by pests and I would leave the pollination to the insects. Only if we have a bad summer with a shortage of insects, giving a poor fruit set, do you need to hand pollinate - which should be done early morning. Unless you are using very fine netting to stop the carrot fly, then there is no need to cover your carrots over.

[hiyatim]

hi Lesley

yeah the netting is extremely fine to stop carrot fly, also to protect all my brassicas, are onions, potatos, beetroots, lettuce or parsnips prone to pests as i have them netted too??

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Tim, I wouldn't bother covering potatoes, beetroot and onions. Brassicas must be covered and as you said carrot fly is a problem so both the carrots and parsnips need protecting. The birds will eat the lettuce so keep them netted over but watch out for slugs and snails!

[Newtothis]

Originally Posted by Lesley Jay

Hi NTT, Golden Delight is a bush variety.

Oh thanks for that. Should be interesting with my courgettes.....they are in a site just as deep as the growbag itself .

[Kimby]

Have read quite a few articles in the last week saying that watering in late afternoon or evening could be an issue because water won't necessarily be absorbed before it gets dark and standing water could cause disease / mildew :-/

Could anyone explain how to hand pollinate courgette and how to tell if this is necessary? I'll be planting some out in the next couple of weeks and the plants will be covered by net (tho not fine grade). Bees have been buzzing around the covered beds but how do I know if they'll pollinate the veg???

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by Kimby

Have read quite a few articles in the last week saying that watering in late afternoon or evening could be an issue because water won't necessarily be absorbed before it gets dark and standing water could cause disease / mildew :-/

Could anyone explain how to hand pollinate courgette and how to tell if this is necessary? I'll be planting some out in the next couple of weeks and the plants will be covered by net (tho not fine grade). Bees have been buzzing around the covered beds but how do I know if they'll pollinate the veg???

Hi Kim, the ideal time to water your vegetables is early morning or failing that very late afternoon but not when the sun is at it's hottest. One thing that is important is to water the plants at the base as wet foliage can cause fungal diseases such as botrytis and downy mildew plus scorch. Don't over water. When I had my allotments we had to water when my OH got in from work at 5pm and it took us one and a half hours. In the summer we watered every other day (assuming that the weather was nice) and on really hot days we would water the plants that needed it each day. If it had been raining we didn't water at all. I never had a problem with standing water (we are on clay soil). Watering too late can bring the slugs out!

There is absolutely no need to net over courgette plants. Let the bees get working and pollinate the fruit.

[Kimby]

Thanks Lesley

I can't water in the morning unless I start waking at silly o'clock to water the plants before I go to work. I'm going to remove the rose from my watering can so that I can water the ground and not the leaves.

As for the net - no choice really as otherwise the neighbourhood cats climb on the beds and do their business on my veggies! The bees are getting through so hopefully the pollination will happen