i planted nothing but "straight eight" from seed this year as well, and it has been taking forever to fruit also. we picked our first cucumbers of the season approx. 10 days ago, with two more following about 5 days prior. right now, there are four more i've seen forming, one should be ready today with another one ready in 3-4 days, but out of the hundreds of blossoms on it, i'm really surprised, seems like we should be picking at least a dozen per week, not 2-3 as we have been. i've seen bumblebees going to work on them steadily, along with our green beans, so ... i'm not sure what is going on.

this is very different from the cucumbers we'd planted from seed last year, which were putting out a dozen cukes per week, easy. i don't remember what kind that was...but the downside was, they just weren't sweet and crispy enough for us, even when picked very mature and cut immediately after picking. the straight-eights we've pulled so far have been delicious and extremely crispy...so i haven't really been sweating the slow production.

I had heard nothing but good things about the straight 8, which is why I chose it. I too, have seen many a busy bee's working on the plants and lots of flowers as well. But I still have yet to see a cucumber forming. it's strange. I guess I'll just continue to take good care of it and be patient. in the meantime, I'm really enjoying the cukes I'm getting off of my hybrid burpless bush plant!

it took what seems like forever we pulled another cuke off today after the rainstorm, and i noticed we actually do have quite a few starters which are about the size of a cornichon, if they manage to continue growing, we should have a half dozen cukes at the end of next week.

I have straight8 and slicemaster growing, planted mid-May or so. We've gotten at least 8 off of the slicemasters. Since the straight8's were 2x as big, I was getting worried. Finally, just this evening, I found 2 "girl" flowers with the beginnings of cukes behind them. Until now, i'd had gobs of "boy" flowers.

I can't wait to see what the 8's taste like. Of course, I also can't wait to see what the full-grown slicemasters will taste like -- I keep picking them early.

Just nosing around some of the border states....

our 8s are mildly sweet, terribly crispy (which we love). apparently one of them we picked was bitter, didn't figure this out till after we made cucumber salad w/feta, ended up having to nix the cucumber salad over one bitter cucumber (only 2 used, no biggie). overall, they're great, will definitely plant again next year.

Good news, just this morning I was in the garden and noticed several tiny cukes on well on their way on my straight plant, I'll just be patient now. thanks for the replies

Blaze, be sure and check them every day. When them boys start making it will keep you busy. Keep the water to them also. Amazing how much they can grow in just a day.

Shot

Boy shot you weren't lyin were you, since my last post, I've already harvested a couple of big dog straight 8's, that were 2 inches long last week. It really is amazing how fast they grow. good thing I love cucumbers. My question now is, after harvesting, what is the best way to keep them? I placed one in the fridge and 2 days later it was wrinkled looking. Are they ok on the counter top until you cut them? thanks a lot.

if you leave them out on the counter, they get rubbery. i take them off the vine, rinse them/de-stubble them under cold water, dry them off completely and put immediately into the crisper tray of the fridge. i haven't had any wrinkling happen yet, they usually stay pretty crispy for the first few days.

i've pulled a couple now that were NOT overripe but they were really bitter. it's strange, some are like this, some aren't. haven't had this with other varieties of cukes.

Blaze, I set out 5 pickling cukes (6, but over fertilized one and it died) that I had bought at a garden center. When they started making my wife picked every day and like Satellite, washed and put in crisp tray until enough for canning. Off those 5 plants she canned (7 lb a canning, I think) lime pickles (sweet), dill pickles and bread & butter, plus we gave a lot away. Keep them picked and they will continue to bloom and make.

Shot