I've read quite a bit lately about cucumbers and cold and they most definitely do not like cold. They grow so fast anyways in warm weather that I'm not putting any seed out or transplanting the few I have in peat pots until the nights are above 55F. I've been bringing the trays of melons and cukes in every night for a handful of hours under the grow lights and for the warmth. This room stays a very warm 80F this time of year. The peat pot transplants need to go out in the garden though asap.

I don't know how well waiting so late will work for me, Greg.

We didn't have consistent night temperatures above 50F until mid-July last year . . . and, most any year. It would make for a very short cucumber season.

There are only a few varieties of melons that I can grow. Passport galia melons have been the most consistent - not failed in about 5 years even when other usually safe choices have.

Honey Girl Charentais is one that worked for me in about 4 out of 5 years but Burpee has discontinued the variety! I have a Santon Charentais this year to try - supposed to be very early. Edonis Charentais failed to ripen in 2010.

Maybe, I should be experimenting with varieties of cucumbers to see if one is more hardy than another. I know that Diva isn't very tough. It was one that performed terribly - as in nearly, no fruit at all!

But, I've got lots of little cuke plant starts set to go when it looks a little milder if not actually warm. And, some of them like Speedway and Turbo have been good performers in past years.

Steve

Just for what its worth. The cucumbers in my green house are growing out of their space, seem to like the cold, while the peppers are doing nothing. I hope they are not stunted. Temps have been regularly in the 40s at night. Tomatoes doing OK, just need to go out.
Kenny

Is it the air temperature or the soil temperature? I grew Diva in containers last year, so the soil was warm enough, but the problem was pollination. They flowered like mad, but no fruit until I started doing the paint brush thing, and then came the onslaught.

This year, I've started the Diva seeds in 1/2 gallon pots, and i'll wait until they start to grow the vine and then set them out.

That is one heckuva cucumber - even when they get enormous, they still don't have much in the way of seeds, and they still taste wonderful. Make a highly decent pickle as well.

Hmmmm.

Cucurbits seem to be a strange family. My idea is that the wild relatives might have lived in canyons - arid canyons, wet canyons, tropical canyons, maybe even alpine canyons. It just depends on the cucurbit.

They seem to need more or less water than other plants (depending on the cucurbit).

Diva is an Beit Alpha type and the Muncher I had last year is a Beit Alpha type - open pollinated. The Munchers did really well in a fairly good cucumber year. They are sweet with a thin skin and kind of wrinkly. I had one Diva off 3 plants in a hill on a bad cucumber year . . .

Steve

Oh, and one year - year before last, I believe - the lemon cukes ran so late that only a hat full could be harvested before frost.

Hurt my feelings . . . but, I've continued to plant them.

Steve

I tried Diva twice. The first year it died after transplant, and the second I tried direct sowing and had poor germination, and don't even have a record of harvesting anything from it.

I'm with Steve on not waiting until lows are in the mid-50's. We don't get lows like that until July here. I direct sow in May, and they do start off slow, probably due to the low nighttime temps, but I've had such bad luck with transplanting them, that I just let them limp along until the heat of summer kicks in. I still end up with plenty of cucumbers for fresh eating, pickling, and giving away to friends and neighbors, so I'm fairly happy with this method.

My favorite cucumber last year was a long slicer called Satsuki Midori. Very similar to Suhyo Long, except without the spines. I sowed that one again this year, plus Armenian Long, Northern Pickling, and Richmond Green. Probably could use one more pickling type, but I'll wait to see what kind of germination I get on these first, before sowing anything else.