Frame or indoor cucumbers need continuous warmth and moisture with a really rich soil for the best varieties, though there are some that will crop in warm, sunny frames in good seasons. Indoor cucumbers need sowing in pots in a heated propagator during late winter or early spring. Pot them up regularly until they are ready to plant in their final position. Take care not to let the neck, where the stem leaves the soil, get damaged or wet as it will easily rot. For this reason, cucumbers are best grown on a little mound of sterile compost. They trail like marrows, so can be grown up strong strings or wires. They must have continuous high temperatures, very high humidity and are prone to spider mite and mildew. Regular spraying with water and adding seaweed solution or nettle tea may help prevent downy mildew.
If indoor cucumbers are allowed to pollinate, the resulting fruits are bitter, so remove all male flowers (those with no tiny cucumber behind them) before they open so that the females are not pollinated. Female varieties occasionally produce a male flower, so it pays to be vigilant. The seed is expensive, but given the warmth and rich conditions cucumbers give very quick results and are very productive early in the year, when other things are still weeks away.
Epicurean attentions:
Pick cucumbers early in the morning before they warm up for maximum crispness.
Recommended varieties:
'Telegraph' is well known, 'Conqueror' which is tolerant of cooler conditions has long been popular for coldframes or unheated greenhouses. 'Pepinex 69' used to be my favourite but 'Carmen' and 'Aidas' are excellent and 'Petita' is superb! Melons are treated exactly the same as cucumbers, but need even more heat to keep them growing well. As with cucumbers, they will rot if the neck gets damaged or wet, so plant on a mound of sterile compost. Ideally, nip out the growing tip after four good leaves to produce side shoots. Later, in one go, pollinate one flower on each side shoot with a brush or cotton-bud to get even-sized fruits. Melons are even more prone to spider mite than cucumbers.
For more on growing cucumbers, click here.
For more on growing cucumbers, click here.
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