had to laugh when reading yet again the time-honoured advice to sow two cucumber seeds in a pot and then pinch out the weaker of the resulting seedlings.>

Cues Grandpa would be proud of

I had to laugh when reading yet again the time-honoured advice to sow two cucumber seeds in a pot and then pinch out the weaker of the resulting seedlings. Imagine doing that with cucumber seeds that cost £1 apiece or more!

It might have made sense back in the days when gardeners bought seed by the ounce, or saved their own with less than reliable results. Time has moved on somewhat, however, and good seed is expensive and not to be wasted. Not all of Grandpa's time-honoured advice holds good today.

Cucumbers these days are so different from the varieties of yesteryear. Some old favourites are still around, like Conqueror which was introduced in about 1870 and Telegraph which came along at the turn of the century. But I'm not too sure about the Long Gun, which was once very popular, or Doctor Livingstone which I'm sure these days may be presumed dead.

The main difference is in the breeding and the growing. F1 hybrid varieties, as distinct from those listed in the catalogues as "ordinary" or "traditional" cucumbers, are less difficult to grow.

They can still be pretty time-consuming but the rewards are great. Harvesting 50 or 100 quality cucumbers from one plant is something that our grandfathers would not have thought possible.

The most expensive seed these days is likely to be of all-female varieties, removing the need for that time-consuming operation of pinching out the male flowers to avoid bitter-tasting fruit.

It is also likely to be resistant to some of the main strains of powdery mildew, scab, and leaf spot.

Advice varies about cucumber cultivation and here is one area where I still follow Grandpa's advice: sowing each seed on its edge half an inch or so deep in good compost and preferably in a fibre pot which can be planted on, either into 10-inch or 12-inch pots or growing bags, thus avoiding root disturbance. A temperature of around 75F or slightly higher is ideal.

The most popular practice is to grow the plants up canes or wires to the greenhouse roof, allowing cucumbers to develop on the main stem and pinching out sideshoots two leaves beyond a fruit. When the growing point reaches the roof it can be removed, allowing the resultant two shoots to trail downwards again.

Cucumbers like moisture but should never become waterlogged. Water a little at a time, but often, and keep the air moist, sprinkling the floor regularly.

Outdoor cucumbers require less effort. Traditionally they were grown on raised beds or mounds (hence the popular name ridge cucumbers). Some of the new Japanese varieties produce long straight fruits, unlike the short spiny ridge cucumbers of old, and these are best trained up poles or on stout netting.

There are lots of good varieties in the catalogues, but be prepared to pay most for the best.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.