Vegetable gardeners get their inspiration from many places. Vegetable market is definitely one of those places that pushes you to grow your own food. If you grow vegetables, you will definitely go around the veggies section in the super market, just to check what all he has and also to know the price of every item you see. It gives you a measure of how much your produce is worth. The harvest from your garden need not be profitable, but it is good to know its worth. So that you can brag around ;).
One such vegetable I saw and badly wanted to grow is European cucumber. I saw this dark skinned cucumber in one of those super markets and got really interested. Why? Several reasons. They are seedless; They were crunchy and tasted good; they were expensive and guess what? They are greenhouse friendly(?).More on this later in this post, read on. So what more you need to get you start your own? Ah.. well we do need one more stuff to get started..Seeds. Where do I find the seeds for a seedless cucumber? Combed Gandhinagar area completely asking for European Cucumber.Every shop guy tried to sell me their Cucumber Malini F1,Cucumber Shalini F1, you name it. Well, sad GG came back home empty handed. Just when I thought I will give up, I found reference to Beit Alpha cucumbers in Namdhari’s. Those seeds weren’t for retail and they will only sell it in bulk. After so much discussion and convincing, I was able to get some sample seeds.
I immediately sowed the seeds and in just 4-5 days they germinated. The seeds were sown in cocopeat and then transplanted into pots with soil(red soil+cocopeat+compost+bonemeal).
1 week after sowing [15/5/2010].
Usually I get to take couple of pictures of a plant before it starts yielding. But this one, is already heavily loaded before I could take a second “progress” picture.
11/6/2010 – Can you spot the cucumber?
I need to explain something that I hinted at the beginning of this post. These seedless cucumbers plants produce all-female flowers. If you recollect, in cucurbits a single plant contains separate male and female flowers. Once pollination is done, the female flower develops into a fruit. In case of this cucumber, there is no male flower. Because the plant doesn’t need one. Fruits are produced without pollination. You don’t need bees to help you with pollination neither you need to run around with paint brush trying to pollinate flowers. Unbelievable? Its true. This is called vegetative parthenocarpy. So how many flowers you see, that many cucumbers you get!. How many times, you eat a fruit and bam! you encounter a seed inside. How about popping in a fruit that you bite all the way!.
Close up
The fruits are very consistent in their size and taste. They are quite crunchy and not a sign of bitterness. Their water content is worth mentioning. They do have tiny “seeds” that are very soft.
The european cucumber along with Armenian cucumber(Kakri) both grown in my garden.
The availability of the seeds is the main problem. Since this is not sold in retail, either we have to get it in bulk or find someone who sells these seeds.
That’s all for now. My next post will be about Radishes, big and small , white and red!
gg
70 Responses
Superb gg!!
By any chance you have anymore seeds left to share ? 🙂
Regards
Raja
Thanks Raja. I have few of them left. I am anyway planning to ask them for more seeds. I will check and get back to you.
Count me in the next time you are ordering these seeds. I am volunteering to be part of the experiment :). Where is the Namdhari seed store anyway. I tried in a couple of Namdhari outlets asking them if they sold seeds but the answer was in the negative.
I went all the way to lalbagh and forgot to get rooting hormone. Any place close to sarjapur, marathahalli where we can get this.
Sure Natti. I will. Namdhari store is in many places but only few of them stock seeds. There is one in Koramangala near games village.
Not sure about where to get the rooting hormone in those areas.
I am all raring to go…. seeing your blog posts. I have started small, with coriander, curry leaves and wheat (for wheatgerm). I am planning to go to basheerbagh (similar to lalbagh) in hyderabad, to get seeds, etc. what do you suggest I plant in this rainy season?
again you are a big inspiration 🙂
Thanks for visiting my blog. You can start to grow some cold weather crop. You can also grow, carrots, radish, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce etc.
Great going, GG. The dark green color is really very appealing. Congrats!
How does this compare with the salad cucumber we get in our markets, in terms of taste? The light green ones…
Also, when I grew these natti type salad cucumbers , the plants preferred to creep rather than climb; your pics show the plants enjoying the climbing!
I am looking for seeds of sambar cucumber- they also call it ‘malabar cucumber’ – any idea where I can get seeds for the local variety?
A few updates from my side… I harvested 4 huge yellow pumpkins – averaging 8 – 10 kg… three are still growing. These yellow pumpkins look very sturdy , don’t place too many demands except , ofcourse lots and lots of space to creep… I have another one just grown to about 10 feet and it is spreading horizontally on a wide trellis we have put up in the centre of the terrace.
Also , I tasted success with beans – I got almost 100% germination rate . I harvested about 2 kgs, with about 8 plants, in the last two weeks. I had to search every plant atleast three times as the beans hide behind the leaves. Great, isn’t it, if we can get a kg per week ?
How does one get good harvest for okhra? How many plants should one grow, to get , say, 1/2 kg per week? The plants produce 1 or two pieces at a time, unlike beans which are very generous…
Regards
Meena K
Thanks and Sorry for the delay.
Taste wise, this one is very crunchy and has lots of water content. It tastes very good in Salad, Pachadi/Raitha. Not a tinge of bitterness.
This plant readily clings on to the support it gets. The Armenian cucumber I grew loves to creep. I think it depends on variety and the way they are bred. This one is meant for greenhouse growing and hence climbing is prefered. sambar cucumer, is available everywhere. The one with green/yellow stripes. You also get it in Lalbagh- nursery men coop. Let me know if you find it difficult to get.
I am really impressed with your recent harvests. Way to go. 4 8-10kg pumpkins. Must be eating pumpkin everyday i guess. You are tempting me to try my luck with pumpkin.
Totally agree with you on the beans harvest. Congrts on your successs. I had 4 pots and have yield a lot. Every day , my folks manage to get a handful and it is yield for ever.. Love the searching part and still finding one of two left unpicked. Such a thing of joy it is.
To have a decent harvest of okra, you need to have atleast 10 pots(each having one plant). you will get 30-35 pods per week. More plants the better. They grow very tall(~8 feet) and till they are 6feet they can handle heavy winds but more height causes the pots to topple.
They dont like to be transplanted. So direct seed 2-3 seeds in a pot and thin them later to just one per pot.
Enjoy
GG, I’ve had very bad luck with growing cucumber on my balcony. Three out of four vines died and the last one yielded just one cucumber and is now dying! I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you harvest and let us have some seeds from your European cucumber? Or is it a hybrid which won’t allow that?
Jeanne, I wish I could save seeds and share it with you. But this variety is sought after, because it doesn’t have seeds. I am anyway trying to get more of this variety. Will definitely ensure you get some when I get.
Hi GG,
As usual very informative post.
Basically we need veggies that do not need pollination. This is good news. Would it be possible to buy it in bulk and split it among those interested?
Please see: http://cgi.ebay.com/Beit-Alpha-Lebanese-Cucumber-Seeds-25-/180464794570?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0 and http://cgi.ebay.com/VERDE-ORTOLANI-SENSATION-CUCUMBER-35-SEEDS-EUROPEAN-FAV-/200451150085?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eabd1d105
Do they look like they are the same?
Thanks,
Srikanth
Thanks. Totally. This variety makes it so easy to grow where bees are at premium. I will try to get the seeds in bulk and we can share it. The links look like this cucumber. But they haven’t mentioned if they are parthenocarpic.
There are varieties that have predominantly female flowers. That means more female flowers then the regular ones. But the fact you need to pollinate them still remains true.
gg,
Vow! Cucumbers look Great.
I have a question. I have just started my back yard garden in containers. I bought a bag of Vermicumpost from a nearby nursery. I am reluctant to open the bag as it may contain lots of earth worms. What is your experience? Is Vermicompost different from ‘Compost’ you are using?
Thanks for your reply.
narul
Thanks Narul. Vermicompost, not necessarily will contain earthworms. They are made with the help of earthworms. Vermicompost, before packed, is sieved. Even if there is one or two, dont worry its a good thing. Any waste that is converted to compost using earthworms are called Vermicompost. Those that go through normal decomposition is compost. I use vermicompost( made by earthworms).
Ooooh! woww!! just adorable! both the post & the cucumbers 🙂
Fruits without bees & paintbrushes?!! this is simply magical! wish i too could get hold of these seeds…
Eagerly awaiting your post on radishes 🙂
Yes this IS kinda magical. I will let you know once i get the seeds in bulk.
btw, does the plant grow quite tall (considering the vertical support provided)?
Since these are for greenhouse growing. They grow very tall. They are supposed to yield somewhere between 50-75 fruits per plant.
Awesome GG!! U r Incredible!! Everytime I visit ur blog, I feel like running up to my terrace and talking to my tomato and brinjal plants. great work!! and keep blogging!! U r both great gardener as well as blogger!!
Cheers,
Srihari
Thanks for your nice words Srihari. Comments from readers like you motivate me a lot to blog. Thanks again. gg
Looks interesting. Wish the seeds were available to regular mortals too 🙂
These cucumber are good to make ‘Tzaziki’.. a greek version of our raitha, but goes well with hummus, kababs and such stuff
Thanks. As I mentioned in the other comments, we can get the seeds in bulk and share the same.
Nice info on Tzaziki. I checked it out and turns out its almost like raitha. Surprising how different cuisines have a lot in common.
They seem like Persian Cucumbers. Mine have been very prolific (averaging about 7 pounds a day). I got my seeds from Renees gardens (http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/seeds-hm/vegCh.htm#cuke)
They look like persian cuke but a little longer i guess.7#s a day? That is prolific and awesome. I know few US/europe websites ship it to India. I am just skeptical to order from them since there is an element of uncertainty when it comes to Indian Customs Dept. ;).
Hello GG
Such a wonderful site with soooo much info. Have been reading you site for the past two months finnally decided to post. Have been getting all the things you have mentioned in the site but red ants are having a feast of whatever I sow – read a recent post of boric acid and lakshman rekha – is it OK for the plants and later on for us to consume the produce ???
Great post with the cucumber – if a lot of us can pool together and buy the seeds for the cucumber I would love to pitch in – I am from HYD but will pay for the courier. Let me know.
Madhavi
Hi Madhavi, Thanks for the appreciation. What I meant was to draw a line using laxman rekha around the place when you keep the seed tray or the pot. If its a pot, draw a line on the brim/edge. You can also spread boric acid around the edges. In little quantities these wont affect the seeds/seedlings.
I will count you in too for the seeds.
Hello GG
Is there any season to grow these cucumbers?? Someone mentioned in your blog that double transplant is good for tomatoes – even for the ones on the ground. I have some plants in the ground and have self sprouted seeds that are in the pot growing them to see what I get. Also if you are sourcing some cherry tomatoes that would be great.
Thanks
Madhavi
Cucumber is a warm season crop. If you are sowing seeds thickly, then it makes sense to move each seedling when the true leaves appear to a smaller pot and after a months time, it can be transplanted to its final place, either pot or ground. You can also sow them thinly and do a single transplant. I will get the cherry tomatoes as well.
Hi gg:
It is a real pity these cucumber seeds are not available in retail. I have been in touch with Mr.Buta Singh of Namdhari seeds for many many years through e-mail. He is a very friendly person. He had recently put me in touch with a Dr.Reddy in their organisation. The latter sent all their beautiful catalogues but did not provide the retail rates. I sent him a number of mails explaining that I will need the retail price list but each time the response was a list talking of rates in thousands! Finally I gave up. Actually, I think they are far too busy with big things because after all they are the leaders in their field. May be if you meet Mr.Buta Singh or Dr.Reddy personally you might be able to convince them of the need to encourage hobby gardeners like us. I am in Delhi and therefore can not do this. If you succeed, please don’t forget poor me. And do give my regards to Mr.Buta Singh & Dr.Reddy. Regards & best wishes for a successful meeting at Namdhari!
Hello Satish, I totally agree with you on the situation. All the great varieties are exported and given bulk. They can’t be blamed either since there is not much market for these stuff esp with urban gardeners. The good thing is atleast the interest is now picking up. Thanks for the info you have given me. I will definitely try to get in touch with the gentlemen you mentioned and will sure convey your regards to them. Thanks for the effort you have taken.
and how is your garden coming along? send us some pictures. I am interested!.
Hi GG,
I am based in Delhi. I tried to grow many veggies from seeds but not much success. Only my green chilly plant is now about 3-4 inches long. Rest all including okra, tomato, brinjal all cudnt grow more than a seedling. I am so disappointed 🙁
But hasn’t given up. Its raining here these days so temp has come down. I had put seeds of ridge gourd and spinach in containers. 2 leaves seedlings has come. Pls guide me on how to proceed from now.
Also, what other veggies can I grow in this season ?
Are the seeds you sow, germinating? If so you need to find out what is the reason those plants don’t survive. It could be damping off. Get a good potting mix. or Mix your own by mixing 1:1:1 red soil, sand and compost. I will get back to you on the veggies you can grow this season.
Thanks for the reply GG. I prepared potting mix by adding red soil n compost in 1:1 ratio. Shall I do any change ?
The reason could be damping off as its raining a lot here these days. How do I tackle this prob ?
Can I grow coriander now ? Also, waiting for your list of veggies to grow for this season.
Red soil and compost 1:1 is good. You can also mix some sand to increase the drainage. Damp off can be controlled by using a good potting soil. By “good” I mean the mix that contains well decomposed manure/compost. Ensure good drainage. Make sure the seedlings are kept in a location that gets good sunlight and ventilation. You can grow coriander now. I will soon post for the month of Sept.
Hey!
I accidentally came across your blog…and what a delight it is! I have my own little haven in my balcony but always shied away from vegetable gardening as my belief was that you can’t grow them well in containers. and boy, does your blog prove me wrong! what I love about what you do is that fact that you are not using any fancy equipment or methodologies. I’ve read about 3 posts so far and am hooked! I am now going to regularly visit your blog for inspiration and tips.
btw, where do you get your supplies from? like rooting hormone, potting soil, perlite etc
cheers!
Thanks for the nice words and for visiting my blog too. For the gardening supplies, please refer to So you want to start a kitchen garden Part I.
See you around.
gg
Great work GG. My god I have never seen this sort of commitment for gardening in a man before. I have one or two plant crazy lady friends. But you are one in million. I did see a variety called cucumber barsati that looked like yours on biocarve website. Please tell me if it could be the same. I want to share with you my excitement. My hub was in the US for the last three months and though I specifically told him I need him to buy me seeds and nothing else… well. Anyways I got him to save some yellow and red bell pepper seeds from the grocery. Though many forums say they dont breed true I am plain excited that all of them have sprouted and I am getting dreams of yellow capsicums. I will be posting some of the updates next week. Bye till then.
I am getting all superlatives when I see your posts
Thanks for the nice words :). Truth is, I am quite bad in sticking to schedule and not have a constant yield from the garden. I took a look at the cucumber barsati in Biocarve website. It looks a LOT like european cucumber. But in other websites, I learn that Barsati is a local variety. I am quite confused as to what it is. I doubt it is european, because they are selling it quite cheap.
The seeds saved from Store bought peppers ( that too from US) will not come true to type. But who cares, I am sure it will be a capsicum. May be with some weird traits. Its a nice experiment. Do keep us all posted. Good to hear they have sprouted. Thanks again.
Thanks, GG for your response.
I do have 7-8 okhra plants, they continue to remain as stunted seedlings. Is it the problem of lack of sunlight we are witnessing in Bangalore?
I got a big harvest of sundaikai (Solanum torvum , turkey berry in english) . Is there anyway I can pass some to you? I rememer your mom telling me that she loves it.
Pls count me in if you are planning seed sharing. Do let me know how I can contribute too.
Regards
Meena K
Stunted seedlings? I think the soil is not fertile. Is it okra you are growing first in that soil or is it a second crop?. You might want to loosen it and add couple of handfuls of Manure. Sunlight we get is little less but still that is good enough.
Oh I love sundaikai(and my mom too) . So nice of you to offer. I can collect it from you next week sometime?
Definitely you are in for the seeds.
Hi GG:
You hit it right… it is second crop and I have not done the loosening of the soil. I just sowed the seeds straight. I plan to go to Lal bag , get some manure and will try it out.
I am only too happy to share the sundaikai with you … not many of my friends have a liking to it, including my family members! I will drop it , and some of my yellow pumpkin harvest too, at your place, sometime this week. Will keep in touch thru mail about this.
Regards
Meena K
It is essential to fortify the soil after every crop. Do try it out. It will take 10-15 days for the manure you add to take effect.
Glad to hear that. Its been a while I tasted sundaikai. Thank you so much .
Will PM you regarding this.
I am keenly awaiting the result of your meeting with Mr.Buta Singh and/or Dr.Reddy at Namdhari. It is so nice of you to take the trouble to try and arrange these seeds for all of us. Thanks a lot for remembering ‘my garden’! Well I have failures & successes to report. Bitter Gourd, Apple Gourd (Tinda), Sponge Gourd and Cucumber were massive disasters! People tell me it was because of the extended and intense summer in Delhi this year. I don’t know for sure. Okra was very successful & Bottle Gourd was simply tremendous— We had them hanging in clusters! I have something very strange to relate. For the rainy season, I sowed Hybrid Round Bottle Gourd seeds from NSC. Some of the seedlings were transplanted in the garden while some were later transplanted into sacks on the terrace. Lo and behold, the vines in the sacks are giving a continuous &bountiful harvest, while the ones in the garden are turning out to be dudes! I am still looking for an explanation for this. French beans are doing very well both in the garden and on the terrace. Have also sown seeds of Sem and Lab-lab beans from the Horticulture Dept. in Bangalore mostly in sacks & should be flowering shortly.. Have now sown seeds of the famous breed of Papaya (Pusa Nanhe) developed by the IARI at PUSA. I also planted bulbs of Rajni Gandha & various kinds of lilies and the Rajni Gandha is already blooming. I also sowed seeds of an indeterminate variety of tomatoes and have today transplanted the seedlings to the garden as well as to sacks on the terrace. Capsicum seedlings are ready to be transplanted. If nothing else, gardening has made me realise the plight of farmers! Only God knows when you will face a disaster and when you will be blessed with success. Please keep your fingers crossed particularly for my tomatoes and capsicums! At least to you I can pour my heart out. Thanks.
I am yet to meet them but I will definitely keep you posted about the meeting. Infact I will be more than happy to share how it all went :).
It is always interesting to take a peek at other’s garden and get inspiration from there. Good to hear that you had success with Okra and bottle gourd. I had an excellent batch of Okra and I have sown the next batch too.
Regarding the sack grown plant outperforming the landgrown one. It is surprising. I think it is to do with nutrients in that potting mix. Here, once I had this morning glory plant in a container that I took care so well. It did flower but they were very less in number. One seed somehow fell on the road side and grew into huge bush and bloomed like crazy. More than 100 flowers a day!. But your case is even more surprising.
Happy to hear that the sacks are working pretty well for you.
Totally agree with the plight of farmers. Its a gamble and only the middle men prosper.
Wish your tomatoes and capsicum give you a bountiful harvest.
Whenever you have something to say about your garden, I am all ears 🙂
Happy gardening. GG
Dear GG
Thanks a lot for sparing your precious time for replying my queries. Regarding problem with methi seeds, probably i was too anxious, after all i am an enthu spirit…………. I had planted both methi and palak at same time and palak germinated very fast while few methi seeds took their own sweet time. Slowly they are coming out. But lettuce has not germinated yet. Does it take long time? I had covered pots with plastic sheets after sowing the seeds(m-in-law’s suggestion). Of course it helped in speedy germination of Palak and few of methi seeds but btw is it a correct practice.
Inspired by your blog I have done sowing of tomato(normal and cherry), capsicum, green chilli, red small redish, cabbage, cauliflower and chu-chu brinjal. Hope the end result will be good. Now few queries to the expert-
1. I have put seeds of pea and french beans in wet tissue for germination. Is it a right way? If not then what’s the correct way? What should be the next step? Should I sow it in cocopeat mix once it starts germinating or before that . Is potting in cocpeat mix i.e. seedling tray is necessary or we can directly pot it in big pot from tissue.How many pea seeds in one 10″ dia pot? Please guide me.
2.I read on net that one has to use inoculant for pea plant for better yield. What is it called in common language? As mentioned in previous mail, i want to go fully organic. Can you pl suggest me an organic substitute of inoculant and how/when to use it.
3. In one of your post you have mentioned about compost tea. How to prepare it and when to use it?
4. Since I am not going to use chemicals(lets see for how long), when should i supply organic manure to my plants? especially my brinjals which have slowed down after one round of fruit.
5. One request- Can you ask Mr. Satish Dayal if he can share seedlings of pusa naneh with me.
6.I request you to pl share your special tips like removing tendons and leaves from cherry tomato plant, with your followers. It may be a small tip for you but a big help for us.
7. I have found a very good shop for all seeds and other garden requirements in Delhi. if any of your follower interested in knowing it.
Happy gardening!!!!
Hi GreenEnthu,
Good to hear all your seeds are coming out. Lettuce germinates in about 3-4 days. It shouldn’t take longer. Lettuce seeds need light to germinate. Don’t cover them with media( just barely cover them such that part of them are visible).
Covering the seed tray with polythene helps to keep the tray moist and not let it dry. This hastens the germination.
You dont have to really put them in wet tissue for germination. Just soak the seeds for 12 hours the previous night and sow them in their final container the next day. 1-2 plant per 10″ pot is good but not more than that.
There are several inoculants available. Rhizobium( nitrogen fixation in legumes), azospirillum, Phosphate solubilizing bacteria, VAM etc. For legumes, Rhizobium is usually recommended. It is present in the root nodules and converts the atmospheric nitrogen in to usable nitrogen for plants. If it is not available, dont worry. For garden purposes, inoculant is not really necessary.
Compost tea can be prepared by seeping a bag( around 500gm) of compost in water and fermenting aerobically. After two days, you can dilute it with water till it becomes straw colored solution and water the plants.
Use good amount well decomposed manure, bone meal and wood ash. These supply the necessary N, P and K.
Regarding Pusa Nanhe, Satish Dayal is a very nice person and he would be more than happy to share the information regarding where to get the same. I am sure he will respond to this.
I will write a seperate post/video on how to prune tomato plants.
Regarding the shop address, please do share as part of this comment. It will be very useful for people who are in search.
Happy gardening to you too.
gg
Hi gg:
Pardon me for asking but are you a psychologist by any chance? From the way you seem to be able to motivate and encourage people like me to take up and continue with gardening it really appears to be so!! It was really kind of you to show interest in pictures from my garden. I will mail some pictures of the bottle gourds hanging down in ‘clusters’. Next week I hope to be able to send pictures that are more interesting. After an intense summer Delhi is now experiencing really heavy rains. Actually this amount of water seems to be harmful for plants like tomatoes, capsicums and even gourds. That might be why I am getting a good harvest of round bottle gourd from plants in sacks on the terrace (because the water drains out easily) while the plants in the ground turned out to be dudes (presumably because of the water not draining out very well from the soil). Do you agree? Let’s hope sunshine will be there very soon and even the garden will give me a good harvest! I am curious about what Sundaikal is. Can you please describe it? Thanks in advance.
Ha ha. I wish I was a psychologist.Especially plant psychologist. So I wouldn’t have problem understanding them. Most of the inspiration comes from looking at others garden.. ( should I call jealous. Esp after looking at your lauki yield).
Drainage could be another reason too. NOthing like a good shower of rains for the plants that too after a harsh summer.
Sundaikai is a berry from a plant that belongs to the same family as tomato. Its called Solanum Torvum.Its leaves and flowers are similar to Eggplant’s. The berries are cooked as vegetable and taste so good.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_torvum
gg
Sir
I had a nature blog. I had tagged your great works in that . Pls have a look and wishing you all the success in your works
Aswathi,
Thanks for the taking the time to tag and link back to my blog. I appreciate your effort. Thanks for your wishes.
You have a nice blog.
Happy gardening.
Dear GG
You are really doing a great job as far as motivation is concerned. Haven’t tried sowing lettuce seeds. Waiting for rains to go. May be it also wants to enjoy CWG thats why its so persistent this year.
I found this shop in Yashwant Place(Chankyapuri)Agrosy, shop no. 97 a good place to get every thing except seedlings, tele. no. 24107722. But unfortunately, they don’t have inoculants. I am trying to contact bio fertilizer companies. You are right we don’t need them in small gardening, but just curious to see their effects on plants.Have you tried them ?
Waiting for your next blog………….
Happy gardening!!
Green enthu
Thanks for sharing the information regarding the shop. Very useful for people hunting for such stuff.
I appreciate your curiosity. Hope I didn’t sound like a buzzkill when I said we dont need inoculants for home gardening. Do keep trying. I have used Phosphate solubilizing bacteria and Trichoderma viride. I couldn’t concretely show that increase in the yield because of the usage. I think its much more obvious in large field conditions.
Again, I appreciate your passion and keep trying new things.. and enlighten us also 😀
GG
Hi gg:
Its so very nice of you to say you are jealous of success with ‘laukis’!! I am very sure you are saying this just to make me happy while actually you are very happy at the sight of the green ‘laukis’ I grew and not at all ‘green’ with jealousy yourself! I am also very certain that you share my dismay at the many failures that I have encountered in gardening (probably like anyone else!). Thanks also for the very ‘nice’ comments about me in your reply to “green enthu”—or was it the psychiatrist in you peeping out again? Please permit me to send the following message as a sub-text: Hi “green enthu”: Will be happy to provide you with some seeds of “Pusa Nanhe”. Please let me know how many you need and mention your location. I will send the seeds to you. Regards. Satish. Back to you gg: I continue to have repeated failures in my attempts to grow seedlings of the cruciferous plants. They always get lanky and just fall over. The last attempt I made was in seedling trays. In the same tray I had sown Eggplant seeds as well as those of Red Cabbage & Broccoli. The Eggplant seedlings are doing very well while almost all the others have fallen over. They seem to be growing too fast to bear their own weight!In this last attempt, I had also put a little Bavistin in the water used (to discount the possibility of ‘damping off’) and covered the tray with a ‘canopy’ that I made out of rigid polyester sheet (the material that is used as an insulator in motor windings). Will send you a picture. I am at my wits’ end! Unable to think of anything else, I have now sown some seeds in just cocospeat WITHOUT any kind of manure. Can someone help?
I am really impressed with the yield you are getting. A sight of laukis hanging around is so inspiring that any one will start taking gardening. You got it right. I am really happy for the laukis.
Thanks for the response to GreenEnthu. Nice gesture.
Ok. Coming to the problem with cruciferous plants. You are sowing them in cell trays right. How big are those cells. Is it the 98 cell tray?. Usually when the seedlings have 2 true leaves, you can transplant them into a bigger pot(intermediate). They grow in that for about 20 days or so. In one month from the date of sowing they are ready for transplant into their final pot.
Cauliflower grows little taller when they are seedlings and saturate at about 6-8 inches.They do have a little lengthy stem. I will send out some pics soon of the cabbages/cauliflowers i am growing.
When you transplant the cauliflower plant, plant it a little deeper so that most of its tall stem is buried. This makes it strong and doesn’t let it break during wind.
Hope this helps. Wishing that your next transplant goes very well.
Good to see your mail and great Forum with its highly informative contents of different veggies.
Are all these pics of European cucumbers grown in pots only as is visible from first two of them? I would like to have some seeds. Please tell me how to send money. Thanks
GLB
Yes GLB.
All the cucumbers came from those plants in Pots. I will let you know once I get the seeds and I will also tell you about the payment option.
GG
Great reading forum. i live in Coimbatore, and an avid gardner, currently have a crop of IAHS indeterminate Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Okara,capcicum, some varities of greens etc.
it was impressive – your experiences with European cucumbers. i have gone through the same travails in trying to get specific varities of seeds. would really be interested in some seeds of the european cucumber. do count me in when you consolidate your seed requiremwnts. will share the costs too. thanks.
EAD
Hi Alfred,
Thanks for stopping by. Its nice to hear that you are having a crop. Your experience will be of great help and learning to many of us. I will definitely add you to the list I have.
Please feel free to share your experiences and also participate in forums.
GG
Hi gg: Somehow I have been feeling a little ‘disoriented’ since you ‘moved’!! Am I very wrong if I say that this might have happened to some others too? Like for instance, remember “Green Enthu” who had wanted Papaya seeds from me? After I offered to deliver, he just sort of disappeared around the time you ‘moved’. Something else I feel a little confused about is the fact that each of your posts is so immensely interesting that one wishes to sort of discuss ‘this or that’ in each blog! Why is it not possible to have a common ‘column’ where one could seek your advice regarding any of your posts or even share some ‘experience information’ in connection with any or all of your posts. Please do think about it. While writing this I am remembering your offer in another post to provide sowing information about other areas if required. Is it OK to sow the various gourds in Delhi in November? I sowed Zuchini last month and its doing fine. Another request: any progress on the European Cucumber seeds with NS? See what I mean? So many things I want to talk to you about but find a little ‘confusing’ to be jumping from one post to another! I am sure your ingenuity will find a solution for us ordinary mortals. Regards.
Hello Satish,
I was almost gonna write an email to you asking if things are ok. We were missing you here. Thank you so much for the feedback. You are not wrong about the disorientation.
Here is what happened.
Before I was using wordpress.com free hosting. It was free, at the same time. There wasn’t much freedom in terms of improving interaction. The only way was comments.
For every posts, there were many subscribers for comments. This means whenever a comment is posted/replied to, they get a notification. The subscriber comes back and reads the answer/reply. Different people subscribed to different posts’s comments. Unfortunately wordpress.com was not ready to disclose the email ids of subscriber who were subscribed to comments of differnt posts.
Now that particular information is lost. Hence no one gets notified when a particular comment is posted.
Hence I created the feed http://feeds.feedburner.com/CommentsForGeekgardener so that people get notified whenever there is acomment.
I also made sure thatafter the move people can subscribe for comments and get notified when a new comment is posted for a particular post.
For your questions regarding a single place for discussion related to a particular post or common to all the posts, I have created a Forum topic called “Blog posts” under general category.
Every time a new post is written, a new topic gets added with the same name of the post. This way every one gets to participate and answer too.
If a particular question is attached to a post, that can be raised in the topic alloted to that post. If not there is a general topic(I will create this shortlY) that is applicable to all posts.
In short,I am creating one forum for asking any question related to any posts. Another posts specific for questions related to that post.
I agree there is lot of jumping around. To some extent I will try to reduce it. New gardeners who just find this site, might find it easy if I categorized the content. Atleast thats what I thought.
Regarding European cucumber, I will send you an email with the progress.
I remember the sowing calendar and I am working on it.
Thanks a lot again for taking the time to write. It will really improve the usability of the site.
Feel free to voice out. I am all ears 🙂
( i will send an email to you and greenenthu again).
Thanks
GG
I seemed to have missed this post. Wonderful post and as usual you seem to have kindled the interest of so many people including me!! Count me in for the seeds if it is not too late.
Hi GG,
The plants i bought from are you coming around good. the European cuccumbers have germinated.
They have a single true leaf. How long before i transplant them into the ground?
Good to hear that. Rarely I get updates on plants that people got from me. Transplant them when they have 2 true leaves.
Where did u get these seeds from?i enqiured in lalbagh and in majestic.Hard luck,they dont have any.Do u have anymore left now?Please PM me.I will collect it frm ypur house.I live in VB Layout itself
Drop by sometime on weekends.
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Hey GG.. what was the container size you used for this cucumber?
Will a 12 inch pot do???
more than enough