By Peat
Cucumbers Grown in the AeroGarden?
Submitted on Fri, 2008/11/14 - 12:26pm
Last updated on Sat, 2009/05/02 - 3:23am
Posted in
Gisette, this is just for you, and to satisfy my own curiosity...
I'm going to stall the Classic Re-Design where I intended to trial the AG6 pods out. I only have two AG's (one is currently full of tomatoes) and want to try this cucumber experiment over the pods. I will come back to this after.
I am aware that cucumbers grow tall, I therefore have no idea how this will turn out...
The cucumbers I will plant are these: Thompson & Morgan Zeina F1 Hybrid
They produce mini cucumbers and are all female, so there will be no pollinating to do. I will plant these tonight, they will be grown using the GH hydroponic nutrients. To save them becoming too tall, I will pinch out the growing tip when they have outgrown my Classic.
I will plant this one seed into an AG6 pod filled with rockwool. My Classic will not have a water pump, instead I will grow this using my air stone and air pump.
Cucumbers Harvested up to 2nd May 2009 - End of project.
22 Weeks of Growth - 10 
Photo Snippets
Weekly Grow Pictures
(6 votes)
Fri, 2008/11/14 - 12:39pm
#2
They are expensive because they are all female.
I have one left in the seed packet, I will plant him and devote the entire AG over to it - it's going to get big!
Fri, 2008/11/14 - 1:48pm
#3
Nice, Peat. I'll be curious too. How are you going to keep the temp high enough to germinate, a heating pad or such?
Fri, 2008/11/14 - 2:07pm
#4
Cukes will germinate at 55 degrees or so. They just germinate twice as fast at 65 degrees (about 6 days), and double again by 85 degrees (about 3 days). (According to The Square Foot Gardener, 1rst edition - my only gardening reference book.) In any case, home ambient temperature is enough.
Fri, 2008/11/14 - 3:20pm
#5
Bruce, I have already grown these cucumbers from seed... www.aerogardenmastery.com/drupal/content/cucumbers-zucchini
As I have already been there with these seeds, I'm happy that I can get these to grow well. It's just the height problem that's going to be tricky.
Sat, 2008/11/15 - 1:29pm
#6
The cucumber is now planted...
As I have said, I am now using an AG6 type pod in my Classic. I have used two cubes of rockwool, the bottom one was slightly trimmed to fit in the tapered end.
They are being fed GH nutrients: Seedling Stage, Flora Micro 2.1mL, Flora Grow 2.1mL, Flora Bloom 2.1mL (all per 3.2 litres), pH is 6.0, EC (after adjustment by adding more water) is 0.8
Two pieces of Rockwool... And placed in the AG6 pod
Here is the Classic, I have planted only one seed. The open holes have had silver reflective foil placed over them to keep out the light - to stop algae growth.
And the AG6 pod in the nutrients with my bubbler system.
I will have to watch the water level with the AG6 pod. The AeroGarden 'low water' light comes on after the AG6 pod is well clear of the water - it will therefore sit above the water line unless I check it frequently. The whole idea of this is that the pod remains in the water all the time, the water is sucked up by capillary action to feed the seed/plant. Once the roots have grown out of the rockwool and into the water, it won't be a problem anymore - the pod could then happily remain outside the water all the time.
Sat, 2008/11/15 - 4:40pm
#7
Nice photography, Peat - loved the bubbles.
Interesting. Your seedling stage nute solution is much stronger than I used. I think I went by the Flora bottles - they said 1/4 teaspoon each (~1 ml) per gallon. I wonder if that's why my amaranth seedlings have gotten pretty much nowhere by 2 weeks after planting. Eh. I'm about to toss 'em anyway as a loss, can't hurt to enrich their soup, I guess. 
Sat, 2008/11/15 - 4:50pm
#8
Every single AG grow I have done (lettuce, tomatoes, herbs), I have always started them off with equal 2.1mL and an EC of 0.8, adjusted down by extra water of course.
They have always grown great, no point in changing a winning formula. 
The 1mL a gallon does seem a bit weak...
If you are going to throw them, it won't hurt for one last attempt eh? Good luck with this.
Sat, 2008/11/15 - 4:59pm
#9
Thanks!
Tue, 2008/11/18 - 12:03am
#10
Just read my latest Aerogrow catalog. To my amazement, the description of the Aerogarden 6 Elite+ said that you could grow English cucumbers. How surprisingly specific... and not one of the first dozen varieties of cuke I would have guessed for 2' headroom. 
English cucumbers are like 15" long...
They never did mention whether the new Mega Cherry Tomatoes kit (3x volume per tomato as regular cherry tomato kit, and 6-7 months bearing, but 2 plants), includes the booster nutrients they're now selling to go with plants grown in the higher-light Deluxe/Pro200/6Elite+. Though my peppers needed nutrient boosting above the AG Large tablets, even in the pro100.
They also sell the red&black AG3 sans ladybug decals. 
Tue, 2008/11/18 - 12:45pm
#11
I think 
is the operative word here. My cucumber is over 6 feet tall, and it's a mini variety. How are they going to get cucumbers growing in an AG6 Elite + ?
Are there English dwarf varieties out there that will fit, I'm a little skeptical of this claim... But, if I can see it done, then I will take it all back. 
Tue, 2008/11/18 - 1:54pm
#12
Yeah. They also picture zucchini and yellow crookneck squash on their Master Gardener kit boxes, and always have. But - how oddly specific.
I'm really looking forward to your results! Has it sprouted yet?
Wed, 2008/11/19 - 12:44pm
#13
Not yet, germination is 7 to 10 days - 7 days is up on Saturday.
I looked back on my first grow with this, about one week into the planting I had roots in the water. I think it will have a little more trouble this time round, the rockwool is sort of packed in the AG6 pod. Not as loose as it perhaps should be... We shall see.
Sat, 2008/11/22 - 6:08am
#14
Hmm, where is that seedling? Still no sign of it...
I'll give it another seven days and then have a look inside the rockwool. 
Sat, 2008/11/22 - 1:17pm
#15
Huh. Good luck! 
That was your last cuke seed too, wasn't it?
Sun, 2008/11/23 - 12:04pm
#16
It was my last seed...
But, I ordered another packet of six yesterday. I'm determined to get this cucumber grown, the last remaining seed was a little on the old side so I'm assuming this is the problem. I'm happy that the rockwool is wicking the water, and I know my nutes are right from past experience.
Sat, 2008/11/29 - 6:02am
#17
Two weeks today, still no sign of the seedling?
I pulled apart the rockwool and nothing has happened to the seed, no growth whatsoever - looks like a dud seed, which is annoying as they aren't cheap!
My new packet of seeds arrived yesterday, I planted another one today...
Sat, 2008/11/29 - 12:22pm
#18
Aw, that is disappointing, Peat - two weeks, no net forward movement. 
Good luck with the new seed!
Mon, 2008/12/01 - 2:47pm
#19
That's more like it. 
The seedling is already up and out of my rockwool, planted Saturday and poking through today (Monday). Not bad seeing as the germination period is 7 to 10 days!
Also, the roots are forming nicely. They are growing well out of the rockwool and are nearly in the water - I will take a picture next Saturday, after one weeks growth.
I suppose I will now have to turn my mind to seeing how I can get my Classic hood a little higher, I'm thinking of some sort of extension tubing that can go inbetween... I would like to get the plant bigger than the current limit imposed on it by my Classic, it's going to be a dwarf cucumber as it is; I don't want a bonsai cucumber!
Mon, 2008/12/01 - 3:08pm
#20
Yay! Cuke germination times are temperature-dependent. 7-10 days would be reasonable sticking it in the ground in late spring. But you'd expect ~3 days at room temps. But you beat even that!
You know... there's height, but then there's volume of space getting enough light. My Deluxe has height... but I'm not even keeping it at max height, instead pruning the peppers to keep them at their current height. Because the lower leaves don't get enough light. (Pepper leaves block more light more than cuke leaves, though) Anyway, cucumbers are not inherently vertical - they vine and splay. But they need light at the growing leaves. Point being, I'm not sure more height will do so much good as a coiling strategy, or side-lights? Just a thought.
Mon, 2008/12/01 - 3:24pm
#21
This grow is going to be tricky, the leaves on my previous grow got large - very large... I did consider letting it sprawl, but then decided to grow it tall.
I was going for a vertical cucumber, staked/tied up as necessary during it's upwards thrust. The AG is by my window, so there will be some (dim), winter light. I thought that I would get it as tall a possible before pinching out the growing tips and stunting it, I wanted it as high as I could get it before doing this; there would be more plant then to develop more cucumbers at the leaf intersections.
Thanks for the help. Unfortunately I don't have any proper side lights so I will have to rely on the AG bulbs, if it does not work out how I wanted, then I do have 4 seeds left to try another idea...
Mon, 2008/12/01 - 3:57pm
#22
Ah.
FWIW, you know cucumbers grow side vines if you pinch the growing tip, right? You've grown this variety before - how long is the interleaf vine length, do you recall?
Mon, 2008/12/01 - 4:06pm
#23
I don't think it was that long. Once I pinched out, at approx. 6ft before, the cucumbers grew at the leaf intersections. They were not very long at all - the cucumbers grew, and formed, pretty much straight out of the intersections.
This is only the second time I have grown cucumbers, I'm not an expert unfortunately. Oh, the original pot grown one is now dead , I cut the plant down last week.
Mon, 2008/12/01 - 4:11pm
#24
Huh. Sounds like a very different vine structure than the cuke varieties I'm used to.
Mon, 2008/12/01 - 4:17pm
#25
This is a picture of my original grow, you can see the cucumbers forming straight out of the leaf intersections. Is this different to the ones you know?
Mon, 2008/12/01 - 4:27pm
#26
Um, I think so, yeah. On all the regular-type 2-sex cucumber plants I've grown, picture a leaf/fruit/vine section unit. At a growing tip, a kind of tiny bouquet tuft forms, of male & female flower buds, and leaves. This next-segment-to-be then grows out to a certain distance from the previous intersection, the incipient leaves and flowers unfold, and the segment grows a new grow-tip-tuft. It's not really that the flowers are growing at a leaf intersection. It's that flower-leaf-vine-segment unit is all created in the grow-tip, then expands. Repeat forever. This matters, in that no future flowers seem to be added at that node - they were all created while still in growth tip. A new vine shoot can grow from an intersection, though. A new vine shoot being another leaf-flower-vine-unit tuft.
Did that make any sense at all?
Mon, 2008/12/01 - 4:36pm
#27
Yep, that makes perfect sense - thanks.
I remember getting a little bouquet of cucumbers forming on mine, they evolved from the intersections of the leaves themselves. Mine did not grow anymore leaves, just cucumbers. However, near the twilight of my plants life, tiny leaves started to form from these intersections. The plant then promptly died!
I did not have chance to see the ultimate outcome of this grow, I'm hoping I will with this one...
Tue, 2008/12/02 - 6:26pm
#28
The fast growth continues... The dome was removed this evening, the cucumber plant has grown so quick that it had filled the dome with it's cotyledon leaves. It's quite astonishing how quickly this plant is shooting up.
OK, I could not resist a little picture. Planted Saturday afternoon, picture taken Tuesday morning!
Tue, 2008/12/02 - 6:39pm
#29
Yay! Happy little plant! Let's hope it keeps growing fast. When I grow 'em outside, it seems like it takes a month and a half to grow the first 8 inches. Then suddenly - can tack on two or three whole new foot long vine unit segments per week. I've never been sure whether it just took that long gathering momentum, or they just waited for enough heat to take off. They do like it warm. Though perhaps the the all-female plants do fine with cooler temps?
Sat, 2008/12/06 - 2:22pm
#30
Week 1
The first week, the cucumber is growing pretty good. The second set of leaves are starting to form and the roots have firmly established themselves in the aerated water. It's time to step up the feeding for a stronger mix.
Vegetative Phase (Mild Growth): Flora Micro 4.2ml, Flora Grow 8.5ml, Flora Bloom 4.2ml (all per 3.2 litres, the AG capacity). The EC has been adjusted to 1.6 and the pH is at 6.3
Week 1
Week 1 Roots
Yay!
I wish you every success!
Wow, those are expensive seeds! Pretty cukes, though!