Felt the cukes were getting kinda stretched, so gave them a light. And 2 days later, gave them another light and full-sized pots. They're young yet, but I decided to germinate some peas, you see... So they got final pots when the peas had roots starting to extend.

Really responded fast to the additional CFL lighting.

Prepared the pots pretty carefully - Miracle Gro potting mixed, with Vegetables Alive! plant food and hydroton grow rocks and perlite mixed in.

The peas got legume innoculant. They're supposedly edible-podded, but we didn't care for the pods. The peas were great, tho... I've had really dire luck getting peas to germinate. Seem to always plant them right before an unexpected blizzard or 10" of rain. This time, soaked the seeds in water until plump - about 8 hours. Then rinsed them ~5 times a day for 2 days - never let them get dry, but not soaking in water either. And their roots started articulating. Then planted them - outdoors and in. (Some of the outdoor ones were sugar snap peas.) In an average winter, the ones outdoors probably don't have time to produce. But, Connecticut's autumns tend to be balmy, and sometimes the winters are mild. They might yield. Probably won't.

Oh, the second Socrates cuke seed did germinate eventually, but like 5 days after the first. It got thinned.

Cukes doing very well. Added a third light bulb. Also as per the seed packet instructions, pinched off side growth tufts and little forming cukes up to the 5th node on the Socrates cuke. (Some on the Tasty Jade as well, but those haven't really formed yet.) Not sure about this, since I don't plan to train the plants up. But, should at least result in a stronger plant before developing first fruit.

My one concern with the cukes is yellow-edged leaves. Hopefully that's from over-watering, since I can't imagine they're nutrient deficient in anything at this stage of the game. Though... I haven't really been overwatering. But they're not drinking much yet.

The peas are doing well. For comparison, the outdoor peas (of the same variety) are half the size. Oddly, the sugar snap peas planted outside are the same size as these. Good pea growing weather... I'm still really pleased with the results of pre-germinating the peas. Just sticking them in the ground, some small percentage would just be emerging now - or a week or so from now...

Still no cukes plumping. Getting pretty crowded in the cuke enclosure, the peas have been swallowed.

Beth - thanks for the comment, you inspired me. I rearranged the cuke furniture so the superstructure counter is between the pots (about same height as the pots), and the cuke plants spread out across that. And added another light. This way the cukes aren't coiled over the peas. More light volume, if not light density...

Getting to be quite a few little Socrates cukes on that vine, none convincingly plumping yet. The jet star is behind, but then, it grows bigger fruit. And I did burn off its growing tip - bit of a setback.

First cuke harvest - at 7 weeks from seed! I like these Socrates cukes very much! Ate a second one last night (picked somewhat bigger.) None of the Tasty Jade cukes are really plumping yet, and the plant is putting out a lot of male flowers. Beth suggested once that means the plant is stressed. Feeding both cuke pots some Miracid, since that always seems to make them happier. Tried pollinating a few of the Tasty Jades with one of the male flowers, just to see what happens.

The peas aren't doing so well - overgrown with cucumber, and their leaves seem to die quickly if shaded. Their outdoor siblings still look healthy, though now getting frosted every night. These conditions won't kill them, but I'm not sure they'll bear fruit that way.

Beth - nope, the Socrates are female-only. And I don't think any of the male flowers are on that plant, just the Tasty Jade. The Socrates description is another cool-weather cuke - grows best from 50 to 80 degrees. And the fruits look just like the cello-wrapped mini-cucumber 6-packs I buy in the supermarket, that are grown all winter in Ontario.

If I grew winter vegetables in Ontario, I'd like one that grew well under cool conditions. And in a window in my house in winter, 70 degrees is brief accident of afternoon sunlight.

Interesting about the seeds. You think Johnny's might be falling down a bit on their quality?

8 cukes harvested so far, including two tasty jades now. Yum. All cukes delicious, but we slightly prefer the Socrates. It has a more pronounced cucumber aroma with slightly stronger flavor. It also yields single-serve cukes more often, which is handy. But it's great having both. Will probably declare the first pea pod "done" within a couple days.

The weather's still pretty mild - frequent daytime highs up to the 60's. And light frosts don't kill peas. Still haven't flowered outside, though.

Beth - I've quit pollinating now (have no male flowers anymore...), and the Jade seems to be developing a few more cukes. Fingers crossed that the new ones will taste better! The seeds got pretty big in the pollinated fruit.

Still shabby looking of course, but yielded another 5 cukes this week. There are baby cukes everywhere, but only some fraction of them will grow. It got really cold a couple nights this week (13F, -3F with wind chill - that's -11C, -20C with wind chill), and it's cool in that window. But the cukes did fine. And there's more sun every day now...

I think the negative temperatures are why Americans are so resistant to Celsius. Somehow 13 degrees sounds ever so much more pleasant than -11.

No cukes harvested this week - they're developing too many in parallel. Quite a few on board. And no hand-pollinating - the Tasty Jades really do taste much better unpollinated!

Oh, cukes! I was going to say - the tasty jades have been much better tasting lately! Like, it's surprising to notice a distinct difference in cucumber flavor from a vegetable one ate weeks ago, but it really shows up. Not sure which change caused this, but I suspect the renewal dose of Vegetables Alive! fertilizer. The plants still look mangey. But producing a lot of great-tasting cukes.

MirAcid makes the plants look less mangey. But doesn't improve the fruit so much.

Another 2 cukes this week. I may have left a couple Tasty Jades on the vine too long - hope it doesn't stop producing. Though these have already been growing quite a while, for cukes. I wonder how long I can spin it out?