Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A cucumber, probably the last.

small cucumber, 
probably the last.

small cucumber, 
flower at the tip is drying up.

mutilated leaves.
 The beetles have been chewing at will, 
but luckily they don't get close to the growing cucumber.
I guess the skin and the hairs of baby cucumber 
must have insect repellent properties.


So far three has been harvested. This particular one is the fourth. It does exhibit youthful look, hairy shining green. But the leaves are in such sorry state, mutilated by brown beetles. They could be friendly pest to the point of helping pollination, but their chewing habit is a little bit too much. One could argue, even that chewing habit is positive in nature, because they help to reduce the number of leaves. Therefore food can go to the development of fruits rather than maintaining a luxurious set of leaves. But the torn and mutilated leaves are not pretty sight.

could that cucumber be the last?

bangchik

18 comments:

  1. We've just hravested our first cucumber - lovely and crunchy

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  2. aloha,

    hope it comes up soon so you can harvest it before the bugs do :)

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  3. Good luck to you and your little cucumber! And I hope it's not the last!!!

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  4. ~Green lane allotments.
    The first cucumber is always the best because it comes with the climax of expectation after waiting so long. Hope your plants keep producing crunchy cucumbers.

    ~noel.
    So far bugs stay away from the fruits. I hope there are still leaves around for them to bite, before they turn to the fruit.

    ~kimberly.
    I don't normally wait for the plants to take the last breath. I probably pull out the life-line if the damage is too excessive. I hope that cucumber will end up on dinner plate soon...

    Cheers,
    Bangchik

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  5. oh I hope not the last cucumber for you. I can understand how you feel about the leaves. My canna leaves were chewed by grasshopper (!) and look awful after that ;-(

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  6. What a cute little cucumber. I sure hope you get more. I like your positive thinking that the beetles are getting rid of the extra leaves :)

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  7. You're really a positive thinker! I just get annoyed when i see pest testing their teeth on my plants!

    Hope the cucumber will end up as side dish for nasi lemak again!

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  8. Maybe yes maybe not...But hopefully more baby cucumber will pop up soon

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  9. I read that we can make our own natural pest control liquid but we need to be tough because it requires squishing dead a huge bunch of the pests and mixing their leftovers with water then we strain the mixture and spray the liquid on the plant. I can't do it - don't have the stomach!

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  10. If it is gone, you can make it coming back again.

    You are a good gardener.

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  11. ~Stephanie.
    I do hope that will not be the last. I also am hoping that little cucumber has enough time to get bigger for breakfast before the eventual fate take over.

    ~Catherine.
    I am looking for something good in a very unpleasant situation. A couple of songs use the phrase "Every cloud has a silver lining" which share the same sentiment.
    Hold me close~ David Essex
    King without a crown~ ABC
    Dream On~ Dream Street
    Amazona~ Roxy Music
    Smile~ Supernaturals

    ~Malar
    Of course we will get very annoyed to see pests having lunch on our treasured leaves. But who should claim ownership over leaves?.. haha..

    ~malaykadazangirl
    I do hope they survive through this ordeal... being stripped naked by bugs.

    ~ismailN
    Huh, I have not tried that yet. I tried once with leftover papaya and vegetables. Not too bad, but the fermentation was too long, 3 months!

    ~rainfield
    Yea, I wish I can will them to hold on and keep growing, and whisper that this is just temporary setback.... and the poor plants may just reply back. "germinate new seeds"....

    Cheers
    ~bangchik

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  12. I hope your cucumbers continue producing in spite of the tattered leaves.

    Our first cucumber plants were cut off by cutworms, and the second set is still too small to produce. This year I direct-sowed the first seeds. Next year I will definitely start them indoors and let them get big enough to avoid the cutworms, as I did last year, and the second time this year.

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  13. I have the same problem with beetles eating the leaves of my bitter gourd. But the beetle is orange in colour. They have eaten the leaves of my young seedlings plants and you are right, it is not a pretty sight!

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  14. ~garden Girl.
    I have strong feeling, I am going to lose baby cucumber. I may lose the whole plant judging by the general look of the plant. End is nearing I think. yea, you should babysit them indoor first....

    ~Kitchen Flavours
    On bittergourds I am lucky, they are safe for now.

    Cheers
    ~bangchik

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  15. I am sorry for the fate of your cucumber, getting only 3-4 fruits per tree is tantamount to saying the farmer lost. But the gardener in you still profited, i am sure, because of the non-monetary rewards you got.

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    Replies
    1. It's all about fun..... the joy of gardening is equivalent to riding a big RM250K motorbike, or spending a day playing golf or breaking waves with RM2 million yatch. Gardening is cheapest.....

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  16. Hi,I have a cucumber flower like your first 2 pictures,the baby cucumber at base is like that and the flower seems drying up.does it mean that flower is already pollinated?how to tell if pollinated or not?should I manually pollinate it?a few other female flowers opened!some closed

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  17. Somehow cucumber like bittergourd has lot of male flowers to ensure pollination. In fact I never pollinate manually........ Yes, the flower at the tip will slowly dry up as the cucumber set and grow.

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