cucumber in english, timun in malay.

The trellis is ready, six cucumber seedlings had come up to the fourth leaves. Everything seems set for another adventure with cucumber. The seeds were given last month by Azwar an old friend.

trellis for cucumber

Then we had to be away for two days, attending Yop's convocation in Bangi.  Losing seedlings at that stage is going to be heartbreaking, and to make it worse, our neighbour Syed had to be away too.  So we decided to temporarily put them in the bathroom. We were back on Sunday 4th November 2012, what a relief, they looked alright.

bangchik and kakdah

pasir gudang johor

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

Two more cucumbers showing.

the shoot and the flower

a bee

 and cucumber male flower

a bee 

sucking nectar

the tiny one

with flower still fresh and intact

The bigger one
Slightly bent cucumber.
I guess it will straighten up a little bit as the fruit gets bigger and heavier.

There are two cucumber plants sharing the trellis. The first plant has produced a lovely cucumber which has been consumed with nasi lemak as breakfast. Now the second plant is taking it's turn. Two cucumbers are showing up. But the first plant is still finding its old rhythm to produce cucumbers....

I just add organic fertilizer to the plants in the form of poultry pellets, after a light fluffing of the soil. I hope the roots are not disturbed too much. I read somewhere about fluffing; even though some roots will be disturbed,  but more new and fresh roots will be produced to take advantage of the additional fertilizer.

bangchik

Breakfast with our first Cucumber

cucumber, pandan leaves, lemon grass and ginger
all from the little vegetable garden

another view

another view

still another view

still another view

cucumber sliced.

Nasi Lemak.
rice, slices of cucumber, boiled egg, ikan bilis, and sambal.

and a cup of coffee to flush it down.

That is the first cucumber from the two plant.
It ends on breakfast table as add-on for local delicacy nasi lemak.
I can see new baby cucumbers on the trellis,
and there will be more nasi lemak for breakfast later....

Click these for more info about nasi lemak
Norlia: Recipe for Nasi Lemak 
Malaysian food: Nasi Lemak recipe on MalaysianFood.net
Kuali: Nasi Lemak - The Star Online - Kuali, Malaysia Recipes  

Happy Gardening

~bangchik 

Cucumber ready to be plucked

trellis for the cucumber
the tall papaya has gone with cut stems at the far end.

the cucumber

close-up of cucumber.
The rough skin eventually smoothens itself
as the fruit inches towards maturity

The leaves lack the smoothness and exotic look of bitter gourds even though they seem to share the same family line. Beetles love to crawl along the leaves and bite the edges. It must be tasty to them. I tried to get rid of them once, but new ones come to replace. I saw them getting into the flower as well. They probably suck the nectar like bees. For the moment I consider them helping with pollination and therefore friendly beetles . A click here [Taxation on cucumber] will bring you to the earlier post dated 15th June 2010 on those beetles.

The plant must be pumping water to fill up the ever increasing cucumber. It is said that cucumber is 90% water. The cucumber seems to be gaining size each day. Judging by the length and size, the cucumber is about to be cut and sliced into lovely salad for nasi lemak.  Just wait...

The first cucumber

The first cucumber shows up,
tiny fruit with flower at the end.
The spiky surface would probably protect it for a while against intruders
before it balloons up into a nice baton shape.

To see little fruit
coming out is a joy.

Taxation on cucumber.

our cucumber plants

The two plants are growing at a reasonable pace.  The leaves are big and very green. We have cucumbers sowed and planted concurrently with bitter gourds. But bitter gourds are well ahead. Now little bugs are coming in for a feast on slow growing cucumber. They start off from the edges. I wish I know their name...

 bugs on cucumber leaves

they work outside in....

nature 

has imposed taxation 

on cucumber leaves

bangchik

cucumber: reaching the top

the shoots are now at the top of the trellis

Fashionable Tendrils of cucumbers and gourds

Cucumber: The growth, leaves and stems

They are now coming to the 6th leaves. Three plants grow at different rate, each is distinct and different. They love the morning light, therefore there is a general tendency for the shoots to lean towards the east. The third seedlings died. I don't know why, possibly injury at transplanting. I am placing a cover acting as sunblock to these poor little seedlings. And now they showing real zest to continue growing.

the curl is ready to cling to anything.
(an older photo )

 cucumber 1

 cucumber 2

grasshoppers are testing their teeth with the earlier leaves.

edging

banana stem used as edging

 today's photo of cucumber

I am really surprised at the ability of cucumber to reach out and hold the trellis. An acrobatic move indeed shown by the tendrils...

bangchik

putrajaya malaysia

Cucumber; differentiating the leaves

There were three cucumber seedlings to start with, now left with two. The third decided to wilt and die a week ago. I am getting at how leaves take its true form at the second pair, while the baby leaves, the one emerging from the cotyledon remains cute, tough and thick.

Cucumber seems to be cousin of bitter gourd, judging by the leaves, and their very familiar yellow flower.

bangchik

Cucumber: on beds and trellis

I have to admit, growing new plants always comes with enthusiasm and anxiety. I don't think I ever see real cucumber plants growing. Then I search through, to get a fair idea how to handle cucumber. The notes are placed at the bottom of the post, and my adventure is in italic.

 that trellis is meant for cucumber. Photograph was taken 

immediately after the bamboos were staked down 

on the 12th of May 2010.
Lilies at the front end, and kadok or Piper sarmentosum
at the side. And containers alongside the house

Vegetable bed: soil and moisture

I spend an hour or two to get the bed ready. The spot was formerly filled up by ulam raja, and bitter gourd before that. While working out the soil to a depth of about 8 inches, I notice roots belonging to the nearby papaya and banana. Growing plants, digging and fluffing the soil allow us to recognize roots. I put the size of bed as 3x6 feet. The soil is healthy looking with lots of worms, creating tunnels and leaving their poo on the surface. I added goat's poo as fertilizer. It is said, that cucumbers can be grown on any soil type that has a high water-holding capacity and good drainage with a pH range of 5.5 to 7.0. The garden soil has good proportion of humus and clay, therefore water holding shouldn't be a problem. Being raised by about 5 inches, drainage is taken cared, but I don't know about the soil pH. I have asking around, about getting a suitable equipment to measure pH. So far, pH is basically my own visual estimate.. haha.

Nearby plants

Big plants nearby are papaya, banana and senduduk. Little plants at the edge of the bed are lilies, kadok and one ulam raja. As edging, I placed banana stem on one side. Bricks for potted plants will form the edge at another side. And the other sides, more or less served by kadok and lilies as edgings. It does look funny for a simple vegetable bed for cucumber to be guarded by many plants and material.

Pest and disease

As far as pest is concerned, I am wary of grasshoppers which have been feasting our leafy vegetables. Through readings, the common pest problem would be damping-off, nematodes, powdery mildew, and mosaic viruses. Damping-off and nematodes can be controlled by planting in clean soil or treating the soil with captan-terrachlor for damping-off and with nematicide for n ematodes. Powdery mildew can be controlled by using maneb, zineb, or copper fungicides. Watermelon mosaic virus may be a problem in certain areas at various times of the year. Lehua hybrid is highly resistant to this virus and should be grown where it is a problem.

Harvest:

Most cucumber varieties will produce fruit ready for harvest in 50 to 60 days. Frequency of harvest will depend on the vigor of the plant, the location, and the time of year. Usually every other day or daily harvest is necessary when the plants are growing vigorously at the lower elevations during the hot weather. Removing fruits as they mature will aid in maintaining the plant vigor and productive capacity.

bangchik and kakdah

putrajaya malaysia

at last, cucumber is growing

Three cucumber seedlings

pic1

cucumber seedling

pic2

cucumber seedlings

pic3

cucumber seedlings

pic4

cucumber seedlings

pic5

I almost gave up with cucumber. It must have been 4 or 5 attempts that I have to go through with zero success. The seeds simply refuse to germinate. Last week, I bought fresh cucumber seeds from a nursery in Bangi. That very same day, little pots were prepared for germination. Seeds were placed sideways quarter an inch into the soil. Within a week, they came out just nice. I am trying to figure out what are things that I did right this time..... Three seeds, and three seedlings coming out. So 100 % success this time. This is just the interim success, the journey is still long. Anything can happen after transplanting onto vegetable bed, until the plants are able to flower and produce green cucumber....

 I already have in mind the shape of trellis for these cucumber and the location where cucumber should grow.
Stay tune.....

Future References:

Grow Cucumbers

Learn all about growing cucumbers. Get tips and tricks to grow great cucumbers. In depth cucumber growing information.

Growing Cucumbers. Indoors and outdoors

How to grow your own cucumbers. This guide will help you om your way to a beautiful tasting cucumber

Growing Cucumbers Vertically:

Growing cucumbers in the home vegetable garden presents challenges, but most can be overcome by growing cucumbers vertically

 bangchik and kakdah

putrajaya malaysia

Germinating cucumber seeds

cucumber seeds 

Another first attempt, cucumber. As anything else, the first always comes with anxiety, tremendous urge to know more and overwhelmed with anticipation. The seeds look sparkling clean, so very white.  I soaked them for 2 days and yet no sign of roots coming out. Most seeds would have the seed coats broken if soaked for a couple of days. I googled and found this  information at Plant info, pictures and care instructions for Cucumber Garden . DAYS TO GERMINATION ~ Average 8 days | Min 1 days | Max 101 days (186). There is real mystery in germination of cucumber given such a spread on possibility of days of germination, with average of 8 days, minimum of 1 day and maximum of 101 days over 186 observations.

I then change the seeds into little pots to give them a new place. 

 I religiously put a few drops of water 

into the little pots everyday.  

Still no sign after three weeks.

Then one day, I loosen up the soil. 

No seeds, 

all soil...

I am not going to give any guesses... But I definitely am back to the drawing board.

~ bangchik

Some notes:

The seed contains the embryo of the new plant, with a supply of food for the embryo until it has formed sufficient roots and leaves to obtain its own food. The food, endosperm, may be in the seed leaves or it may be outside the seed leaves and be absorbed when the seed germinates. To start germination, the seed leaves absorb water and swell, and the radicle emerges, followed by the plumule. For some seeds, their future germination response is affected by environmental conditions during seed formation; most often these responses are types of seed dormancy.

Water - is required for germination. Mature seeds are often extremely dry and need to take in significant amounts of water, relative to the dry weight of the seed, before cellular metabolism and growth can resume.

Oxygen - is required by the germinating seed for metabolism

Temperature - affects cellular metabolic and growth rates. Seeds from different species and even seeds from the same plant germinate over a wide range of temperatures. Seeds often have a temperature range within which they will germinate, and they will not do so above or below this range. Many seeds germinate at temperatures slightly above room-temperature 60-75 F (16-24 C),

Light or darkness - can be an environmental trigger for germination and is a type of physiological dormancy. Most seeds are not affected by light or darkness, but many seeds, including species found in forest settings, will not germinate until an opening in the canopy allows sufficient light for growth of the seedling.

~bangchik