Gardening flops

[bellahpereira]

We had cucumbers really flop one year. They would only grow to about the size of a sweet pickle and then would turn yellow and shrivel up. They were pretty much useless. I think maybe we had too much sun that year, but nothing I could do about that.

My boyfriend's father went through the same thing this year! The cucumbers really did not want to grow or provide any kind of yield for us. But his wouldn't grow long, they would become a nice little round ball and then become yellow. I'm not sure if it's the same problem yours had though because I thought that his failed due to lack of sunlight - his location wasn't the greatest.

 

[Jed]

My boyfriend's father went through the same thing this year! The cucumbers really did not want to grow or provide any kind of yield for us. But his wouldn't grow long, they would become a nice little round ball and then become yellow. I'm not sure if it's the same problem yours had though because I thought that his failed due to lack of sunlight - his location wasn't the greatest.

I suspect your cucumber plants were not fertilized. They have separate male and female flowers on the same plant and pollen is needed to be transferred from the male to the female flower by an insect or you can do it yourself with an artists paintbrush.The male appears first in the growing season and is on a short stem whereas the female is closer to the vine and has an unfertilized small fruit. If the cucumbers grew no larger than this then there lay your problem.
Female flower Male flower

Female flower ready to be fertilized

 

[bellahpereira]

I suspect your cucumber plants were not fertilized. They have separate male and female flowers on the same plant and pollen is needed to be transferred from the male to the female flower by an insect or you can do it yourself with an artists paintbrush.The male appears first in the growing season and is on a short stem whereas the female is closer to the vine and has an unfertilized small fruit. If the cucumbers grew no larger than this then there lay your problem.

Oh no, I think the one's he had were fertilized, they were in larger spheres. The plant grew fine, the only problem was the actual cucumber.

 

[ChanellG]

My vegetable growing flop was eggplant. I tried growing it in a bucket and the plant produced one tiny fruit and that was all. Later someone told me it was because I hadn't properly fertilized it. I love eggplant though, so I may try again next year after I have a little more time, organization, and experience with food plants.

My container herbs did awful this year because of the dry heat of our summer. Mid-July my cilantro completely burned up, even though I watered it almost every day in the coolest part of the day

I kept my cilantro indoors on the windowsill. When it seeded I started new plants.

 

[Jed]

Oh no, I think the one's he had were fertilized, they were in larger spheres. The plant grew fine, the only problem was the actual cucumber.

Perhaps they were squash and not cucumbers? They have spherical shaped beginnings. As far as I know it is quite apparent when the cucumbers form as to being a finger shape and not spherical. Unless there is a spherical variety? Also it is easy to mix seedling plants up before planting if labeling has gone missing with all of these types of vines. I'm really only guessing and stranger things have happened.

 

[ChanellG]

Perhaps they were squash and not cucumbers? They have spherical shaped beginnings. As far as I know it is quite apparent when the cucumbers form as to being a finger shape and not spherical. Unless there is a spherical variety? Also it is easy to mix seedling plants up before planting if labeling has gone missing with all of these types of vines. I'm really only guessing and stranger things have happened.

I've seen cucumbers that are more round and fat than long, but I haven't grown them before myself. There are lots of varieties (like everything else I guess). Found this photo of some of them online.

 

[bellahpereira]

Perhaps they were squash and not cucumbers? They have spherical shaped beginnings. As far as I know it is quite apparent when the cucumbers form as to being a finger shape and not spherical. Unless there is a spherical variety? Also it is easy to mix seedling plants up before planting if labeling has gone missing with all of these types of vines. I'm really only guessing and stranger things have happened.

LOL all great guesses! I'm certain they were cucumbers though. They did begin with a finger shape but later just filled into spheres. Again, I think it may have been due to location and the soil - both weren't the greatest. But as far as I know, my boyfriend and I are going to try them again with different soil and different location to see if those were the problems. Hopefully we'll have better luck,

 

[lovinglife]

Lemon cucumbers, the small yellow one in the photo, they are yummy! I grew them last year.

 

[Jed]

LOL all great guesses! I'm certain they were cucumbers though. They did begin with a finger shape but later just filled into spheres. Again, I think it may have been due to location and the soil - both weren't the greatest. But as far as I know, my boyfriend and I are going to try them again with different soil and different location to see if those were the problems. Hopefully we'll have better luck,

Let us all know how they go.

Lemon cucumbers, the small yellow one in the photo, they are yummy! I grew them last year.

Never heard of them but you recommendation sounds good. It's the time of year to plant them and zuchi's. I'll keep a look out for them.

 

[maddie]

I have a problem with growing strawberries. They seem to be my gardening nightmare. I follow all the instructions and yet they die or produce fruits which are no bigger than chickpeas. They are sweet all the same.
These again are alien to this soil. These plants are not locally grown.

 

[dhrynio]

My container herbs did awful this year because of the dry heat of our summer. Mid-July my cilantro completely burned up, even though I watered it almost every day in the coolest part of the day

Maybe try mulching it next year. If it is drying out so fast then you can try topping the soil with straw which will work to keep the moisture in. Or you can add something like vermiculite to your soil mix. It helps hold moisture.I would try both.

My fail this year were my beets. I don't know what happened as I read that they were easy to grow. But they spouted, popped up and then basically nothing. Not a one grew to a decent eating size.

 

[dziomek]

Three years ago (I do believe) I planted watermelon and zucchini in the same garden bed. I was so excited when the watermelon actually grew bigger than a baseball, but was very disappointed when I cut into them. I had watermelon shaped zucchini! I learned to not plant the two together...the hard way.

 

[Cariad]

The worst flop for me is always the Cauliflowers.There have been other flops but they have been down to unfamiliarity with the crop. With Cauliflowers I tried to study everything I could, I learned how to tie them closed, leave little discs around the base. Whatever I did, the Cauliflowers always grew lovely for a while and then once the size of a tennis ball, they just blew!
For those that don't know what it is when a Cauliflower blows, it is when the Cauliflower head gets very gappy and there is no rescuing it, it then becomes useless!

 

[Pat]

Last summer my whole garden was a flop. I had green beans that never grew, nothing took off.

The tomatoe plant grew but did not produce any fruit, pepper plants shrived up and died. I watered the plants, but it was a mess.

 

[headfullofbees]

Aubergines. Tried them a few years ago without success, but having another go this year.

If you have problems with containers drying out because of the heat, I suggest mulching with white plastic.
You can pierce it to allow watering, or even use one of these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/EcoCharlie-...2489217&sr=8-1&keywords=plant+watering+spikes