Question on vegetable production amounts?

[nao57]

So... if you grow cucumber plants or tomatoes or whatever, at some point you run into the idea that people say pick the cucumbers small or they won't preserve well. Or they'll taste better smaller. You always hear this. But when you grow cucumbers, you can see that they can get BIG. I mean really big. I've grown cucumbers that were the size of some squash fruit.

But this brings me to my question... if you pick the vegetables when they are smaller, and let's say you had 2 different cucumber plants where with the 1 you picked them small, and with the other plant you only picked them big, are you going to get similar weight of total vegetables at the end of the season? (And assuming comparable fertility, comparable water, fertilizer, etc). I was really hoping to get input on this. I mean... if you are picking them smaller, then the only real gain would be if the plant decides it will up the production through how it senses absense of fruit etc... If it doesn't then there's no point to picking them small just for a bit of extra flavor.

Has anyone also proven this and tried to test it?

Thank you for any thoughts. I hope to get more information.

 

[Meadowlark]

But this brings me to my question... if you pick the vegetables when they are smaller, and let's say you had 2 different cucumber plants where with the 1 you picked them small, and with the other plant you only picked them big, are you going to get similar weight of total vegetables at the end of the season? ...

Respectfully, I suggest your premise on the question is wrong.

What value is it to allow any veggies to grow past its prime taste and nutrition? What value is it to grow more pounds of produce at the expense of taste and nutrition?

I suggest none.

Put simply cucumbers, like many other veggies we grow, taste best when they are relatively small and in rapid growth phase. Left to mature and reach large weighty sizes is often counter productive to both taste and nutrition.

Okra pods, which we absolutely love, can be allowed to reach huge sizes...but becomes virtually inedible. What value is that?

I suggest none.

It depends on why one chooses to raise veggies for consumption. I choose taste and nutrition and harvest every veggie I grow at what I have determined optimum taste and nutrition levels.

Volume is simply unimportant. If you want more, plant more. If you want taste, harvest accordingly.

 

[nao57]

If you have a family you can't ignore volume though.

But thanks for replying.

 

[Meadowlark]

If you have a family, their health and well being should be foremost and nutrition is absolutely a key to that...not volume.

But thanks for your opinion anyway.

 

[Ruderunner]

Some of it depends on what wants to do with the produce. And in that case variety comes into play.

Using cucumbers as an example, we grow pickling varieties exclusively. Overgrown pickles are a good substitute for salad types and even smaller ones are acceptable for that. But, salad types are not suitable for pickling, their flesh just can't handle processing.

As far as volume, I'd would guess that the totals would be the same. Plants can only convert nutrients into food so fast. Basically 10 quarter pound tomatoes would take as long as 1 2.5 pound tomato. But, that single giant tomato has serious weaknesses in that it's more susceptible to damage by critters and disease possibly leading to a lower final haul. IOW you might easily get 100 .25 pound tomatoes but only 6 2.5 pounders.

It would certainly be an interesting experiment to try. And I'd imagine different vegetables would have different results. Cabbage might do better if left alone, potatoes probably don't care, and s noted, giant okra is inedible.

 

[Anniekay]

Cuces have an optimum size per variety. For example: Salad cuces can be bitter if they are immature, or hard and tasteless if allowed to grow too big and start to lose their deep green color. Therefore, I pick as close to optimum size for optimum flavor.

Pivkling cuces you can pick tiny forbaby gerkins since you will be modifying the flavor with spices. That said, I don let mine start to loose their deep green color when I want dill spears because, again, the quality of the pickle is crucial in the taste of the end product.

I agree with everyone who said : "Quality over quantity". You can, when you see that you haven't grown enough plants to fill the amount of cuces you need, plan for growing more plants the next year. I always grow a couple more plants than I need just in case a few bite the compost early.

 

[big rockpile]

I brought this up on another post.

Plants have one goal to bloom, produce seed and quit.

If you pick the plant thinks its under attack so to carry out its agenda it thinks it has to put on more.

big rockpile

 

[Ruderunner]

Mostly true but there's some plants that are biennial and I'm thinking they're happier being left alone. Cabbage, beets, carrots are examples.