I sowed the seed on 27th December and it germinated in just four days.
After that, I have been watching the growth of this plant keenly. I have never been successful growing cucumbers- the plant gets infested with aphids, leaf miners and poor growth frustrates all my attempts to get decent fruits.
But, look at this plant-
I have grown it in a 15L container and it has grown to over 3 ft. There are female flowers on each node with two side branches. Geekgardener's blog describes European cucumber as a parthenocarpic type ie formed without fertilization and each flower will grow into a fruit. No messing about with paintbrushes for pollination, which I do for brinjals and even capsicum.
So, if you have a flower, you will get a fruit.
I have been keeping my fingers crossed for so many days now, spraying with neem oil and vermiwash. There is some infestation with leaf miners, but no aphids yet.
Finally the first flowers bloomed, four at a time!
And now the agonized wait for the fruits to develop well. According to geekgardener, it will take approx 14 days for the fruits to mature. So a fortnight of waiting and waiting!
Crossed fingers and all, I am praying for a full life cycle of this baby...
Happy gardening
Chitra
