Day 232
UPDATE#18
Grower update
Update #18
The Mini Munch has forgiven me for the leaf cleanup, but is busy making other leaves look ratty again.
GrowLog
SuccessfulLong-Running Mini Munch Cucumber Trained Around a Bounty Trellis
Grow log by lynnee · Original thread
18 visual updates31 photos58 replies
View recapCrop🥒Cucumber
VarietyMini Munch
Methodindoor hydroponics, outdoor transplant trial
EquipmentAeroGarden Bounty Elite, stacked trellis system, soft ties, tomato clips, EarthBox
Plants2
AudienceAdvanced
What you can learnStrong demonstration of single-vine cucumber training, repeated trellis wrapping, selective pruning, nutrient correction, and prolonged production.
Actions:6 Pruning5 Training3 Harvest2 Solution1 Planting1 Nutrients1 Transplant
Useful practices
- transplanting one seedling outdoors
- restricting the indoor plant to a single vine
- wrapping the vine around the trellis
- using clips and soft ties
- regular rinse-and-refill maintenance
- removing declining branches and fruit
- harvesting cucumbers repeatedly
Problems encountered
- outdoor transplant failed from weather and sun stress
- yellow-edged and mottled leaves
- nutrient imbalance or lockout
- yellowing cucumber stems and aborted fruit
- accidental pruning of the growing tip
*The days were calculated automatically and approximately.
Day 232
UPDATE#17
Grower update
Update #17
Actions taken
PruningRemoved the worst-looking cucumber leaves.
Here's a photo that shows just how ratty the leaves can look on a producing cucumber. (Sorry about the poor focus.) I couldn't stand this any longer, and took the worst ones off after taking the photo. Now the plant is sulking, and delaying its usual cuke production, just like it always does when I remove leaves for cosmetic reasons!
Day 87
UPDATE#16
Grower update
Update #16
The Mini Munch is continuing to grow along the trellis. It has four ready-to-eat cukes this morning.
Conversation
S
Love it
M
That's so exciting!! Enjoy the cukes!!
U
FYI: Today I terminated my Iznik cucumber adventure. I highly recommend the Iznik variety if you have the room. It quickly outgrew my aerogarden but I had a nice net to climb on and overhead lighting for it to grow into. The method of tying the cukes to the bounty trellis should work well for this variety also. The fact that it is parthenocarpic and doesn't need pollination is a big plus! I didn't count but my guess is that it produced about 50 cucumbers. Even late in the cycle when it was looking almost dead it still produced good tasting fruit. If I had a complaint, it would be that it produced too many cucumbers all at the same time. There was a couple of weeks there that I had to make a few jars of refrigerator pickles just to use them up. My iznik seeds came from totally tomato (totallytomato.com)
S
What a wonderful only complaint!Thanks for the update and recommendation.
L
FWIW, my Mini Munch is now trained to grow around and around the trellis. I don't need to add clips to hold it at all! It's always sad to read about a termination, but the Iznik had a good life, @fsullom!
S
You are a good lion (oops-cucumber) tamer, lynnee!
L
At some point, I seem to have pruned off the growing tip of the Mini Munch--the one that was trained to go around and around the trellis without extra help.. Guess I thought that the tip was a branch. All is NOT lost, though. The cuke is producing an average one cuke per day, and has developed two promising branches. I'll keep them a while, and then remove the weaker one. I cleaned up the shriveling fruits and blooms today, and gave it a bonus 4ml of AG nutes.
S
It is great you are getting a cuke a day. Keep up the good work.
A
Ooh good luck to the two branches! May the best branch win
M
Is that a good variety for producing both male and female flowers? I tried twice in the last year and first got a variety that produce only female flowers. (Baby Hybrid) then the next one only produced males. I gave up.
L
The Mini Munch is parthenogenic, which means that all the flowers are female. It requires absolutely no pollination, mike. The hard part is managing the vine, because it wants to grow straight up. The MM doesn't branch a lot, but it's best to remove the branches if you want good production. It's very easy to grow, if you understand how to handle it.
M
OK, I'll give those a try. I just ordered some seeds. I have some velcro tie wraps that help train the vines.
Day 76
UPDATE#15
Grower update
Update #15
Day 75 @fsullom, the leaves seem happier in stacked rows than they ever were when I draped the vine vertically in a Farm. It's normal for the oldest leaves to dry up, even when they're getting light. Some more of the lower leaves are about ready to be removed, like the one the arrow is pointing to. I swiped the idea for training the vine around the trellis from one of the "Aerogarden Experiments" videos on YouTube. He didn't talk about how to do it, but you could see the vine circling around!
Conversation
A
That looks like a very happy cucumber plant!
Day 75
UPDATE#14
Grower update
Update #14
Actions taken
SolutionPerformed a reservoir rinse and refill.
PruningRemoved a small branch where it joined the main vine.
The Mini Munch is continuing to produce delicious, munchable cucumbers. The growing tip is obediently circling the trellis now, without much help from me. Go figure!This morning I was doing an R&R, and found this little branch, which I removed at the point where it joined the main vine. The arrow is pointing to the growing tip. I'm pretty happy with the way the cucumber is growing, now that I'm limiting it to a single vine.
Conversation
U
Really cool. Very interested in your training the vine to follow the trellis. By circling the vine around the trellis, are the newest round of leaves shading the lower leaves too much?
Day 72
UPDATE#13
Grower update
Update #13
The cuke continues to be willing to circle around the Bounty trellis. Front view, with small, harvestable cukes.Back view, with growing tip.
Conversation
U
I'm not sure that you should be so quick to remove those cukes that are showing yellowing. My iznik has had many small cukes that show this as they develop. As I remove the mature ones, many of these begin to grow again. It seems like the plant starts more fruit than it can handle at one time. As you remove the mature ones, it turns its attention to the ones that it abandoned... ... all I know is that I've been harvesting cucumbers daily for the last month and I'm sick of cucumbers! I've got a half dozen jars of pickles in the fridge and I've been giving them away to the neighbors! I'm sure soon the bounty will turn to drought.
L
Good to know! I'll try leaving the yellow-stemmed cukes alone a while longer. How big are your cukes when you harvest them, @fsullom?EDIT: A link to @fsullom 's post showing the iznik cuke, for my reference purposes.
U
On the Iznik seed description, it says they are best harvested between 3 and 5 inches and grow bitter if left to grow larger. The 5 I harvested today are between 4.5 and 5.5 inches.
U
I was told by shawn I need to learn how to use an image repository. So here is my attempt. I hope you don't mind this thread being an image upload test for me. This is today's cucumber harvest. Did this image work:
L
Yesss, @fsullom ! I love your cucumbers photo! I never tire of cucumbers, so could you tell me more about your iznik seeds? Where you got them?How are you handling the iznik vine, given that the plant grew so tall so fast? Is it still sharing the Bounty?
S
Looks good @fsullom
U
My Iznik adventure: So my Iznik seeds came from Totally Tomatoes. The H-19 little leaf came from David's Garden Seeds. The Iznik seeds germinated very quickly and 100% (3 for 3) I planted both seeds in a harvest XL. Turned out to be way too small. No more root room. Since I had overhead lights, I just let the Iznik grow wild. It quickly grew around the light hood and reached for the overhead lighting. I trimmed a couple of the side branches as that is what I read to do but that didn't do anything but cause the first few leaves to wilt and the little cukes to dry up. So I just let it branch. Having limited space, the branching allowed it to be more compact I think. I helped it a bit to find the netting and get a grip and continued to trim branches as they out ran the space. At this point, it's looking really ratty, its about at the end of its life although it is still growing a few more fruit. The leaves look terrible. As it matured, I supplimented the aerogarden nutes with a bit more "P and K" (KoolBloom 0-10-10). The Iznik is very productive. Although the H-19 with the little leaves is a much more manageable cucumber, it had lots and lots of flowers but only produced a few cucumbers. My next attempt will be to use the bowl of my farm 12 by itself for the large root space. I'll just set the bowl on the shelf, run the pump with a separate timer, and lower my overhead lighting to keep it close to the growth. Here's some current pics. You can see the growing tip has ventured above the overhead lighting and is even fattening up a cuke in the dark above the lighting. Of all of the gardens I've grown so far, I must say this has been the most fun! Cucumber grow very fast and their movements are very dynamic. *** it's almost like they are alive! *** ===
Day 69
UPDATE#12
Grower update
Update #12
Actions taken
PruningRemoved a branch growing into the light and several yellowing cucumbers.
HarvestHarvested a five-inch cucumber.
TrainingUsed tomato clips to train the single vine.
Day 69 The Mini Munch continues to be very willing to twine around the trellis. I'll probably add a third trellis before long--the vine needs the posts to keep it going along outside the trellis hoops.Yesterday I removed a branch that was growing into the light, and several small developing cukes that were yellowing at the stems. I also harvested a nice 5" cuke. I'm holding this plant to a single vine. The circle indicates the growing tip. Tomato clips work well to train the vine.
Day 63
UPDATE#11
Grower update
Update #11
The cuke on the left isn't growing any more. It has been girdled in yellow at the stem. In the future, if I see any more cukes with yellow at the stems, I'll remove them immediately.
Conversation
A
Here's hoping the CalMag does the trick for future cukes!
Day 62
UPDATE#10
Grower update
Update #10
Actions taken
PruningRemoved most developing cucumbers with yellowing stems.
SolutionCompleted a rinse and refill after suspected nutrient imbalance.
HarvestHarvested a four-inch cucumber.
When I wasn't paying attention, the Mini Munch developed a mottled recent leaf, and yellow areas where some of the developing cukes joined their stems. I removed most of the little cukes with the problem, because yellow areas in the stems between anything and the main vine signal that the plant is shutting the stems down.I kept two of the cukes that were only beginning to develop the yellowing It remains to be seen whether they will mature completely--they have both grown some. I'm really curious as to how they will taste! I think that I got the nutrient balance messed up, so that the vine needed CalMag, and was perhaps suffering from nutrient lockout. Anyway, after an R&R, everything on the plant looks fine, and I harvested a delicious 4" cuke this morning,
Day 59
UPDATE#9
Grower update
Update #9
Day 58. The cucumber vine is starting its second trip around the trellis. The arrow indicates the growing tip. There are lots of developing cukes on the vine, and the 3" cukes taste great!
Conversation
S
Wonderful!!!
S
It's nice the way you are training them on the trellis
Day 52
UPDATE#8
Grower update
Update #8
Jun 9, 2022 22:03:36 GMT -5 Sher said: They look so tidy now. I wonder if the leaves will reorient themselves. It will be fun to watch! The very next day!
Conversation
S
That was FAST!
A
Yay for your speedy cukes!
Day 52
UPDATE#7
Grower update
Update #7
Actions taken
TrainingRewrapped the vine, reduced trellis height, lowered the lights, and supported a weakened stem with a soft tie.
Today I decided to rewrap the Mini Munch vine, to save height in the AG. Some of the healthy leaves ended up growing upside down, so I hope the plant will tolerate this. The plant has produced about 10 3" cukes so far. There are two trellises now, instead of three, and I lowered the lights.Careful as I was, I may have bent and weakened a spot on the main stem near the growing tip. Hopefully the support of a soft tie will be all it needs.
Conversation
S
They look so tidy now. I wonder if the leaves will reorient themselves. It will be fun to watch!
Day 42
UPDATE#6
Grower update
Update #6
Actions taken
HarvestHarvested two three-inch cucumbers for dinner.
TrainingGuided the main stem around the trellis.
This is Day 42, and there are two 3" cukes that we'll have with dinner tonight! There are more cukes coming, too. When I grew the Mini Munch before, without pruning off the branches, none of the early flowers produced cukes. The flowers stayed on the vine, and dried up weeks later.In the second photo, the arrow parallels the main stem, which continues behind the light post to the growing tip at the top. The stem has made one trip around the second trellis, and is starting around again with some encouragement from me.
Conversation
A
Yesss it's cucumber time!
S
Wonderful results and excellent instructions, lynnee! Now I need an empty Bounty!
Day 40
UPDATE#5
Grower update
Update #5
Actions taken
TrainingBegan pushing the growing tip down and around the trellis.
First, the bad news--the outdoor Mini Munch didn't make it. Weather was terrible, with alternating cold (60 degrees) and hot (85 degrees) daytime temps. Also, the seedling couldn't take the several hours of full sun.Second, the good news--taking off the branches from the main vine seems to be promoting cucumber growth. In the first photo, you can see how some of the cukes are enlarging. Harvest is supposed to be 45 days from transplanting, as I recall. That would mean harvest at 75 days from seed.The second photo shows that you can train the single growing tip to wind around the trellis. I started pushing it down at the second level, and wish that I'd started sooner.
Conversation
A
Outside temps have been swinging wildly like that here, too. I'm sorry your little seedling didn't make it. Happy to see the indoor one doing well, and thank you for the info about training them around the trellis!
S
Someday I'll retry cucumbers, and when I do, this thread will be invaluable, lynnee!
S
Sorry the outties did not make it but your innies are doing great!
Day 32
UPDATE#4
Grower update
Update #4
Actions taken
PruningRemoved most branches to maintain a single-stem vine.
Day 31. The AG Mini Munch has reached the full Bounty Elite height, and the third trellis. I'm trying to keep this to a single stem--to keep the vine manageable and to avoid overburdening the plant with blooms. You can see the stem best in the view on the right.My previous Mini Munch produced a lot of branching vines and blooms, and cucumber development stalled until I did a lot of pruning. Today I removed most of the branches, even though they had developing female blooms on them. We'll see whether this strategy hurts or helps. The main stem has some flowers already.
Conversation
A
Goodness that's a happy cucumber plant! Here's hoping your pruning efforts pay off with lots of fruit!
S
Wonderful job, lynnee!
Day 24
UPDATE#3
Grower update
Update #3
Actions taken
TransplantTransplanted the weaker cucumber into an outdoor EarthBox.
WateringSoaked the medium and watered the outdoor transplant generously.
PruningRemoved all branches from the main stem of the indoor cucumber.
TrainingAdded another level of trellis support.
Day 24. The Mini Munch cukes are almost too big to transplant. I finally got the Earth Box assembled, so the weaker cuke on the right went outdoors. I didn't prune it at all, and kept the ball of healthy snow-white roots. Once I moved the transplant out of the direct sun (as in the photo), and really soaked the growing medium around it, it picked up its leaves a little. I'm hopeful that it will survive. If it does, it will produce the most expensive cukes ever, because the Earth Box system was purchased specially for it! The remaining cuke was pruned to remove all the branches from the main stem. Another level of trellis was added. I'm hoping these measures will make the vine both more productive and easier to manage in the AG. This is how the outdoor cuke looked a couple of hours after being moved into the shade, and watered generously a couple of times.
Conversation
S
lynnee, they both look GREAT!!! You are going to have very successful cucumber harvests, it appears. I am so happy for you!
S
I agree with Sher you do have the best luck with cucumbers
Day 15
UPDATE#2
Grower update
Update #2
At day 15, the cukes already have a gold border around the leaves, as if there were something wrong (nutes or disease). There isn't. These cukes always look ratty.
Conversation
A
Aww they're not ratty, they're rugged! It's the cucumber version of wearing torn blue jeans. (They're growing fast! You must be taking great care of them.)
L
Thanks, areyoukittenme! For now, the only care that they're getting is 8ml of AG nutrients. These will be increased to 12ml at the next feeding, per the AG nutrients label. Probably they'll get some CalMag+ at 28 days, too. They'll get an R&R at 28 days and every 2 weeks thereafter.
S
Ohh, they look perfect
S
Ditto!
Day 1
UPDATE#1
Grower update
Update #1
Actions taken
PlantingStarted Mini Munch cucumbers in a Bounty.
NutrientsUsed 8 ml AeroGarden nutrients for the first feedings.
There are two good YouTube videos available for growing cucumbers indoors with hydroponics. They use different methods for handling the vines. I decided to try growing my new Mini Munch (Territorial Seeds) in a Bounty, with the trellis system. I'll update this thread occasionally, if there is anything interesting going on. Aerogarden Experiments (Bounty)Khang Starr (Grow Tent)8ml AG nutes for first two feedings