Cucumber Flowers

[hellochicken]

Hi, my cucumber plant has dozens of male flowers but only 2 female ones

- so it doesnt look like its going to fruit much! Any ideas how to get more female flowers?

[shazzbat]

Remove, and keep removing, the male flowers. Next year, go to your garden centre and buy a plant with only female flowers.

Steve

[Matthew Reed]

How old are the plants? Mine didn't start putting out female flowers until the plants got fairly big. Now I have cukes everywhere.

[William L. Rose]

Not going to fruit much? Are you kidding? How much fruitier do you want it to be? It's obviously a 10%er. But hey, if it's happy, who are you to judge? Don't ask. Don't tell. Definitly don't let the neighbors know. If they find out that you don't have a traditional garden, there could be heck to pay:-)

[The Cook]

Be patient. They usually start with a bunch of male flowers before the females really start appearing.

[Jim Carter]

I know little about cucumbers but I grow a type called Diva that prodces only females, no males needed for pollination. You can read about them here:

yes, they are the only type I grow and I love cucumber sandwiches!

Keep them in mind for next year.

[John Savage]

I'm reasonably sure that I read on one of the gardening newsgroups that if you pinch the growing tips off their main stems curcubits will start producing female flowers. I haven't tried this, but if the cucumber vines have reached a good spread, this could be tried.

-- John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)