8 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 225. 



maturing fruits suppresses many of the newly pollinated pistillate flowers 

 und causes their fruit to become yellow when there are insufficient nutrients 

 or food materials to allow rapid development of fruits present. Uniform 

 night temperatures with moderate watering and an occasional light ap- 

 plication of a nitrogen fertilizer to keep the plants growing, reduces yel- 

 low pickle to a minimum. 



All cucumber houses should be well drained to i)revent the soil from 

 becoming water-logged. The young plants should be lightly watered to 

 make them send out a good root system. The soil should be watered in 

 such a way that the water will not stand on top of the ground. A sprinkler 

 system is better than a liose without a nozzle, because not so much water is 

 applied and it soaks into the soil better. The plants should be watered 

 wJien it is necessary. They should not be watered as a matter of daily 

 routine. The objective should be to get a good vigorous, healthy, fast- 

 growing plant that will mature a large number of fertilized flowers. 



Nubbins and deformed cucumbers should be removed from the vine as 

 soon as it is apparent that they will not be well shaped cucumbers, since 

 if once deformed they can never develop into a salable form. If they are 

 left on the vine in the hope that they will develop into good cucumbers, 

 they merely drain the strength of the plant and prevent it from developing 

 normal fruit. Much less vitality is needed to produce a normal cucumber 

 of salable size than is used to carry a nubbin to maturity, since in the for- 

 mer the seeds are small and undeveloped while in the latter the fruit ripens 

 and seeds are fully developed. The removal of a maturing cucumber results 

 in further production of pistillate flowers, and consequently further fruit 

 production. It is a slight task to remove the nubbins when the vines are 

 being trained or pruned. 



Pruning should be a daily rather than a monthly practice. Much less 

 damage is done if the growing tips of branches are pinched off than if 

 seven or eight nodes are allowed to form on the branches and are then 

 cut off with a knife. A large amount of sugar is made by the leaves of 

 these branches and if they are cut off suddenly a starvation effect is 

 brought about, the physiological balance of the plant is upset, and a large 

 number of nubbins or yellow pickles will be produced. 



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