94 



GREENHOUSE CUCUMBERS 



been asked as to whether frequent waterings might not pre- 

 vent the proper fertilizing • of the flowers. I believe this 

 question can be answered in the negative. 



Ventilation. 



The proper ventilating of the cucumber house is very im.- 

 portant. One often notices in the morning after a house has 

 been closed all night that the leaves are dripping wet. This 

 condition, which also occurs on cloudy daj^s when the houses 

 are closed, will invite disease. Again, leaving out the factor 

 of disease, a thrifty plant cannot be grown in a dead atmos- 

 phere. 



Temperature. 



The cucumber is a tropical plant and so requires a high 

 temperature. When lettuce and cucumbers are gro\\Ti to- 

 gether, a half-way temperature must be maintained. Later, 

 when the lettuce is out of the road, the night temperature 

 should be at least sixty degrees and the day temperature may 

 be seventy or higher, especially if the day is bright. 



Seed and Improvement of Strains. 



Misshapen fruits or culls are not wanted by any grower, 

 but how to get rid of them is a problem not yet solved. 

 Among the causes of poorly shaped cucumbers are the follow- 

 ing: Poor breeding, lack of available plant food in the soil, 

 the age of the vine, and insufiicient water. The remedy, 

 then, must be in breeding and in surrounding the plant with 

 those conditions that will make for a strong, vigorous growth. 



A great deal depends on the seed. One cannot expect a 

 heavy crop of perfect cucumbers from seed that has come 

 from scrub stock. It is a good plan to save one's own seed 

 from vines whose yield is the maximum, both of quality and 

 quantity. One should constantly be on the alert when work- 

 ing about the vines to note those that are out of the ordin- 

 ary. These may be marked and their performance noted for 

 two or three weeks. If they continue to hold up with refer- 

 ence to production and disease-resisting quality, thej^ may be 

 left to bear seed cucumbers. It is not best to start a vine at 

 seed production while very young, because it may weaken 



