Are my cucumbers flowering too early?

jenahakchew

I bought 4 Lebanese cucumber seedlings about 2 months ago from Bunnings and planted 2 on the ground and 1 in a pot. Noticed they have all started to flower and even had little cucumbers forming. It doesn't look right to flower at this stage when the plants are less than 6 inches tall. Even the seedling in the original pot seems stunted and also flowering. What seems to be the problem? Anyone can share some advise please?

MitchellMc

Hi @jenahakchew,

Cucumbers produce flowers very soon after germination. It's approximately 35 days until the first flower appears, which will be a male flower. Soon after, you'll see the second flower, which will be female. A week or so after the female flower is seen, it will begin to produce a cucumber. At the same time, the plant will continue to grow.

As far as I can tell, there is nothing to worry about here. It's not unusual to see plants at the store that already have flowers on them or even developing fruit. Regarding the stunted growth, you should plant out the one still in the tiny nursery pot into a larger container, and the one in the larger pot should have all those smaller seedlings removed so it has room to grow and isn't competing for nutrients with them.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

jenahakchew

Good morning Mitchell and thanks for your reply. By the way the little seedlings around my cucumber plant suddenly sprouted in my pot and I'm wondering what they are. I've been using kitchen compost which includes vegetable/fruit leftovers. I have planted one into.a small pot a few days ago. It looks like a cucumber seedling? I'm trying to plant out those little seedlings and hopefully some edible plant grows out. Any idea what it is at this stage?

Thanks again for your advise.

MitchellMc

I was thinking cucumber too, @jenahakchew. It will certainly be a surprise!

Mitchell

jenahakchew

Keeping my fingers crossed! There are at least 20 such seedlings that suddenly sprouted in my cucumber as well as in my chili pot. Trying to salvage and grow them out.. the Bunning seedling from the same batch seem to be doing ok in the ground. Several flowers has developed🙂

smokey1507

Hi @jenahakchew, I could be wrong but the leaves are too rounded to be a cucumber. Maybe a rockmelon. Did you throw any rockmelons in their? Hope you come give an update when it starts to fruit.

smokey1507

Also, i think that putting food scraps directly into the garden can steal nutrients from the plants as it breaks down. Better to put into a compost and break it down. Could be why your plants seem stunted.

EricL

Hello @smokey1507

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's splendid to have you join us.

Thanks for sharing your ideas regarding @jenahakchew's plants. I agree it looks very much like rock melon leaves. We'll eventually find out when the rock melon appears.

We are keen to hear more about all your projects and plans around the house and garden. Please feel free to reach out whenever you need assistance or would like to share a project with the community.

Eric

jenahakchew

Hi @smokey1507 , thanks for your kind information. As a matter of fact I did throw kitchen wastes including rock melon seeds into my compost bin..yes they may well be rock melons..how long do I have to wait to find out..?🙂

jenahakchew

Yes, thanks for your advice. I don't throw food scraps direct into the ground but into a composting bin. However too many seedlngs suddenly germinated in my cucumber pot and may have caused some to be stunted. I'm now thinning them out and transplanting the healthier seedlings to the ground and hopefully get some rock melons..😁