Q.All female cucumber plant, came from a bag of seeds which also produced normal mixed flower cucumber plants
This was my first year ever planting vegetables. I started with a very cheap pack of seeds which had 6 varieties of vegetables from a company called bulbandseedsdirect. The variety of cucumber I planted is marketmore.
I had an almost perfect germination rate, though I stunted the cucumbers at first by not allowing them enough sunlight. Since they’ve been outside- about a month, they’ve gone from practically seedlings to small, but still flowering, cucumber plants.
I have three of these cucumber plants, two of them are potted and one is planted in a trug with some other veg.
The two in pots are normal cucumbers, currently only producing male flowers, though I know females will inevitably follow. The one in the trug is only producing females. I’ve counted and there is about 6/7 flowers in various stages of maturation and they are all female.
This plant never produced any males either, the first flowers to arrive where female and that’s all I’ve seen so far.
I’ve been researching and all I’ve found says there are some varieties of all female cucumbers but it seems very odd to me that it’s come from the same seed packet as mixed flower cucumbers.
So my question is, what should I do with it? Will it pollinate itself or should I be pollinating it?
The first photo attached is the mixed flower cucumber plant and the next three is the all female one.
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
They are very small, and very far from mature. Once they grow out to their full maturity, you can then assess whether there is a correct number of female to male flowers. It is much easier to see what is going on when you have 150 flowers vs only a handful, as this is not a representation of the whole plant just yet.
Usually, too much of one or the other sexes will be environmental. Too much heat, not enough humidity, not enough sunlight, etc.
Provide the cucumber with the correct conditions (Warm temperatures are usually the culprit when it comes to single sex flower production) and you will see flowers of both sexes and fruit to follow.
This article will give you more information on the care of cucumbers: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/cucumber/tips-for-growing-cucumbers.htm
It’s been a month and I can confirm it’s an all female plant. I have about 15 cucumbers growing and have harvested one already. I guess there was a mix up with the seeds!
