Spiky cucumbers & how to tell when peppers are ready

LisaB85

I don't know if anyone remembers but I posted about growing cucumbers, well I'm pleased to tell you my second sowing are now growing well they are the bush variety and are going a bit wild to be honest.

Lots of yellow flowers and baby cucumbers and some are now growing in size; however they have large spikes on them. Is this normal?

I also have a few sweet pepper plants that produce the mini sweet peppers, they are quite small but how do I know if they are ready? x

Dippypud

This linky should help...

http://gardenersnet.com/vegetable/pepperseeds.htm

Leif

LisaB85 wrote: »

I also have a few sweet pepper plants that produce the mini sweet peppers, they are quite small but how do I know if they are ready?

Peppers change colour when ripe, generally from green to either red, orange or yellow. There are some that go from white to red, and some that go through a range of colours. You can eat sweet peppers when green, when they stop increasing in size, or when ripe. Green ones are good for cooking, but ripe are best for eating raw, like a fruit, and are excellent if sweet but most shop bought peppers are rubbish. How sweet they are will depend on the variety, the amount of sun they get, and whether or not they are allowed to ripen fully before picking, as shop bought ones are often picked semi-green, and ripened before sale.

Farway

If your cucs are outside bush, or even inside, then spikes are quite normal

Just run your hand over them when you pick them and the spikes come off easily

LisaB85

Farway wrote: »

If your cucs are outside bush, or even inside, then spikes are quite normal

Just run your hand over them when you pick them and the spikes come off easily

As long as they don't stick in my fingers as I found out the other day with the vines :eek:

Here is the biggest one, it is nearly 6 inches long. When are they best picked?

Sambucus_Nigra

You can cut half that cuke off, leaving half on the plant and come back for it in a few days. It's best to pick them regularly so that they grow more fruit

They are ripe as soon as big enough to pick.

Peppers you can pick when they get big enough for you, or you can leave them to change colour. It doesn't really matter. Same with chillis, you can eat them green, red, yellow, black or any colour - I have a green hot chilli in tonight's dinner and it should be yellow but I needed a hot one so I picked and chopped it.

LisaB85

I ate my first cucumber, despite initial worries I'd keel over and die it was nice. Not as watery and firmer than shop purchased ones but sweeter

wallbash

You can cut half that cuke off, leaving half on the plant and come back for it in a few days

Many thanks,will certainly give that a go ,