They are the baby pickling types... Seeds were bought last year but not all used up.. Those that were grown last year were fine... They are all misshapened... as if the baby cukes below the flower got orders to grown on only one side... Left, right, top, bottom... None of them came out even... I pollinated them by hand when I see the females opened... took a male flower, ripped out the petals and stuck it onto the female... Was that the problem ? Please shed some light !!
I attribute the misshapen cucumbers to uneven water supply at a crucial time of growth. It may be too much and poor drainage or not enough water. My view is usually not enough water.
This is also caused by lack of pollination and by soils depleted of nutrients. I've had great cucumbers, but others on the same vine have been malformed and/or small. In my case, both pollination and uneven watering appear to be the issue.
Hi Ann. The leaves on your cuke plants are looking poorly, either inadequate nutrients or a soil water problem (waterlogged or dried out...damaging the roots and preventing good uptake of nutrients that are in the soil). I see you're working in a container, which is usually quite a bit more challenging than directly in the ground as far as water management. What is your feeding plan? Some liquid fertilizer (for quick results) might be needed. Also, have a quick look at the undersides of the leaves, looking for webbing and the teensie bodies of spider mites, which love cukes especially later on in a hot dry summer. The mishapen fruits will be related to the unhappy looking leaves...solving the one problem will solve the other.
