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Post by ottawagardener on Nov 22, 2009 12:57:17 GMT -5
I'm thinking of growing this next year but I was wondering on recommendations for varieties? Exploding cucumbers sound a bit frightening though..  . Frank and Stephen, I bumped into your names frequently while researching this. Are you still selecting for a larger fruited variety? |
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Post by orflo on Nov 26, 2009 1:39:20 GMT -5
I did receive seeds from a big fruited variety, but strangely enough the plants didn't produce a single fruit. I do have this bigger caihua, which is quite prolific, and easy to grow outside. Some cyclantheras are daylength-sensitive (this big fruited variety isn't) , I tried a Columbian variety this year, and it started flowering in october, way too late... This is the caihua with bigger fruits, it grew into an apple tree, some vines were just about four metres. I did get the feeling it felt really comfortable climbing up all the small branches, this was better than growing it on the more common poles.  |
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Post by ottawagardener on Nov 26, 2009 10:00:31 GMT -5
As usual nice picture. Do you find that they are as disease resistant as some say?
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Post by orflo on Nov 26, 2009 15:14:53 GMT -5
Yes, they are, they resist about everything, except frost off course. Low temperatures, windy conditions, heavy rains, they tolerate it all...I never spotted any sort of disease on them, only some botrytis occurs in the greenhouse from december on, but that's perfectly normal. In some parts of Colombia (and probably other parts of South America as well) they are considered as a weed (but these are the 'wild' varieties, possibly including the 'exploding' cyclanthera, which tastes a bit bitter anyway..But it's a fun plant to grow, just as the other cyclantheras
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