Passion: Gardening cucumber.........

So far, I am very happy with the cucumber seeds that I had sown in the pots...
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Within days of sowing, they germinated..

The saplings are few inches now...

Soon I have to thin out......and put a trellis...........
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Since then 2-3 weeks have passed....
The saplings are vine now....already sent out tendrils...

Looks like it will bear flowers very soon.....
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I was away on a week-long vacation...when I arrived, the cucumber vines greeted me with bright yellow blooms...they were male flowers..

After a week female flowers appeared...with a tiny fruit at the back..

If I see pollination problem, considering bees are so scarce now-a-days, I will hand-pollinate with one of my paint brush...
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Well...a few female flowers grew into fruits....however, by the time, the fruits needed to grow, fungal infection destroyed the leaves........leafless vine can't photosynthesize and provide enough food to the fruits..so, the tiny fruits turned yellow..

I uprooted the rope-like vines...

I couldn't get to taste my home-grown cucumbers...but, at least I learned the cycle of growing from seed to fruit..

#Some cucumbers taste bitter .. I learned that it is due to the phytochemical cucurbitacin...a Cucurbitace hallmark....heat stress leads to the fruit bitterness...