Windowsill Gherkins / cucumbers

I decided I was going to try growing pickling cucumbers on a windowsill indoors with the aim of trying to make pickles by Christmas.

We have a tiny box room that has an all day sunny window and holds the boiler, so it's like a greenhouse.

I sowed the seeds, noting that it said 10 - 14 days for germination. The seedlings came through in 4 days, and a month later, the plants have taken over, they're absolutely thriving. I've cut off the growing heads as there are loads of flower sets already.

They're F1 Hybrid plants and I was told by the seller that they wouldn't need to be pollenated, but now I find I have dozens if not hundreds of tiny cukes, between 1 - 2cm (across 7 plants) but on one of the plants is a giant that's at pickling size already, it's about 3.5 inches long (pic).

Is this lone monster just a freak? Will the others catch up? They're nowhere near and haven't changed in size in days.

I'd hate to think that this big one is the only one to somehow have been pollenated and in fact they should all be like that.

Thanks.

 

If you cut the big one the others might start to grow but its getting a bit late in the season now, daylight gets less everyday.
My guess is they do actually need pollinating, are you getting male flowers as well, or is it an all female type.

 

Hi. Yeah, I know it's late in the season. I only started it as an experiment as I got a bit bored after the garden season seemed to be over. The plants are thriving though, and if one gherkin can grow full term to eating size, surely they all should be able to?

They have both male and female flowers, but the seller assured me they'd be self pollenating. I might hand do a few & see what happens...

Cheers.

 

Also, being indoors, there are none of the obvious outdoor pollinators to do the job, but we do have a lot of fungus gnats from the compost, which I just red can pollenate and may have done the job on that one giant.

It just isn't very consistent. The one massive cucumber has gone from flower to picking size in 1 week, but I suppose it's been hogging the nutrients.

It's only on one plant out of seven though. Hmmmm

 

Pollination is what is required by the sounds of it, get at it with a soft brush at midday.

I think the massive one is the size they should be.