After harvesting lettuce and radishes out of the gutters this morning, I went ahead and re-planted them. When I first planted the greenhouse gutters with radishes in Mid-February, I had no idea it would take 2 1/2 months for them to be harvested. Clearly, it was due to the cold weather. And since I want to be able to use the greenhouse all winter, I think I’m going to need to invest in some sort of heating system.
Hmm. I wonder how expensive that’s going to be.
As soon as I harvested the gutter crop, I called Monkey Boy away from his video game to haul the gutters outside for me. After fluffing up the soil, {and adding a little more} I planted one of the gutters with basil {bottom row} and one with cucumbers {top row}.
Since this is all new to me, I figured why not? I’ve got the space right?
This is my theory, and please tell me if you think I’m nuts.
It’s been my experience that cucumbers don’t have a very deep of root system. So if planted far enough apart {12″} their roots should be able to spread out right? As for the actual vine, I’m thinking I’ll just tie some sort of twine around the gutter and loop it through the little cream colored brackets on the glass ceiling. That way the cucumbers can vine their way across the top of the glass ceiling of the greenhouse. Sort of like streamers. Except small cucumbers will be dangling. Which I’ll admit is a little weird. But why not?
What do you think? Do you think it will work? Will I be able to grow a ceiling of cucumbers? Or have I been sniffing to much Miracle Grow again?
Well isn’t that the bee’s knees. Amazon sells Miracle Grow. And right now you can get a 5 lb box for only $14.43. Yee-Haw!
*Amazon prices are subject to change at anytime.
Desi says
I have no idea if this will work but it sounds great! Plus the cucumbers will shade your greenhouse a bit from the sun in the summer and it may not get so hot in there. What about using some sort of netting attached to those brackets, bigger than Bird netting but smaller than a volleybally net. Or maybe a Bad mitten net. That miracle grow is great stuff.
Dawn McCloskey says
So I looked into this a little. I find what you are doing very interesting and have been begging for a greenhouse on our lot for about a year now 🙁 Still no greenhouse… 5 kids keeps us from being able to do a lot of projects… Oh well! Good thing I like the kids 😉
So I have found that this is a common way to grow them is overhead. It is important to make sure that you are picking when they are ripe (as they can get too heavy). It also helps with a lot of the typical issues that plague cukes, such as mildew. Can’t wait to hear how it goes for you. Most greenhouse farmers can get in 3 rounds of the cukes for a season. The thing is the amount of light the plants need to grow isn’t available here in the NW during our winter months. But you can grow them into the fall. Found tons of info online. I also saw a lady who used a cloth shoe holder and grew different plants in each pocket. Anyhow, I am loving these ideas you come up with. I’m jealous though, I want a greenhouse.
Deb says
Hi i was just wondering how much everything weighd today? your harvist looked great. same things i bought last week at the store.
Kate H. says
I don’t know, but I am fascinated with the idea. My initial thought was that the gutters wouldn’t be deep enough for cucumbers, but I really hope I am wrong. Keep us posted!
Holly says
I’m so excited. I found a 6′ x 8′ greenhouse on Craigslist today. It was brand new in the box and less than half of the original price. Once we get it up and ready I’m going to try your gutter gardening technique. Yippeee!
Helen in Meridian says
How close are you to the Boat House? Are you recreating Dale Chihully’s blown glass ceiling in the Bellagio in Las Vegas with your different kinds of cucumbers?
Katrina says
I know this post is old, but how did the cukes in the gutter go? Thinking about doing one with cukes and one with strawberries.. Need an update please!
Jessica Granger says
I just tried this in 2021. They got root locked n didn’t grow well. I’m gonna revamp it and do hanging buckets or baskets to grow down.