I do grow some companion plants. Typically that’s whatever i happen to have on hand. Sometimes it might be calendula, zinnias, marigolds, sunflowers. I’ve been experimenting with Monarda fistulosa; that’s a fragrant native perennial that takes awhile to get established. I’m also probably going to try Artemisia ludoviciana, another native that has a high volatile oil content that tends to repel herbivory insects. Whether these plants play well with cucumbers is something i haven’t determined yet. I tend to think that fragrant herbs are helpful in repelling pests though.
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@YrtheArts
Yes, and always happy to hear about your observations. Companion planting helps tremendously and can yeild good results. Monarda fistulosa, the bee balms and bergamot do have fragrent aroma, too many flowers is never a problem in my garden. They are good medicine for the garden.
I do not have GTS cucumber seeds, but I hope you do not mind if I ask here for some cucumber advice. Normally, I do not grow cucumbers - I laugh, that growing them is converting one form of water into another, if you know what I mean. But someone has given me a few seeds to try in containers on my terrace and I planted “a compact, miniature, balcony bush cucumber” seeds and this is what I have grown:
The fruits are 500 gram plus on a plant that climbs to no more than 120 cm height. I definitely want to save seeds from this friuts, and my question is when it can be done as an earliest to get viable seeds? What are the signs that it is ready to be picked for seeds to be saved? Many thanks in advance.
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@WojciechG
Nice setup and happy cucumber vines.
I let my cukes get over ripe, they get puffy looking and turn yellow or orange. Check them every couple of days as they turn because they can get too soft and difficult to handle. The drawback is that the vine may stop producing more cukes as the energy goes into the over ripe fruit. What tends to happen inside my garden is one or two fruits get missed, they grow to over ripe as im picking fruits to eat. One cuke could have over 100 seeds.
I use my hands and fingers to pry open the ripe fruit so the seeds dont get damaged. You can cut open with a knife, scoop out the seeds and place in a container with water covering the seeds well. Let sit at room temperature for up to three days, the pulp and bad seeds will float, good seed sinks. Pour off the pulp and the floaters, then place good seed on a paper towel or suitable drying surface. Let them dry, remove from towel and store.
Be sure to taste and eat some, flavor is a determining factor to consider for seed saving.
How many containers did you get with good vines? Any insect damage?
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@Kim Kimzy many thanks for your reply.
I have just three plants in 3 separate containers (5 liter grow bags). Each plant deveoped one huge cucumber and now they are setting second fruit on each one. Yesterday I have harvested one fruit (shown below) , the taste is excellent, so it looks like it is a keeper. Since this is on a terrace in a 2 million people city, no insect damage at all (I had problem with slugs though, but I have managed to handle that). No diseases either, since I cut off any leave that shows any signs, and I check that daily.
I will leave 2 oldest fruits and I will let them ripen. It might cause the plant to stop setting next fruits but oh well, you cannot eat a cake and have a cake, as they say here 
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@WojciechG
Nice cuke and glad its a keeper. Keep us posted on your seed saving efforts and photographs when your fruits change color. Always happy to see whats growing.
Today it has been very hot on the terrace, these two fell of from the bush by themseves - 730 and 651 grams. I will try to collect the seeds from them soon.
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Nice! I let mine stay on the counter until they turn yellow/orange. Did the vines set any more fruits? How are the vines doing? Did they stay a compact size or continue to grow?
There are so many videos on “youtube” for cleaning the seeds by fermentation…then be sure to let them dry in a safe place away from birds or mice.
I probably left out a few of the seed rinsing and cleaning steps…its easier to watch the process. But simple enough to complete.
Thin seeds that float are empty and wont grow again, they should look plump and sink in the water in your container. You can add more water, put a lid on your container and shake gently, let them settle, pour off the pulp and immature seed. This can be done several times to remove all the pulp after fermentaion.
Any chance the original packaging for your seeds says wether they are an heirloom or a hybrid?
I dindn’t have a good start, till June it was cold. Cucumbers are late. In the greenhouse as well as the ones I seeded as a second round, because I wasn’t sure the first round would still take off after having stunted growth. The second round were many I planted outside when snail pressure was intense. I planted in pockets that seemed suitable some 10 here, some ten there.
Coming from this grex
The garden is chaotic and many herbs and not many insects seem to attack them now.
I was pleasantly surprised they grew quite well. Some vining over plants.
The dinosaur eggs on the photo are Sikkim kind. They have hard shells, like melon, but they’re super long keepers and great for stir fries.
I seeded most of the biggest Sikkim fruit a bit apart in ghe green house hoping for miracles, and as mostly when I do that, it’s a dud. I will stop doing that. Just mix all seeds , big or small.
Not much to show for yet. But there’s still time!
Oh yeah I noticed when gathering seeds, keep them on the plant until yellow. Many seeds are empty when kept on the counter to ripen. They look perfect but later dry up and turn out empty shells…
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The vines are fine, they are setting next fruits. I have cut lowest leaves that had sings of powdery mildew. Vines have a few side shoots, but they stay no longer than approximately 120 cm. The seed package does not say that it is a hybrid.
No worries about collecting seeds, I have been doing that for over a decade, so I know the drill and methods, just not for the cucumbers so my main problem here was WHEN to collect them. Thanks for the tip with leaving them on the counter, I will do that.
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@Hugo
Really nice selection to grow from! Im planting cucumber seed this week, during monsoon season even though I have not received a good soaking rain as of yet. Its an heirloom mix of about 15 varieties. I planted in April and lost every plant. So, this time of year is the second chance window for growing. Just happy to see some cucumbers getting harvested.
The monsoon list:
Yes, leaving cukes on the vine until ripe is the practice to get viable seeds…but the two fruits in question dropped off and were just slightly turning yellow and looked like they might be mature enough…green cucumbers left to ripen off the vine usually aren’t mature enough to get viable seeds. Its a toss up, hopefully the seed is mature. Thanks for the observation and clarification.
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Sounds good, hoping you get mature and viable seeds. Happy you grew fruits, and your vines are still growing. Do you have one runner or several on your vine? I have only grown the long vining types…
I’ve got a couple of hills of GTS cucumbers being grown alongside my planting of Suyo Long cucumbers, which are my favorite variety; the eventual goal is for a population with fruit like Suyo Long, but with more genetic diversity and vigor. So far, as with last year (and most years here) the cucumbers are struggling; most plants have set just one fruit so far, though that could change. (Here in Denver cucumbers seem to wait until mid to late July to really start setting fruit; the problem is that we can get a first frost in early September. I’ve heard some people claim that cucumbers are moderately daylength sensitive, and won’t set fruit around the summer solstice; that seems likely to me.)
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Interesting, day length sensitivity or warmer days and warmer soil? Good to keep observing…snap a few photographs if you can. Hope you get viable seeds too.
Any insect pressure or damage from disease?
I like the Suyo long as well, real tasty and glad you enjoy them too.
I think it is day-length, because August is typically hotter than July. So far, I haven’t noticed any pest pressure.
As the seed steward, will you want seeds back if I’m not able to eat any cucumbers from the plants to check for bitterness? (Given that there are so few seeds set, I haven’t eaten any cucumbers from the plants that are being saved for seed; I could get a frost in a month, so there isn’t much time for them to produce more fruits.)
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Yes, send in your seeds. This year there is a link to a form to complete and the seeds are going to be sent to one location. It could be on the webpage…give me a couple days to find it so I may share the link.
Yes, the link is on the webpage menu, from the “seeds” tab…“contributing seeds”
There were some runners, one strong and few weak ones on each plant. I have cut out the weak ones. These plants grow in 5 liter bags so I cannot let them spread too much. One observation is interesting - absolutely none other plant drinks so much water. Three cucumber bushes need from 2 to 4 liters per day on my terrace, which is twice as much as my tomatoes and 4 times more than hot peppers.
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Thats considerable water usage for the cucumbers compared to the other plants and you’re dedicated to water them daily. Do the grow bags drain, could you optimize water usage by letting the drainage water flow to another potted plant? Irrigation and water usage can always be limiting factors while growing particular vegetable plants.
Pruning the vines may also help keep the fungal disease minimized as well. Interesting and valid observations for terrace growing in limited spaces.
Looks like you have pickling and slicers. Hoping they all have viable seeds too.