Growing gherkins (mini cucumbers)
AS horticulturists and gardeners, it is our interest to know better and more of the usefulness of some plants in nature.
It is important to be familiar with those incorporated in many of our food items nowadays.
This week, I would like to focus on gherkin which is often found in western salads and sandwiches.
Gherkin is a small variety of cucumber. It is finger-sized and may be unfamiliar to many of us. The fruits are borne on the vine with many tendrils, twining on branches of other trees or on a pane prepared for the vine.
Gherkin, as a little cucurbit, can keep for three months in the freezer. It is often pickled. We get the gherkin pickles in bottles in food supermarkets.
Gerkhin is actually considered an invasive weed in parts of North America and Australia. The plant is believed to have come about from the cultivation of the Brazilian species, cucumis Longipes, which is a tropical species.
Planting little cucumber – gherkin Gherkin, known as the maroon cucumber or cockney, is indigenous in Africa but naturalised and cultivated in many countries including Malaysia. Botanically it is known as cucumis anguria.
Gherkins are easy to grow and delicious with salads and cold meals. The vine bears flowers prolifically which set as minicucumbers. The fruit is mainly used as pickles in western meals. Here, we would eat them fresh or cooked with other vegetables.
How to grow gherkins? We can grow gherkins, using seeds, which can be purchased from hppts//www.yates.com
Have the seeds sown in the seed raising mix or compost under cover. Transplant the seedlings after four weeks. Direct seeding can be done by pressing three or four seeds into mounts with moist soil.
Gherkins need sunlight and drained soil on the ground. Pot planting is suitable when placed permanently on the spot where a fence or a supporting plant is available.
I have grown them in a community pot and allow three vines to creep up another plant like guava which has many branches to spread out on the twigs. This will do away with wire-mesh or tall support to lead the running vines into the air.
It is all right if a pane is used with wire strips or ranks to allow the vines to grow around and have the fruits hanging down where it is easy to see them, getting ripe for picking.
This is the same method used for growing passion fruits which have spreading habits. The vine can be led to a confined space, making it very tidy and orderly in a growing pane.
Adding fertiliser is necessary to ensure good growth and heavy fruiting. 15+15+15 NPK plus trace elements can be dressed once in three months. Ripe fruits will turn red if let unpicked.
Normally, these fruits are picked for cuisine and making pickles. Pickling of gherkins is simple as it does not involve very complicated ways of adding water and sugar or salt till the fruit is soft.
New growers will be pleased to learn that the gherkin plant has a very long lifespan provided enough feeds are administrated periodically in our tropical climate.
With plenty of water and light, the vines will continue to grow and bear gherkins endlessly.
The stem will grow finger-size thick after a few years. Give it a try if you are interested.
Gherkin seeds can be eaten raw and are apparently rich in oil with a nutty flavour.
They are hard to get to, being covered by a fibrous seed-coat. They young leaves are apparently also cooked in Africa.
Do send me an email if you have questions, comments, or suggestions.
Happy gardening.