Cucumber

1. Why are the leaves spiky? This cucumber plant uses the spikes on the leaves to deter insects and other pests from eating at the leaves. What other plants in the garden have spiky leaves? Do those plants taste like cucumbers, too? Or maybe taste doesn't have anything to do with spikes! 2. Why are the leaves so big? Leaves produce food for the plant by a process called photosynthesis. Cells called chlorophyll (which give the plant its green color) absorb light energy and convert it to sugar which the plant needs to grow and produce flowers and cucumbers. The larger the leaves, the more chlorophyll a plant can make. What other plants have big leaves in the garden? Do squash plants? How about basil? What about thyme? 3. Why are there so many flowers? Your cucumber plant is doing very well! All of the flowers mean the plant is making a lot of energy in order to grow new flowers. The more flowers the plant has, the more flowers that will be pollinated and go to making cucumbers which means more seeds for the plant. What happens if you pick some of those flowers? Will the left-over flowers get more? What happens when the fruit gets more nutrients than another fruit on the same plant? Can you think of an experiment to measure the effect of "pinching back" some of the flowers?