Q: My father is having trouble with his cucumbers. The plants are healthy and produce prolific blooms. However, the cucumbers are extremely tiny and they never grow larger.

A: I think it’s a pollination problem. Bees must visit a flower several times in a day to get good cucumber pollination.

Tell him to plant lots of flowers near the cucumbers to attract pollinators.

He could also try growing ‘Sweet Success’, ‘Diva’, ‘Adam’ or ‘Vertina’ cucumbers. These varieties don’t require pollination by insects.