George Van Patten, in his book Gardening Indoors with Soil & Hydroponics, says to remove the side or lateral shoots from cucumber plants to send nutrients to the remaining fruit. In my case, I have as many, if not more, fruit developing on lateral shoots than on the main stem.
The Little Leaf plants develop clusters of male flowers at pretty much every leaf axil, and I spent a good part of my morning removing the clusters of male flowers from the plants.
Being parthenocarpic, the plants have no need of male flowers, so I removed the male flowers to redirect energy back into the plants.
Further, to keep the plants somewhat under control, I remove the growing tip of lateral shoots that have produced a female flower, and I am removing tendrils as they develop.
Growing cucumbers hydroponically indoors is a challenging proposition, to say the least. Nutrient needs change as the plants grow; as there are no nutrients in the media, the grower needs to recognize, and compensate for, any deficiencies, quickly.
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