Cucumber plant, leaves turning brown!!

[Potstubsdustbins]

I grow my cumbers in a polycarbonate GH but I still provide extra shading using a fleece stuck on the GH frame.

Cumbers like it warm but with a moist atmosphere, toms like it drier I get round this by misting my cumbers in the evening when the sun has gone down.

Couple of questions, How big were the pots they were in, how often have you been feeding them and what with.

Colin

[esbo]

I grow my cumbers in a polycarbonate GH but I still provide extra shading using a fleece stuck on the GH frame.

Cumbers like it warm but with a moist atmosphere, toms like it drier I get round this by misting my cumbers in the evening when the sun has gone down.

Couple of questions, How big were the pots they were in, how often have you been feeding them and what with.

Colin

The biggest pots I had them in were 17cm wide x 14cm wide, before that they were in 14 x 12 I think.
But when I took the pot off to put it in the soil it was clear there was room for growth, I didn't really see much root at all and soil fell away as there was nothing to hold it.


I guess with cucumbers being creeping plants they may well normally grow in shaded spots under tree etc in the jungle etc so not used to the sun?

I mean a creeping plant relies on other plants to creep up so it must be used to the shade and not like much sun, so one of mine is in for a shock tomorrow lol.

I will have to find something to shade it now or I could perhaps dig it out and move it else where, the other two are i pots so easy to move. Maybe I will put my chilli and pepper plants in the sunny spot, the chilli plant I put in the shade of some tomato plants did not do as well as one in the middle do the lawn.

Think I will be best off moving them it not as if I am short of shade in my small garden far from it!! In fact cucumber should be the ideal idea plant for me however I was under the impression they needed a lot of sun, apparently not!!

[Potstubsdustbins]

A 7"/170mm pot is way to small for a decent cumber, mine are grown in 16" pots.

Its not just about accommodating the roots, it is also about making food available to the plant. Also when in a small pot you have to water all the time and the roots live in that water, this will stunt the growth of the roots and can lead to stem rot in the worst case.

Colin

[esbo]

A 7"/170mm pot is way to small for a decent cumber, mine are grown in 16" pots.

Its not just about accommodating the roots, it is also about making food available to the plant. Also when in a small pot you have to water all the time and the roots live in that water, this will stunt the growth of the roots and can lead to stem rot in the worst case.

Colin

Well I have put one in the ground, but it is pretty clear to me there is still good room in the pots, as I have had a look by taking the plant from the pot, on another plant, a pepper plant it was a mass of roots
and I repotted it, but on the cucumber plants there were few roots to be seen, if any, the soil just fell away. Anyway one cucumber plant is in the ground now so no excuses for it now!!
And I can see from the number of leaves and green stuff that the pots are not yet too small.
I will have look at the biggest plant again soon, but I have definitely had bigger plants of a different type
in pots half the size the cucumbers are in so I don't think it's the pots.
It might be she scorching if they do no like the sun. I water them every day it does not rain.

[rustylady]

I water them every day it does not rain.

Maybe this is your problem (overwatering). You should assess whether the plant actually needs any water, not just soak it anyway.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Like I posted if you let the roots live in water they will not develop.

Colin

[esbo]

Maybe this is your problem (overwatering). You should assess whether the plant actually needs any water, not just soak it anyway.

Maybe, but I treated them much the same as I treated other plants in similar pots, and also one is looks
a lot healthier than the rest, it may have been more shaded though but not a lot in it really.
It's a bit of a mystery really, I think they might have improved since I gave them some fertiliser but a bit early to say. I am also thinking they might have fertiliser burn.

This is the problem you don't know if it is too much or two little of something, however I have a bit of a plan, I have been taking some photographs, but they have hard to compare so I will find the older pictures and then photograph them from a similar angle, at least then I should know if they are getting better or worse.
But I do have one plant that look really health when compared to the other two, it just has a few marks on a couple of leaves whereas another looks pretty bad now all the leaves have problems and even the best leave looks pretty bad. I will just have to see how it goes.

[esbo]

Like I posted if you let the roots live in water they will not develop.

Colin

Yes but one plant looks fine, certainly when compared to the other two and they have been watered the same. I will try and stick some pictures up when I have more time.

[Potstubsdustbins]

GYO is not a science one plant could survive bad treatment, whilst the rest fail. Most plants will suffer if they are sat with their roots in water.

Colin

[esbo]

GYO is not a science one plant could survive bad treatment, whilst the rest fail. Most plants will suffer if they are sat with their roots in water.

Colin

True but I have numerous plants in pots, al the rest are doing pretty much OK apart from these too
so I kind of doubt it it watering.


Some pics


this plant on the 5th



same plant in ground on 13th

[esbo]

These two are also the 5th not sure if both same plant lol




I think I have figured out which is which, one has a central stick and the other has two sticks.

[esbo]

This is my best plant on the 13th



A bad plant on the 13th


Another bad one on the 13th, not sure if the same one lol
Yes it must be the same one as only have two in pots now the good one and the bad one.

[esbo]

Definately getting worse

this is the the 5th aug


and this one is the 13th




The prominent leaf is the same and it has got worse.

Also the cucumber has turned light green

Notice how bad the leave in the bottom right has got, I thought they were
different plants at first but it just shows how bad it turned in a week.
Don't have much hope for it, I think I should chop the cucumber off.
It's in a pretty shaded spot, I an d gonna stick it in the ground I think they do better
in the ground, perhaps. I think it may be a virus.

[rustylady]

Your cucumber has turned light green because it is over-ripe. You should have cut it to eat days ago.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Like the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ lady said that should have been cut some time ago. Leaving ripe fruit on a plant will switch it off it thinks its done its job and reproduced next years plant.




Colin