razzyberry77
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Cucumber Plants dying

Hi, I'm new here, thank you for having me.

This is my first year planting a garden so I probably made alot of mistakes.

But my main issue is cucumbers.

I planted 4 mounds with cucumber seeds, just a packet I got from Pike nursery. I'm not sure the variety because I threw the pack away but its the dark green skin ones like y ou get in the grocery store. Not pickling and not english.

They are planted in organic soil mixture and I added some eb stone vegetable food a couple times.

They did really good for a couple months. Then all of sudden it started dying. Everyday I have to cut leaves off. Mainly towards the bottom of the planet.

I have been searching for the answer and found out theres a beetle that attacks these plants. I did see some beatles eating the leaves but they looked roundish, like large lady bugs. They didnt seem to be the longish body cucumber beatle but it could have been.

I am still getting cucumbers with my remaining plants, because the tops are in ok shape but I have lost 2 vines completely.

Ive taken a couple pictures and I hope the answer is obvious so I can avoid this next year.

thank you for your help

[img]https://i25.tinypic.com/143nti0.jpg[/img]


[img]https://i26.tinypic.com/jfdzsl.jpg[/img][/img]

hit or miss
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The leaves in the first picture look awfully wilted to me. Water the heck out of them and see if they perk up.

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Richee
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Yeah, you need to water Cucumbers a lot.

I've read somewhere that they are 90% water, so they're gonna need lots of water to grow.

tedln
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You didn't say what part of the country you live in. I live in North Texas and the heat is killing my cucumbers. Like yours, as the vines grew the lower leaves typically turn brown and dry up. I usually remove them. The growing tips keep blooming and fruiting for awhile, but eventually bacterial wilt, brown leaf spot, powdery mildew, or some other malady kills the vine. I always feel good to get 6 or 8 weeks of life/production from normal vines.

This year, I planted two varieties of normal green cucumbers as you described and one variety of Armenian cucumber. The Armenian makes a much longer fruit and is light green in color with ridges. I like the taste of the Armenian over the normal cucumbers.

The Armenian's took longer to develop fruiting vines than the normal cucumbers, but their vines are thriving and producing in the heat and insect attacks while the normal cucumber vines have all died.

Ted

razzyberry77
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I live in north west georgia.

And those pictures were taken full sun and they always seems to droop during the sun but are fine at night. I will add another picture today in the morning from the top and show you how the top looks. Bottom is dead/dying though

Thank you for the tips on the variety. I will try that one next year.

It has been over 8 weeks since I planted these seeds so I guess this is the typical life span and its hot here like texas 90-95.

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Anna63
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In my country we had a really serious problem with heat this year too. My cucumbers looked similar like yours (in 1 picture), but then fortunately came rainy week and now my cucumbers ar doing just fine. So maybe try to water them more. Good luck to You!

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Scarecrow
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You may have the cucumber beetle as I have. See [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28198&highlight=scarecrow]my[/url] post here. I have the spotted beetles but there is also the stripped variety which does the same thing.

My leaves normally droop during full sun then perk up after the sun gets off them. I'm new to gardening as well but I think that the plant draws the moisture from the leaves back to the stem during full sun which puts the plant into survival mode.

They do need lots of water as others have stated. I water mine in the evening after the sun has gone down on the horizon.

Oh, my cukes are the pickling kind and have them planted in partial shade where they get about 6 hours of sun. My dozen plants are producing so much fruit that I have been giving them away. [img]https://bestsmileys.com/happy/5.gif[/img]

Keep up posted how it goes.

Scarecrow

razzyberry77
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Heres some new pictures from this morning. I'm not really worried about the droopiness because you can see in the top view picture that it looks normal when you look from the top. But underneath its dying. Slowly I'm losing 1 vine at a time. I also took a picture of the root close to the dirt and its splitting Is that normal?

I don't know what bacterial wilt looks like except from looking on the internet so I'm not sure this is what that is.

PS I just looked at your beetle pictures and that exactly what was on mine. Its like a cross between a lady bug and a spotted cucumber beetle.

Thank you for all y our help.

Top View

[img]https://i29.tinypic.com/20r3a82.jpg[/img]


Bottom :-(

[img]https://i31.tinypic.com/2v1b7lc.jpg[/img]

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applestar
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I think I'm seeing some mildew on the stems. In my experience, cucumber beetles don't do too much direct damage, but my cucurbits get the powdery mildew shortly after their arrival, and rightly or wrongly, I blame them. :x

I think you have brown/wood chip mulch around the cukes, but green/vegetation-based mulch is better for vegetables. (Wood chips promote fungal activity while vegetation-based mulch promotes bacterial activity, and vegetables prefer greater bacterial activity in the soil) I use weeds -- yes weeds -- that have not gone to seed. Cut them down and pile them up -- recommendation is to let them wilt a bit first (although I don't do that :>) and mulch all around your plants but don't let them touch the stems. You can do this on top of the wood mulch, or if you prefer, put the weeds under the wood mulch. Grass clippings work well too but they need to be dried first so they don't mat down.

Also, try the 10% Milk Solution to spray the lower portions of the vines. Actually, I would use something like 2 part milk to 8 part unchlorinated water. For more info, try "Search the Forum" in the link bar above. Lots of info have been posted, including links to research articles substantiating their benefits.

tedln
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I had a few do like yours at the base of the stem near the ground. They were growing in low spots that retained water longer and pretty much stayed wet between watering. A few died, but I piled some soil around the stems of those still alive. They sent new roots into the new soil and did fine the rest of the season. I don't know what it is technically, but I consider it form of root rot. I've found my cucumbers need a lot of water in the high heat, but they don't like sitting in constantly wet soil.

It's hard to identify bacterial wilt before it kills your plant. The leaves starting at the base of the plant simply wilt. The wilting continues up the vine until it reaches the growing tip. All of the leaves on the vine will simply be hanging limp. For me, the total wilting process usually occurs in one day. It will have taken a few days for the bacteria in the vine to build up enough residue in the channels carrying nutrients and moisture to clog the channels. Once a plant is infected, it's pretty much a goner. The bacteria is primarily transported by the striped cucumber beetle from plant to plant.

I think applestars ideas on mulching are good. I plan on mulching next spring with dried hay. I will use some that has been cut for at least a year to give all the grass seed in the hay a chance to germinate and die. If I don't, I usually get beds full of new grass growing.

Ted

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Richee
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I've got my Cucumbers growing in a black planter. It's probably a 5 gallon planter.

But I have had the same problem towards the bottom stems coming out of the dirt as you do in your picture. I added a bunch of dirt to cover the brown section of the stems and it continued to grow just fine.

I've grown a good amount of Cucumbers. I don't like the taste of them, so I've been giving them away to family and such. I should have had a trellis for it to climb.. But I did not know they were a vine when I grew them in the planter.

It decided later to use my Tomato plants and Peach Tree as it's own trellis.. but for growing in a 5 gallon planter, and being in the hot Florida sun, I think it's doing pretty good.

I'll post some pictures of them today... Your leaves are much better and fuller looking than mine though. Mine look like junk, but they've been growing healthy Cucumbers, so I'm not complaining.

razzyberry77
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Great advice from everybody, ive been cutting the limp leaves off daily. Then eventually I will lose the whole fvine. I'm going to leave them on from now on so I can take a picture of that.

I have to learn about mulching too, I didnt do that and don't know how.

thanks so much for everything.

cynthia_h
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Suggestion: add your general location to your profile so that, whenever you have a gardening question, everyone responding will be able to see your location immediately. When you mentioned "E.B.Stone," I thought you were on the Pacific Coast. But then you said Georgia.

There are certain pests and diseases specific to certain parts of the country, so you want advice that's more relevant and likely to be accurate for where you live.

(For example: Squash Vine Borers are extremely UNlikely to be the cause of squash plant failure on the Pacific Coast. Other causes need to be thought of.)

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

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Richee
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razzyberry77, here are the pictures of my Cucumbers.

As you can see, I wasn't prepared for them to become a vine. I thought they were a bush, and did not research them first. This is my first time growing them.

The planter it's in is the black one on the top center. (Hard to see from this pic)
[img]https://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b89/dailynightly/cucumbers01.jpg[/img]


Here's a close up of the bottom stems. They have the dried look at the bottom like your's.
[img]https://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b89/dailynightly/cucumbers02.jpg[/img]

Here's one of the vines that made it to my Kumquat tree, and rested in the planter. This is the biggest Cucumber growing at the moment.
[img]https://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b89/dailynightly/cucumbers03.jpg[/img]


And here's one I cut off a few days ago. This is how big they get.
[img]https://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b89/dailynightly/cucumbers04.jpg[/img]


Yes I know.. I need to cut my finger nails.. give me a break, I'm lazy. :D

I'm going to be moving my plants around to the grassy area you see behind the plants. I bought some stuff for the move, and will even finally give my Cucumbers a trellis to grow up on.

It's just been too hot to fool with it right now. It's about 92° with a feel like temp of 1,000.

tedln
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We had a cool spell last week. It got down to 92 degrees for a couple of days. I had to wear ear muffs in order to work in the garden. :roll:

Ted

garden5
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If it's the heat, you could try putting up some shade cloth to diffuse the sun during the hottest part of the day. Also, as others have said, give plenty of water.

philm00x
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my cucumber plant has that same dried look at the bottom, but I do water them a lot. twice a day lately as it has been getting up in the high 90s lately and the vines soak that water up like no tomorrow. they are planted in a rectangular pot that's just under a foot deep so its no wonder they drink up all that water so fast. my only qualm is I've yet to have any female flowers come out of it. only male flowers since I put the seeds in the dirt. that was about 4 months ago.

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Richee
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I didn't know there was male and female flowers on Cucumbers. As I said before, this was my first time growing, so I am learning more about them everytime I read from this post. How can you tell the difference between the flowers?

Also.. do you have them crawling up something? A trellis? My brother had some growing at the same time I did, but he didn't have anything to crawl up, and ended up dying after a few flowers bloomed.

philm00x
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Richee wrote:I didn't know there was male and female flowers on Cucumbers. As I said before, this was my first time growing, so I am learning more about them everytime I read from this post. How can you tell the difference between the flowers?

Also.. do you have them crawling up something? A trellis? My brother had some growing at the same time I did, but he didn't have anything to crawl up, and ended up dying after a few flowers bloomed.
I learned, actually searching this forum before making my first post, that the female flowers are the ones that produce fruit. the way to tell male from female is that the female flowers will have a tiny cucumber 'shoot' sprouting from the stem that the flower is blooming from. the male flowers do not have the cucumber sprouting off the stem.

my cukes are crawling up a homemade trellis and they are in close enough proximity to a plant stand that I have a small basil plant growing in, that the little feeler arms have reached out and wrapped around the stems of the basil. I will take a picture of them in a little bit.

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Richee
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Ah, good information.

I live in Florida too, and I know how hot it is here. I'm still surprised my Cucumbers have grown any fruit because of the heat. They also have no shade from noon til sundown.

My peppers have taken forever to grow any fruit because of the heat... which is odd because most peppers originate from Mexico, where it's really hot.

Now almost every pepper plant has some kind of pepper growing.

My Tomatoes have yet to grow anything.

I'd love to see the pictures of your Cucumber plant.

philm00x
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[img]https://i29.tinypic.com/iyde9c.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i27.tinypic.com/2qdxs1f.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i32.tinypic.com/149a9m0.jpg[/img]

you can see in the third pic how they are grabbing onto my basil.

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Richee
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They definitely need more dirt, because the roots are exposed.

Also your plant doesn't look very old... the stems are all thin and stringy. Mine are thick and firm, and not as flexible as your's appear to be.
Last edited by Richee on Sun Aug 01, 2010 1:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

philm00x
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on that note, off to lowes!

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applestar
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If you catch them in time, you can gently unwind the tendrils and move them to something else. I walk around the garden every few days repositioning the cukes, squashes, pumpkins, melons, and gourds. Chiding them for trying to take over the garden..... :lol: "Now, now. None of that." "How is THAT little thing supposed to support your weight?" "This way, please...." "I SAID I want you to climb over HERE, remember?" "You'll thank me later...." :wink: :>

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Richee
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How deep is that planter?

philm00x
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I actually don't mind it grabbing onto the basil, as I use basil often in cooking so I'm always pulling leaves off and new ones grow in their place. the plant itself is only about 3 or 4 months old, and started from seeds. and the planter is slightly less than a foot deep. I think about 10 inches.

pepper4
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My entire cucumber plant was looking like the bottom of razzyberry77's. When I first noticed what I believe to be powdery mildew I took off infected leaves and started using the milk water mixture. It didn't seem to have any effect on the plant and everyday I was pulling off more leaves. The cukes themselves never got bigger then a few inches. I planted them in big pots 5 gal 1 per pot with good drainage. I used a mix of potting soil/ organic peat. They were a bush type cuke good for container growing. I used dried leaves as mulch to try and retain some of the moisture. We've had a fairly hot summer with little rainfall so I've been watering twice a day. I did the exact same thing last year and had great success so I'm not sure what got to them but needless to say I pulled them yesterday. Is it too late to start again if the nursery has starters and does anyone have any ideas of what may have happpened? On the bright side my peppers did great this year. Last year maybe 3-4 peppers out of 8 plants. This year about 30 and signs of more to come. Thanks!

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Richee
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Hey,

I'm not sure what got to your Cucumbers. I am new at growing them, so I don't have a clue about the powdery mildew stuff. I do have some spots on my Cucumber leaves, but I think that's just from the spray bottle I use to cool the pepper plants off at night.

I like growing my plants from seed, but I did buy a Mexibelle pepper plant, and after 3 days it started looking sickly looking. Then I noticed this orange mildew/mold like material on the top of the planter.

I would scoop it away, then put in fresh dirt.. the next day, it would have that orange stuff in there again, and coming out of the bottom holes on the planter.

What ever it was, it was killing the roots.. so I ended up cutting the bottom half of the plant off and throwing it into the trash. I even threw the planter away as well, just to be safe.

Then I re-rooted the top half of the Mexibelle which took almost a month to do. But now it's outside with the rest of the plants, and has several flowers on it now.

Do you have Cucumber seeds? You could try growing some more.. they grow real fast. I just planted some more for my brother, and they were sprouted in 2 days.

philm00x
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sometimes I just chalk it up to luck trying to get any yield out of fruit and vegetable plants. particularly ones I/we don't have much experience growing. on a side note, I noticed the first female flower on my cukes this afternoon when I got home from work!

sorry for the fuzziness of the pic, but my cell phone isn't the greatest of cameras for taking close ups.
[img]https://i31.tinypic.com/2ag9nqs.jpg[/img]

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Richee
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Nice!

It may not grow Cucumber yet though. I've had mine do that a bunch of times, then turn brown and shrink. It wasn't til about the 10th female flower that a Cucumber actually grew to full size.

garden5
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When they turn brown, it's due to the female flower not getting pollinated. When you see the female open, you can try hand-pollinating it by taking a male flower and touching it to the female one.

razzyberry
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Hi, I thought I would post a couple new pictures of the plant since I stopped cutting the death off.

I might not have watered enough, I watered almost every day but I was afraid of over watering. But I also had this beetle on there too a couple weeks ago (from another posters pic)

I watered it alot yesterday. I have some life, still getting a few cucumbers but also losing some cucumbers that didnt develope.

I guess the first time is a learning experience. next year I'm using a different variety and will water more.



https://qhfbpw.bay.livefilestore.com/y1plOqvjT8U4B5tq840rG2W3Hk0TpyE1RSOuAAbweONiFUYVJac-D-9BEA68wOoziRAN_Q-UOnsYUuBb5PbmOeh3sIrZlfzdtMc/LB2_DSC4530.jpg?psid=1

philm00x your cucumbers look beautiful

Is this what bacterial wilt looks like?
[img]https://i37.tinypic.com/2nbh9ns.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i36.tinypic.com/n389kw.jpg[/img]

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Richee
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I wonder if it is a natural process... like as new vines grow, old vines die off.

garden5
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Richee wrote:I wonder if it is a natural process... like as new vines grow, old vines die off.
Well, if it is only a few of the lower leaves, that's somewhat normal. However, if you have half of the plant turning yellow (or brown, like mine :roll: ), then it's the sign of a problem.



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