rotting veggies

[michaelzike]

Some of my veggies are rotting at the ends while most are growing large and healthy. I have a cucumber and a yellow squash and I also lost a zuchini. I live in Houston, Texas and we are in a drought. I have raised beds, and I must water daily or the plants start to shrivel up. The cucumber was sitting on a brick off the ground so I don't think wet soil is a contributor. Any guesses as to the cause and more importantly, what is the solution? Thanks in advance.

[DoubleDogFarm]

How large are the fruits when they start to turn?

Eric

[nosta]

could be a pollination issue. have you seen any bee's in the garden?

It would be helpful if you could post some pics of the fruits.

[michaelzike]

I have a pic but I don't know how to insert it in here. Sorry.

[rainbowgardener]

instructions for posting pictures here are in the Helpful Tips and Suggestions for New Members section at the top under New to Helpful Gardener? It isn't hard, but the photos have to be already on line at some kind of photo hosting site like photobucket.com. You can't upload them directly from your computer to here.

[Handsomeryan]

Some of my veggies are rotting at the ends while most are growing large and healthy. I have a cucumber and a yellow squash and I also lost a zuchini. I live in Houston, Texas and we are in a drought. I have raised beds, and I must water daily or the plants start to shrivel up. The cucumber was sitting on a brick off the ground so I don't think wet soil is a contributor. Any guesses as to the cause and more importantly, what is the solution? Thanks in advance.

My guess is Blossom End Rot. This can be caused by a number of factors but uneven watering (wet and dry cycles) is a major contributor. Not a pest or disease, it is a physiological condition where the fruit grows so fast that the cells lack the requisite 'building blocks' to develop properly causing brown rotten or leathery patches at the blossom end. The good news is that the rest of the fruit is completely safe to eat, just cut out the bad parts and discard them in your compost pile. Often the cause is a lack of available soil calcium but in this case my guess is it has more to do with water stress than nutrients.

I couln't find a decent picture of BER on cucumbers but here are a few examples on other garden plants for comparison:

[img]https://timberglade.typepad.com/outside/images/blossom_end_rot_070706.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.caes.uga.edu/applications/publications/files/html/C938/images/Figure7.jpg[/img]

If you think this could be the cause, a google search for Blossom End Rot will yield more information than you could ever hope to read about what it is, why it happens, and how to treat/prevent it in the future.

could be a pollination issue. have you seen any bee's in the garden?

Can you elaborate on why you believe it could be a pollination issue?

[nosta]

could be a pollination issue. have you seen any bee's in the garden?

Can you elaborate on why you believe it could be a pollination issue?[/quote]

If squash and cukes are not pollinated properly the blossom end will shrivel and rot. I can resemble BER.

here is a link with some pics of squash that are not pollinated properly.

https://www.pollinator.com/squash.htm

[Handsomeryan]

If squash and cukes are not pollinated properly the blossom end will shrivel and rot. I can resemble BER.

here is a link with some pics of squash that are not pollinated properly.

https://www.pollinator.com/squash.htm

Thanks for the link.

[nosta]

If squash and cukes are not pollinated properly the blossom end will shrivel and rot. I can resemble BER.

here is a link with some pics of squash that are not pollinated properly.

https://www.pollinator.com/squash.htm

Thanks for the link.

You're welcome. It's doubtful but not impossible that poor pollination is the cause because some of the fruits are fine. Could be BER also. Pics would help nail it down.

[Alicemae]

Some of my veggies are rotting at the ends while most are growing large and healthy. I have a cucumber and a yellow squash and I also lost a zuchini. I live in Houston, Texas and we are in a drought. I have raised beds, and I must water daily or the plants start to shrivel up. The cucumber was sitting on a brick off the ground so I don't think wet soil is a contributor. Any guesses as to the cause and more importantly, what is the solution? Thanks in advance.

My guess is Blossom End Rot. This can be caused by a number of factors but uneven watering (wet and dry cycles) is a major contributor. Not a pest or disease, it is a physiological condition where the fruit grows so fast that the cells lack the requisite 'building blocks' to develop properly causing brown rotten or leathery patches at the blossom end. The good news is that the rest of the fruit is completely safe to eat, just cut out the bad parts and discard them in your compost pile. Often the cause is a lack of available soil calcium but in this case my guess is it has more to do with water stress than nutrients.

I couln't find a decent picture of BER on cucumbers but here are a few examples on other garden plants for comparison:

[img]https://timberglade.typepad.com/outside/images/blossom_end_rot_070706.jpg[/img]

[img]https://www.caes.uga.edu/applications/publications/files/html/C938/images/Figure7.jpg[/img]

If you think this could be the cause, a google search for Blossom End Rot will yield more information than you could ever hope to read about what it is, why it happens, and how to treat/prevent it in the future.

could be a pollination issue. have you seen any bee's in the garden?

Can you elaborate on why you believe it could be a pollination issue?

I also thank you for the info as too many of my zucchini have that end rot stuff and I had no clue why.