cuc's not growing
My cucumbers are not growing, everytime there is a baby cucumber about the width of a pencil it turns yellow and starts to rot. HELP PLEASE!
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applestar
- Mod
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Try hand pollinating. Maybe your garden is not visited by enough pollinators.
To do this, locate a female blossom -- the one with a baby cuke at the base.
Now find a male blossom without a baby cuke and clip it off.
(Optional) remove the petals from the male blossom (I do this but dome people don't)
Touch the center of the male blossom to the center of the female blossom. Dab gently.
To be sure, I usually repeat with another male blossom.
Repeat the procedure for as many female blossoms as you want or can find. You'll know if the your effort was successful in a couple of days.
Be sure the plants are getting plenty of water.
To do this, locate a female blossom -- the one with a baby cuke at the base.
Now find a male blossom without a baby cuke and clip it off.
(Optional) remove the petals from the male blossom (I do this but dome people don't)
Touch the center of the male blossom to the center of the female blossom. Dab gently.
To be sure, I usually repeat with another male blossom.
Repeat the procedure for as many female blossoms as you want or can find. You'll know if the your effort was successful in a couple of days.
Be sure the plants are getting plenty of water.
Lack of pollination is one of the problems
If you get a parthenocarpic cucumber, it does not require pollination and all of the flowers will have fruit.
The other thing that could be causing the fruit to yellow and drop would be if it were stung by anything like fruit flies or cuccumber beetles laying eggs in them.
If you get a parthenocarpic cucumber, it does not require pollination and all of the flowers will have fruit.
The other thing that could be causing the fruit to yellow and drop would be if it were stung by anything like fruit flies or cuccumber beetles laying eggs in them.
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Garden_nut
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I hand pollinated mine at the start with a q-tip. Twist to a point and Stick it in the male blossom (the one without the baby cucumber) and then stick it in the female one (with the baby cucumber) and they will grow. Depending on how long they've been blooming it may take a bit for the bees and other insects to find the flowers.
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mattie g
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- Location: Northern VA, USA -- Zone 7a
I've done the same in the past and have gotten good results. Whether my efforts were the reason for the success, I don't know, but it wasn't hard to make the effort.Garden_nut wrote:I hand pollinated mine at the start with a q-tip. Twist to a point and Stick it in the male blossom (the one without the baby cucumber) and then stick it in the female one (with the baby cucumber) and they will grow. Depending on how long they've been blooming it may take a bit for the bees and other insects to find the flowers.
I didn't do much hand-pollination this year, and by the time I started paying attention to my cucumbers, I noticed that there were a good number of various bees/wasps who were attracted to the flowers. I've seen a lot more honeybees this year than I have in the past couple!