What happened to my cucumbers?

[vicky464]

What started out as a few yellowed leaves has turned into completely dead plants, with just some green on the top leaves. I think I have been good about watering. I have some pickle cuks and some long slicing cuks. All the fruits died on the vine. They turned yellow. I know I planted too closely, and had trouble getting them to trail up my fence. What else could I do better next year?

[imafan26]

It looks like downy mildew and you may have some mites or aphids. Check under the leaves, they are common this time of the year. Cucumbers need good drainage but a lot of water especially in the heat of summer. It is also better to train the plant up the fence and not let it sprawl on the ground especially if you want straight fruit. In the open you may have to cover the fruit with stockings or newspaper to keep out the caterpillars in June.
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/plantpath/exte ... Mildew.htm
http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/p ... c2207.html

P.S. Aphids come in all kinds of colors, the ones that go after my cucumbers are black/brown. Mites have webbing under the leaves and if you tap the leaf over a piece of white paper and you see tiny specks that start to crawl around after about 30 seconds to a minute, then it is probably some species of mite. Mites and aphids suck the life out of the leaves causing them to wilt, turn black from sooty mold, the edges of the leaves will brown, stippling on the leaf, and if it is severe enough the plants will be stunted and the tips will start to die. Fruit will be small, curled, and frequently will prematurely yellow and fall off.

[Stourme]

This can also be caused by heat stress. The fruit will be under developed or rot off...the leaves gradually turn yellow like they are slowly burning. Check the ground an inch under the surface.

Also, inconsistent watering will do this too. If it gets too dry or completely dry then watered ... if this happens too much cucumbers will start to shut down. It will stop growing, stop producing, just sit there and slowly die.

But definitely check for bugs...