I keep having issues with my cucumbers and zucchini. I give them plenty of water. Can some one point me to the right direction?
Thank you!
- applestar
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I think they were initially sunburned because they were not used to / acclimated to the full sun. They are also prone to transplant shock when roots are disturbed or if they had become too big in small containers. They should be OK once they settle in and new leaves begin to grow -- has it been a week?
For future reference, be sure to water them well and fill the planting holes with water just before transplanting, slip out of the container making minimum contact with the roots (try to hold the dirtball rather than the bare roots) and plop in the watered hole, fill half way with soil and fill the hole with water again, then mound up the soil to just below the lowest pair of true leaves (bury the seedleaves).
For future reference, be sure to water them well and fill the planting holes with water just before transplanting, slip out of the container making minimum contact with the roots (try to hold the dirtball rather than the bare roots) and plop in the watered hole, fill half way with soil and fill the hole with water again, then mound up the soil to just below the lowest pair of true leaves (bury the seedleaves).
I usually direct seed cucumbers and zucchini. Vegetables don't like getting set back and cukes and zukes germinate quickly so there is not a lot of advantage to starting them early.
Mine gets those white marks on the old leaves too. Most of the time, I have to look for pests under the leaves. Sometimes though if the other leaves are o.k. I just take them off and dispose of them.
The other thing to remember is that plant don't always grow out of their pot. If the soil in your container is drastically different from the soil in the ground and especially if you don't score or tease some of the roots out, sometimes the plant still thinks it is in a pot and stunts because it does not venture into the native soil. It sometimes helps to dig a bigger hole and mix some of the potting mix with the soil to ease the transition. I also put a cache of fertilizer at the bottom of the hole and cover it with an inch of soil. When the roots hit the cache, the growth spurts.
Mine gets those white marks on the old leaves too. Most of the time, I have to look for pests under the leaves. Sometimes though if the other leaves are o.k. I just take them off and dispose of them.
The other thing to remember is that plant don't always grow out of their pot. If the soil in your container is drastically different from the soil in the ground and especially if you don't score or tease some of the roots out, sometimes the plant still thinks it is in a pot and stunts because it does not venture into the native soil. It sometimes helps to dig a bigger hole and mix some of the potting mix with the soil to ease the transition. I also put a cache of fertilizer at the bottom of the hole and cover it with an inch of soil. When the roots hit the cache, the growth spurts.
- Meatburner
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