My cucumbers are about 4 feet tall and producing very well, but I am fighting whatever is happening with the leaves turning yellow and eventually dying off. We have used epsom salt in the soil and sprayed on the leaves as well as putting down additional fertilizer in order to rectify. I have also doused it in neem oil multiple times, Nothing has helped the plant. It is in the same standing garden as tomatoes, carrots, brussel sprout, lettuce, carrots, basil, and parsley. Everything else is doing just fine.
We have harvested about 7 cucumbers so far and they are still producing just fine.
All of the problems seem to affect the plants leaves from the lowest first.
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ZachBoyer
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Cucumber Disease or Malnutrition
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rainbowgardener
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powdery mildew, a fungal disease that cucurbits are very prone to.
Treatments for it include: hydrogen peroxide straight from the bottle (it comes as a 3% solution). Or you can use baking soda solution: 1 teaspoon baking soda to 1 quart of water, plus a few drops of liquid dish soap. Or diluted milk: dilute the milk any where from 1:10 to 50:50 with water. Let it sit at room temperature for a few hours to culture, then spray on. Only use one of these at a time, but since it will have to be repeated every week or two, you can alternate them.
Serenade is a commercial organic fungicide. In pharmacies you can get potassium bicarbonate which is said to be more effective than sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Remove at least the worst affected leaves first before treating.
Prevention also includes spacing well for air circulation, watering only the soil, not the leaves, mulching to help prevent soil from splashing back on the leaves.
Treatments for it include: hydrogen peroxide straight from the bottle (it comes as a 3% solution). Or you can use baking soda solution: 1 teaspoon baking soda to 1 quart of water, plus a few drops of liquid dish soap. Or diluted milk: dilute the milk any where from 1:10 to 50:50 with water. Let it sit at room temperature for a few hours to culture, then spray on. Only use one of these at a time, but since it will have to be repeated every week or two, you can alternate them.
Serenade is a commercial organic fungicide. In pharmacies you can get potassium bicarbonate which is said to be more effective than sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Remove at least the worst affected leaves first before treating.
Prevention also includes spacing well for air circulation, watering only the soil, not the leaves, mulching to help prevent soil from splashing back on the leaves.
It looks more like downy mildew as well as powdery mildew. Sulfur will take care of powdery mildew but downy is a bit harder
If it occurs late, I harvest whatever cukes I can. If it occurs early, I won't get a good harvest anyway. If it involves more than just a few leaves that you can just cut off. I would start anew. Wait for drier weather and plant in a different spot if possible. You will probably need to do a weekly antifungal protection strategy. Neem oil would be ok for that if you don't go over 90 degrees and can spray in the morning while it is still cool.
I live in a very humid climate and Japanese cucumbers are preferred over American cukes.
Kitazawa has a number of heat, downy mildew, and powdery mildew resistant varieties. If they do get fungal disease it is usually later and enough time to get a good harvest of cucumbers first. I do like Diva (American burpless cucumber), Soarer, Progress, Suyo long, Summer Dance, and Tasty Jade. Japanese cucumbers can be rough and they can lose crispness quickly. They can be made into namasu, but they do not retain crispness for pickling.
https://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_cucumber.html
https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell. ... _Downy.htm
If it occurs late, I harvest whatever cukes I can. If it occurs early, I won't get a good harvest anyway. If it involves more than just a few leaves that you can just cut off. I would start anew. Wait for drier weather and plant in a different spot if possible. You will probably need to do a weekly antifungal protection strategy. Neem oil would be ok for that if you don't go over 90 degrees and can spray in the morning while it is still cool.
I live in a very humid climate and Japanese cucumbers are preferred over American cukes.
Kitazawa has a number of heat, downy mildew, and powdery mildew resistant varieties. If they do get fungal disease it is usually later and enough time to get a good harvest of cucumbers first. I do like Diva (American burpless cucumber), Soarer, Progress, Suyo long, Summer Dance, and Tasty Jade. Japanese cucumbers can be rough and they can lose crispness quickly. They can be made into namasu, but they do not retain crispness for pickling.
https://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_cucumber.html
https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell. ... _Downy.htm
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rainbowgardener
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I don't know....
Powdery mildew appears as spreading greyish-white spots that do look powdery:
As the disease progresses the leaves will get yellowed and torn.
Downy mildew appears as very discrete angular yellow spots that do not cross veins:
If it is downy mildew, the undersides of the leaves will have gray to black fuzz, making it look somewhat “dirty” or “velvet” appearance
Check for yourself. If there is downy mildew, that is very bad news; it is much more virulent and harder to manage than the powdery mildew. If there is any significant amount of downy mildew, I would just pull all of the plants and sanitize the area. Plant something different there that is not so susceptible. Basil and most of the leafy greens are susceptible. Tomatoes and carrots for example do not.
Powdery mildew appears as spreading greyish-white spots that do look powdery:
As the disease progresses the leaves will get yellowed and torn.
Downy mildew appears as very discrete angular yellow spots that do not cross veins:
If it is downy mildew, the undersides of the leaves will have gray to black fuzz, making it look somewhat “dirty” or “velvet” appearance
Check for yourself. If there is downy mildew, that is very bad news; it is much more virulent and harder to manage than the powdery mildew. If there is any significant amount of downy mildew, I would just pull all of the plants and sanitize the area. Plant something different there that is not so susceptible. Basil and most of the leafy greens are susceptible. Tomatoes and carrots for example do not.
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ZachBoyer
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After inspecting alittle better It looks like I do have both.
Since its still growing and producing can we continue to eat whatever grows or is it unhealthy or something. We will get another plant going inside this weekend but would still like to keep what we have going if possible.
p.s. This is in our standing garden so not much room to plant a cucumber in a different place.
Since its still growing and producing can we continue to eat whatever grows or is it unhealthy or something. We will get another plant going inside this weekend but would still like to keep what we have going if possible.
p.s. This is in our standing garden so not much room to plant a cucumber in a different place.
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applestar
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Typically plant fungal diseases will not affect human health. But as the plant ails and loses functional leaves, it will be less able to support production, and quality of the fruits may/will deteriorate as well.
Mostly though, the leaves are basically incubating fungal spores and could potentially threaten the next plant. So if you intend to grow more, then it might be just better choice to pull the plug on this one. I don’t have experience with cucumber downy mildew, but I have always heard that it is a bad one.
I suppose at least, continue to cut off and remove/dispose of all worst affected leaves while you nurse this one along — the plant should recognize its impending demise and pump out as much fruits as it can.
...maybe you could grow in a container? What variety are you growing? Some varieties are better suited for container culture than others.
Mostly though, the leaves are basically incubating fungal spores and could potentially threaten the next plant. So if you intend to grow more, then it might be just better choice to pull the plug on this one. I don’t have experience with cucumber downy mildew, but I have always heard that it is a bad one.
I suppose at least, continue to cut off and remove/dispose of all worst affected leaves while you nurse this one along — the plant should recognize its impending demise and pump out as much fruits as it can.
...maybe you could grow in a container? What variety are you growing? Some varieties are better suited for container culture than others.
Continue to cut off diseased leaves and harvest when you can. It would still be better to pull the entire plant as soon as possible. It would be better to plant another squash or cucurbit in a different place and start a weekly fungicide program while this plant is still around throwing off spores and while the weather remains humid. Select a variety with resistance to downy and powdery mildew.
