Why, oh why, so yellow?I don't know what's wrong with my cucumbers. Does anybody have any advice? I know our weather is a little cool for cucumber preferences (upper 60s during the day and lower 50s at night). Is that the problem?
I have a confession to make. My first guess as to what's wrong was a lack of nitrogen. So I resorted to giving them a little Miracle Grow. It's like a strong injection, right in the arm...or so I would assume. I know it's bad, but I have an ancient stash of Miracle Grow. And I thought it might help, but after a week, they still have yellow leaves.
Lemon cucumbers are so cute, I wish I could figure out what the problem is. If anybody can help me figure out what's wrong, I would be very appreciative. This picture shows 2 "Pickling cucumbers" on the left and 2 lemon cucumbers on the right.
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8 comments:
I'm guessing a possible iron deficiency - the leaves are yellowing but still have green veins. The concrete that borders the soil could be leaching lime into the soil which is making iron or other minerals unavailable. Try testing the pH of the soil in that area.
Hi Jackie! I understand your frustration. Leaves can yellow from the cold temperatures, lack of nitrogen. Some of the leaves look infected. I would remove them. I don't think that applying Miracle-Gro will hurt. My Mom always kept magnezium and sprinkled the leaves of all vegetables with its weak solution when they looked not normal. They also recommend to water cucumbers with warm water, but I use cold water from a hose, and they look OK. Good luck!
Ít's me again. For magnesium, you can buy Epsom salts, "they encourage strong leaf growth, as well as producing luxuriant foliage on leafy shrubs and flowering plants. They help provide a rapid and long lasting source of magnesium for plants during the growing season and are ideal for counteracting leaf yellowing caused by magnesium deficiency and also improve magnesium levels in the soil". www.gardenhealth.com/
Oh my, they don't look good! It could be as simple as to much rain combined with the cool temps. My eggplants did this well there were in cell packs this spring. After planting them and with a little heat they turned green again. I would reduce watering if you are watering, top dress with some rich bagged compost and maybe even spray them down with some organic fertilizer as a foliar feed. Maybe your extension office could help out as well.
To answer your question about the dragon tongue beans, they were excellent. I cooked them for dinner tonight, first time tasting them and they were so good!
I wish I could send you some of my lemon cukes. They are nice. I'm hoping to see which of the offered solutions works best!
Thanks, everyone, for offering your suggestions! I have tried them all...all at once. Less watering (going from twice to only once a week), added iron from an organic source, and added some Epsom salts for magnesium. I wasn't sure how much salt to add to a gallon of water, so I guessed and used 1 Tbsp. I have my doubts about the survivability of the cucumbers. They continue to look worse everyday.
Hi Jackie - thanks for visiting my blog! I think your cukes have spider mites - that's what causing the dry looking areas. It's too bad it got so bad, maybe you can still salvage them, you might have to cut them off so they re-sprout. There's still time! I would put some steer manure or other mulch around them, and spray the undersides of the foliage with plain water. Don't you be going using all kinds of chemical quick fixes, that's what gets you in trouble!
Hi Blue Fox, I think you are right about the spider mites! I looked on the underside of the leaves and saw tiny little reddish creatures. I decided to pull the plants...they were heavily infested. I think the mites may have spread to my beans behind them. I really appreciate your diagnosis!
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