These common cucumber woes are easy to correct
While cucumbers are a fairly easy crop to grow, gardeners may occasionally face some troublesome issues with this vine vegetable. Planting cucumber seeds or transplants into garden soil amended with lots of compost will definitely result in healthier, more productive plants. But even with the best care, sometimes things still go wrong. Here's a list of some of the most common cucumber woes and easy, effective solutions you can implement if any of them become an issue in your garden.
Wilting vines: If one day your cucumber vines seem happy and healthy, but the next they're wilted and dying, your vines are likely infected with bacterial wilt. This pathogen is transmitted by the cucumber beetle, a common garden pest across much of the country. When the beetle feeds on the plant, the bacteria is transmitted to the plant. Once infected, there's no cure, so the key to combating bacterial wilt is prevention. Plant only bacterial resistant varieties, such as “Diva,” “Marketmore 76,” “Salad Bush” and “County Fair.” You should also keep young cucumber plants covered with floating row cover (available at local garden centers) for the first few weeks of their life. Remove the cover only when the plants come into flower to allow access to pollinators. The cover will keep the beetles off the plants.
Deformed cucumbers: If your cucumber vines develop fruit, but the cukes are shriveled and deformed at one end, the problem is probably poor pollination. Cucumbers produce separate male and female flowers on each vine. Bees and other pollinators need to move the pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers. Each female flower must be visited dozens of times in order for a full-sized fruit to develop. If planting flowers in your veggie patch doesn't increase the number of pollinators present to move the pollen, you can take matters into your own hand by transferring pollen from the male flowers (with the straight flower stalks) to the female flowers (with the swollen flower stalks) every morning. Use a soft paint brush for the job.
Powdery splotches on the leaves: If the leaves of your cucumber plants look like they've been dusted with talcum powder, a fungal pathogen called powdery mildew is probably to blame. The good news is that powdery mildew is largely an aesthetic issue and seldom affects the production of the plants. But, if you want to keep your cucumber vines free of this fungal issue, plant only powdery mildew-resistant varieties and space the plants properly (12 to 18 inches apart) to allow for good air circulation.
Too many leaves and not much fruit: If your cucumber vines grow like crazy but the plants don't produce many flowers or fruits, there's a good chance your soil contains too much nitrogen. If you regularly fertilize with nitrogen-rich fertilizers, whether synthetic or natural, this will generate excessive shoot growth at the expense of flower and fruit production. If you suspect this is may be the case, a soil test from the Penn State Extension Service can confirm it and suggest how to remedy the situation.
Leaves or fruits develop lesions, spots, or splotches: If the foliage or fruits of your cucumber vines begin to develop obvious or unusual imperfections or discoloration, a disease may be to blame. There are several viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens that affect cucumber plants, though some are more common than others. Anthracnose, cucumber mosaic virus, leaf spot and root wilt can all strike your cucumber patch from time to time. Though there is no cure for many of these diseases, most do not return in subsequent years, if you follow a few precautions: don't plant your cucumbers in the same location for four years; clean up diseased plant debris immediately and toss it into the garbage or burn pile; keep plants well watered during times of drought; mulch the vines with 2 inches of shredded leaves, straw or leaf compost; and if possible, always plant several cucumber varieties in your garden, not just one. That way, if one variety succumbs to a pathogen, the others will hopefully continue to grow.
Horticulturist Jessica Walliser co-hosts “The Organic Gardeners” at 7 a.m. Sundays on KDKA Radio with Doug Oster. She is the author of several gardening books, including “Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control” and “Good Bug, Bad Bug.” Her website is jessicawalliser.com.
Send your gardening or landscaping questions to tribliving@tribweb.com or The Good Earth, 622 Cabin Hill Drive, Greensburg, PA 15601.
