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Vegetable Gardening

Cucumbers Wilting?

12 years ago

Hi - I put up a small greenhouse this winter (26'x48') and built raised beds for all my plants (i.e. good soil / compost). Things seemed to be going great until yesterday when I noticed a couple of my cucumber plants (heirloom Boston Pickling, Hybrid Masada) starting to wilt, then today a couple more. I pulled all affected plants. It does not appear to be bacterial wilt / cucumber beetle since I have seen no beetles and it does not exhibit the sticky, oozy fluid when the stems are cut (it is clear and watery). I do not heat the greenhouse and we recently had some lower temps down to about 43 degrees but I keep it cooled to approx 80-85 degrees during the day. I have seen a few "stink bugs" and not sure if they could destroy plants so quickly. The roots were clean and not rotting (i.e. not over watered). Not sure we can post pictures but I do have it possible. Thanks in advance.

Wayne

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Comments (3)

PRO
little sur farm
12 years ago
Mine will wilt quite a bit during the day to the point that the leaves loose all shape and just sag. If i give them a drink they will immediately start to perk up. They will on there own later in the day but if im around ill give them a bit of water to ease the stress. They have thin leaves that dont hold alot of moisture. Especially in the summer. Good luck.
brownew304
Original Author
12 years ago
Bigduff - thanks for the info. I'm hoping that's the case and will do as you suggest!
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No, I wish!!! Temps are in the mid to upper 90's daily, going to 70's or so at night. The humidity is a killer. The vines droop to almost nothing. Actually, one of the vines that had the vine shoots rotting off simply fell off the trellis today. I lost all patience and cut that sucker off. We had a light misting rain tonight and the other vines look a bit better. I may give them a few days before writing them off alltogether. However, I'm still curious as to what would make the vining part of the plant just turn brown and wither and not the stem itself. There are no bugs or pests present, but I have noticed a certain carpenter bee that has claimed the plant as his own.
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Have you looked to see if those plants have the Squash Vine Borer?
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beeman_gardener
12 years ago
It's quite remarkable how little water both cucumbers and tomatoes need.
I over watered mine last year in the greenhouse and killed them. This year I've used a 'Plant Nanny' watering spike for both types of plants and the results are remarkable.
The spikes used 1 litre pop bottles and I've only filled them twice so far.
The tomatoes are heading to 5th truss and I have 4 cucs forming on a large plant. Over watering can be a major problem!

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