Help! What is wrong with my cukes?

13 years ago

Hi,

I've been looking around in the forums and cannot figure out what is happening to my cukes. After planting, they always seem to do well until they start bearing fruit. The leaves then quickly start drying up and dying off.

Now, I'm noticing that new fruit shrivels and dies before it even grows to about an inch.

There is no sign of frass, so I don't think it's squash vine borer, which I've had in the past.

Here is a photo:
{{gwi:80687}}From gardening

Thanks for your help!

Gumbeauxgal

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Comments (11)

gardendawgie
13 years ago
I do not know what your problem is. I am not a cuc grower. However, a friend who is a cuc grower told me that the cucumber bugs can infect the plants with a virus or germ or something that kills them. She recognizes the problem early and trys to get them out of the garden immediately and plants new plants or seeds. She said there is no way to save the plants so she gets them out before they spread the infection.

I have no idea if what you have is the same or different. But like she said something gets them and kills the plants before you get any cucs. So the end result is similar. Maybe the cause is similar. I do not know.

She did say how she recognizes the problem. The leaves on the infected plant droop like they have no water. She does not water them. She tears them out immediately. Of course all her other cuc plants look just fine.

Maybe do some google searchs on cucumber diseases on the internet.
scarletdaisies
13 years ago
Cucumber bacteria wilt I think is what you are talking about. The leaves on yours looks dry and brittle and if it were bacteria wilt, they would die all at once, but I might be wrong. Look into Bacteria wilt and see if the symptoms are similar to yours. I had a squash plant die of it, all at once without warning, all the leaves and stems dropped straight to the ground, whithered and without any life, but they weren't yet dry.
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organicislandfarmer
13 years ago
I think its sunburn, I have other cucurbit plants do this also. Its wicked hot right now. As for your cucs not growing past an inch I would assume its a pollination issue. I get baby cukes and squashes all the time that the pollination doesnt seem to take. Cucumber blossoms are so small that hand pollination is hard too. You need bees, wasps or other pollinators to do that work for you. Also all my cucumber plants were trellised vertically and the plants died starting with the lowest leaves and working upward. Neem oil is good for preventing this. I believe its a combination of squash bugs, white powdery mildew and inconsistent watering!
nc_crn
13 years ago
It's getting way too hot for cukes in your area...they're probably crapping out.

Check out the cucumber-tasting melon "armenian cucumber" which can put up with the heat.
samsthumb
13 years ago
Check back of leaves for spidermites.
calliope
13 years ago
I was thinking mites too, sam.
gumbeauxgal
Original Author
13 years ago
You guys are smart! I looked under the leaves and found some silken web-like sacs under the leaves. Now I've got to decide whether to treat or just yank them.

For those who suggested bacteria, I did snap off a few stems and put them in water to see if I also had bacterial wilt. No milky substance after 20 mins in water.

Thanks to everyone who responded!
jean001
13 years ago
"some silken web-like sacs under the leaves" do not indicate a spider mite diagnosis.

Beyond that, the leaf looks more like cultural problems. Drying at the edges of the leaf often means insufficient water for whatever reason.
nc_crn
13 years ago
In zone 10 you're going to be hard pressed to get cukes to thrive in mid-late June+.

If they're not harvesting by now they're way behind for the season.
calliope
13 years ago
Jean is right that you won't find 'egg sacs' with a spider mite infestation. Webbing possibly but not sacs. Those are the good guys. I mentioned mites because they are a big issue with growers, especially in cukes raised under glass. I am not, however, familiar with gardening in your zone. I looked it up and you are in an 'off season' for growing cukes in your zones. Cukes are heat lovers BTW, but our zone six summers are different than your zone ten ones, and water needs go hand-in-hand with heat. And this very well could be cultural afterall.
gumbeauxgal
Original Author
13 years ago
Sorry for the misinformation, everyone. I live in Zone 11. I never felt like I fit the description for Zone 10, but only recently found a zone map by zip code. I am definitely in Zone 11 -- we are barely 75 - 80 degrees most days and darned chilly at night. (I hate that.) Since moving here from Louisiana in '03, I've always harvested cukes through August with no problems.

Re: what I called sacs weren't really sacs. Just webbing spun under the leaves. I smushed them and couldn't see anything. THe only spiders I seem to have around here are black widows, which I kill religiously.