I found several references online to misshapen cukes, all with the same general information. Here are quotes from a couple of them: *** Q. Some of my small cucumbers are badly misshapen. Will they develop into normal cucumbers? A. No. They should be removed from the vines. Misshapen cucumbers may result from poor pollination or low fertility. Side-dressing with a complete fertilizer may help later cucumbers to develop normally. ---- Question: Our cucumbers are small and misshapen -- some are curled into a "C" -- and the flavor is bitter. Why is this happening, and is there anything we can do to improve the crop? Answer: The curling could be due to poor pollination or physical damage to the young cucumber. Cucumber fruits are composed of three interior segments or locules. For the cucumber to grow straight, all the seeds in each locule need to be properly pollinated. If one of the locules doesn't develop normally (because of improper pollination or physical damage to the fruit while it's still young) and the other two continue growing, then the cucumber will be curled. Growing cucumbers on the ground can also cause curling. Young cucumbers are growing so fast that if a stem or stick gets in the way, the fruit is forced to grow around it. Trellis your cucumber plants to avoid this problem. Bitterness is often related to water stress. Cucumbers grow quickly once pollinated. If there is any water stress during this period of rapid growth, they will tend to taste bitter. To avoid stress, water the plants deeply once or twice a week, letting the water soak at least six inches deep into the soil, and mulch with hay or straw to conserve moisture. *** Good luck!

If you'd browse through the many other cucumber problem posts here right now you would find that many are in the same boat as you and that the primary problem is simply too much rain/water. The plant tissues simply can't cope with it without splitting and cells in the leaves rupture and die. Depending on how well your soil drains will determine how severe the problem is. Those with raised beds or in containers seem to be faring a bit better. Then as the humidity develops along comes the mildews and fungus diseases. Since we can't control the weather there is little anyone can do except coax the plants through until the weather hopefully normalizes or re-plant. IMO replanting offers the best odds. Dave

Before spraying anything proper identification of the problem is necessary. Even though the product is supposed to be an "organic" pesticide it is very broad spectrum that should only be used as a last resort product. This disclaimer on the label should give every organic gardener pause, " Controls a wide range of mite and insect pests such as (but not limited to): " The "white fluffy looking bugs" that might be mealy bugs can be controlled as easily as the Aphids they are related to with sharp streams of water. The white spots on the leaves need better identification since that could be Powdery Mildew, or something else.

We have bees year-round so I imagine you will too. They really are starved for something to eat in the winter and spend the whole day foraging. I try to keep some sort of cool-season flower, cover crop or weed blooming for them. Sometimes I use hummingbird feeders without bee guards as bee feeders in winter. I've noticed for well over a decade now that when I put out cracked corn for the mourning doves, the bees feed on it, though I am not sure how they do it. That's especially true in the dead of winter, but also in every other part of the year as well. Buckwheat is wonderful and clover attracts many bees and other pollinators as well. Clover also is a cool-season crop, but I have little bits of clover here and there in shady areas that survives almost year round. Sometimes it dies back in mid-summer. Some of it was blooming last week behind the barn but I haven't looked at it lately because all I've done for far too long is harvest, can, harvest, can, harvest and can. It is amazing how much changes in the garden if you are only stepping foot in it a couple of times a week to harvest. I had a volunteer plant pop up in the back garden about a month ago. It is an Armenian cucumber. The cool thing is that it popped up in the middle of a hill of summer squash plants and it is growing over them, through them and around them. Their foliage is mixed it with the cuke foliage, and these plants are producing a nice harvest. I also haven't seen a squash bug or SVB near them. (Now that I said that, I'll go out tomorrow and discover SVBs have killed them all because that is how gardening works.) Say "I haven't seen a cucumber beetle all year...." and a million show up the next day. It will be interesting to see if the squash pests avoid the squash plants growing with the Armenian cuke (which, you may remember, is a melon and not a cucumber). I've often wondered if I could hide other summer squash and winter squash plants by planting them in the middle of Seminole plants. I haven't really tried it because the Seminole is such a rampant grower that I think it likely would smother any other nearby plants. Bon, Fred often complains to me that he doesn't have bees and I just don't get it because he is less than a mile from us. I know he does have them when the fruit trees are blooming. My garden is so filled with bees and wasps that some of my friends don't want to step foot it in. I work out there in it all the time and haven't been stung by a bee or wasp in the garden in years. Of course, if I was allergic to them, their presence would be a problem. And, of course, often people who don't have plentiful bees and pollinators have brought it on themselves by spraying broad-spectrum insecticides, which is something I avoid doing specifically for the sake of the bees and other beneficials. I planted my cukes late, trying to ensure I wouldn't have to start canning pickles while trying to finish up the canning of all the tomatoes. I checked the cucumber plants this morning and think it is going to work out as planned. The tomato crop is really winding down and I'm through canning salsa, and the cucumbers are in bloom. That is, of course, assuming disease or pests don't suddenly hit the cukes. In a garden, anything can happen. Dawn