I have similar problems with my greenhouse grown cukes. One year I did call Extension Service and was told to feed with two things. One I'm pretty sure was bone meal. Whatever combo it was worked. I have never been able to remember the other and when I called Ext. Serv. again no one knew what to tell me. And of course, I couldn't remember who I talked to. (There is no Ext. Serv. where I live, so I've never gotten acquainted!) I would surely like to find out what that other thing was!

Howdy Planto. Glad you're well. Actually, I was very ill beginning in July, got worse in August. Feeling better now. Ingredients. For Scale, FE alone does the job, but preventing/ridding other insects such as Mites, I mix a bunch of home-made ingredients together. Water 2-4 drops dish soap...'not liquid Dawn.' Garlic Hot Pepper Citrus peel or juice Listerine, 'mouthwash.' If absolutely necessary, cigarette butts..I do not recommend cigs, but it's a sure way to kill unwanted insects. Cig butts is the only ingredient that can be harmful to a plant. I prefer organic...refuse chemicals. Now, if I can find a way to rid Mealy! lol. For years, my plants have been insect free. I spray w/above ingredients every other week, minus cig butts and FE. Before hauling plants indoors before winter, each plant is sprayed w/this concoction plus FE. Because FE works as an organic fertilizer, I consider FE to work as a last feeding before winter. BTW, when plants are sprayed every other week, all but FE and cigs is included. I only use FE in spring and autumn, unless a newly shipped plant happens to be scale infested. Works for my plants w/o nasty chemicals. Toni

Are you growing these indoors or out? To be honest, they look perfectly fine to me - I don't see any obvious sign of disease and a few insect holes in leaves are insignificant. The peppers look like they are starting to develop fruit....are the tomatoes and others flowering as well?. Might still be a bit early for zukes. You may have whitefly, especially if these are growing indoors. The plant extracts like your current spray are decent enough repellents but they don't often control pests otherwise (little kill potential). You may want to try sticky traps for the whiteflies or graduate to a contact insecticide like insecticidal soap. btw, it may be helpful to go back into your member profile and adjust your location to reflect Australia. WA is the abbreviation for Washington State here in the US and it could be confusing :-) I was trying to figure out how you had tomatoes looking that good coming up on November!!

Alrighty then. The finger in the soil, I forgot to mention until after I submitted. How does it normally feel? Believe it or not - plants recover more easily from wilting (not enuff water) than from too much water (drowning). When troubleshooting any problem, I believe in starting with the basics (usu. the easy stuff) also easy to overlook. Rule stuff in or out. So watering is a good place to start. I would also encourage you to talk to your neighbor. Just a casual conversation complimenting them on their plants and maybe comparing yours. Ask what they think? You would be surprised at times even talking with someone who has NO understanding of what you are doing (say the janitor) will often not be biased and point out what is obvious to them, it does work. About the Mel's mix - I have never used it and never made my own. When I think of "Mel's mix" - to me if it isn't the purchased "Mel's mix" then it should be called "MY MIX". Even following the recipe to the letter, to me, is a home mix. But I wouldn't make that leap just yet, unless there are some deviations in how you made it. Certainly, only you can determine that. If you made a cake from scratch - would you call it Betty Crocker? -- They are all intermixed in 4 beds. A better understanding of this and/or a picture would be helpful. Notice any powdery mildew? Look under (backside) the affected leaves for insects? Anything stand out? Maybe just a closer inspection in general? Something else affecting the roots? Moles/voles/chipmunks tunneling thru the roots? For every thing there is a reason. Good Luck, Gumby_CT