Beginner Gardening: What's happening to my cucumbers?, 3 by craftydreamr

craftydreamr wrote:
Hello all, this is my first year attempting a garden. I have two 4x4 square foot garden boxes, and a post with two Topsy Turvy strawberry planters hanging on it. I also have canteloupe and watermelon plants planted up against the house just in the regular dirt. All of my plants (besides the watermelons and canteloupes) are planted in a mixture of ProMix, Vermiculite and compost. I read a book on square foot gardening, and this was supposed to be a great combination, or so it said. Anyhow...my plants are infested with all kinds of different bugs. Not sure what exactly but I'm always flipping bugs off of the plant leaves. Onto my cucumbers....I have them planted in a hanging Topsy Turvy planter. This holds 15 plants and is about 2-1/2 foot tall, maybe 10 inches around or so. At first, they were growing great, vining out everywhere. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed the smaller leaves on the plants turning yellow. I didn't think much about it, because they all were doing it. I just pinched the leaf off, and went on. Lately though, it seems that even more leaves are doing this. They turn yellow, then brown, then dry out. I don't really see any white spots...I've researched powdery mildew and I don't think that's whats going on, but this is my first go around so I could definitely be wrong. Also, the one bigger cucumber that's on there is curving, and the part closest to the stem doesn't seem to be growing, but the bottom of it is filling out. It's strange.....Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!