Cucumbers have yellowed leafs

Our cucumbers already look like they're giving up! Leaves are yellowing. Anyone know the problem?

Mine died from lack of water. I couldn't keep them watered enough.

I was told they are a bit touchy...to much water and they go, to hot and they go, to dry and they go. I lost mine to irratic weather. I am going to try again in sept. I also was told that sometimes the male flowers come on first and are gone before the female flowers are ready, then you get no cukes. I will be watching this to see what causes the yellowing and giving up. It is curious to me...I grew cukes when I was young and it is seemed really easy. But then we had better weather, and busy bees.

If they look normal other than they are yellow try giving them a boost of nitrogen. The leaves can turn yellow and they will be stunted if they don't have enough.

I've found cuke plants like to be frequently watered once they get going, especially in a hot climate. I also consider them a sort of part-shade plant during the summer here in Texas. I plant in large, well mulched, light colored containers (3 plants per 10 to 15 gal container), put them in a full sun area, but later move to a part shade location when the blast furnace kicks in. This is what I've found works best (for me) in keeping them going as long as possible. I guess they could also be protected with shade cloth to keep them going, or planted out in Spring in an area that is good sun at the time, but that you know will get more shade as the sun angle changes later in the season, like maybe close to a fence or a large tree canopy, etc.

I also fertilize with slow release/granulated fertilizer every couple of weeks. This is especially important in the containers, but your mileage may vary a little if you are growing in "dirt". In any case, they still need to be occasionally fed with something (organic or not, depending on your preferences). Yellow leaves could mean many things. Not enough nutrients, too much or not enough water, etc. If it's just a few at the bottom of the plant (normal as the plants get older), you may not need to be overly concerned, though.

If the soil is constantly sodden even at the surface, that would be too much water. OTOH, if you're letting several inches below the surface dry out between waterings, that would be too dry for cukes. If it's been a while since you've fed them, they may need it.

Btw, I do two plantings for cukes - one for spring, and one for fall crop. Fall seeds are generally sowed sometime in August. Cukes are generally a great spring and fall crop here in Texas. Summers may sometimes be a little fiddly and require some sun protection and extra water. Mine don't always make it though our summers despite my best efforts, and besides I like to start with fresh plants for fall. :-) Hope this gives you some ideas.

Oh gosh--wish you lived closer to me! I could overwhelm you with cukes! After just two pickings, I have over thirty cukes in the fridge waiting for me to make pickles or relish. This will be one of those years my friends may not open their door to me if they see me with a bag in my hand, LOL!

Gosh, I wish she lived nearer me too!! I wish I had checked here earlier. I'm so excited that mine might have a chance. Thanks, and Happy Saturday!!

Alrighty, I spent considerable time trying to figure out if my cukes were over watered, under watered, parched, or lacking nitro. I hope which ever, or all, they aren't 'done'. So, I scratched around them, removed grass/weeds. What I found was tons of ants and my neighbor gave me some 'natural' stuff for ants that he uses. Then, I made a tonic with EP, nitro and tomato/veggi fert. Checked back a few mins ago and they look better already. The biggest problem I have with all my plants is ants. Do any of you have the problem and, if so, what do you do? My neighbor uses something called Yarden-Extra, that his sister buys and they split, so he doesn't have the container and I cannot find it online...

Edit: I could not find the product online because is privately marketed.

This message was edited Jun 28, 2008 4:38 PM

I've never heard of that product. I use Green Light which is organic for bugs. I noticed sometimes it works and sometimes it dosen't. LOL!!! I've also used diatamaceous earth successfully before.

Yep, I used DE, several years ago, but I never saw worthy results, and the downside wasn't good either, so I never used it again. What I failed to mention about my cukes is that they had powdery mildew and I used 1/4 strength Rose Pharm. I used it before daylight and I expect/think it fried the cuke leaves. Regret that I failed to mention that up front. I wish I had not used it, now, but the powdery mildew was rather severe. I wonder if I should remove the fried leaves???

FWIW, something that I did yesterday made a world of difference in my cukes, it looks like I have not killed them yet. I think that the product I used for powdery mildew was the problem. I've never had powdery mildew on the cukes previously - is there something organic I can use, I'd love a homemade recipe, if there is one. I did remove as many fried leaves as I could.

I have found that cornmeal tea will help with powdery mildew. Soak one to 1.5 cups of cornmeal per five gallons of warm (not scalding hot) water for an hour or two, then throughly strain (so that the tea will not clog up your sprayer) and spray on all surfaces of plants. As with most things, it is best used as a preventative. Really, the best preventative is to keep the foliage as dry as possible, which I realize may not always be practical since we can't control the weather. ;o)

Removing the diseased leaves is also helpful.

Regarding ant control, DE seems to work well for me. Another product you can use is orange oil diluted with water and used as a soil drench, read label for correct proportions. The orange oil can be found in better nurseries or at places like Lowes/HD, etc. in the organic garden products section.

This message was edited Jun 29, 2008 5:37 PM