cucumber question

The cucumbers in my SFG do not look healthy - pale leaves and some of the just formed cucumbers are yellow. Also, the cucumbers are not getting big although the plants are growing well - nearly 5 ft. tall. Used Mel's mix in my raised SFG - used only 3 types of compost cotton seed, cow manure and a commercial compost. My tomatoes, bell peppers and tomatoes in the same box are doing well and look green and healthy. Have probably 30 small tomatoes on 6 plants and several small bell peppers on 4 plants. I water every evening. What do you guys think?

I'm sorry to say I don't know anything about cucumbers, but I wanted to share that I read that watering in the morning is a better idea than watering at night because of slugs.

Sounds like you have a nitrogen problem and need to put some blood meal on them. Also watering in the morning would help as well. If you are in Southern Lousianna I would say on days like today you should water them twice a day.

I'm in mobile, alabama and at least 3 to 4 times a week I water twice a day if the temps are over 80. However, saying that I also have a drip irrigation for my beds.

Here is a picture of some cucumbers I picked today. My plants did the same things yours are doing. Besides the blood meal I also cut off any really yellow leaves or any dead ones. This will help the plant get stronger.

Where do I find out what plant requires which nutrient???

Here's one website I found on nutrients but I would welcome any additional advice:
http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/2009/02/chemistry-of-gardening-what-nutrients.html

My cucumber plants are doing the same thing... they are flowering, but are small and the leaves are pale. This is the same problem I am having with my squash, melons and corn too.......are all these plants in need of nitrogen, is that whats wrong???

The only plants that are growing like crazy are my beans and onions.

Rebecca

Rebecca - That is what it sounds like to me but I can't be sure. I did the same thing to my squash as well. When I made my first two 4x4 boxes I didn't have the hen compost I found later. It is higher in nitrogen that the other compost. My boxes with the hen compost are producing great. The ones that didn't have it I have added the blood meal to it and it has made a big difference.

The way I put my blood meal around my plants was to get a gallon milk jug. Put 2 tsp of blood meal in jug and fill with water. Shake it well. I drilled holes in my lid and just sprinke/pour the mixture around the plant roots. This has been my solution to the yellowing of my plants and it has worked. I used this mixture for 4 squares.

Seems to me that alot of the compost people get has little to no nitrogen in them. An example would be Black Kow Manure Compost (NPK 0.5 - 0.5 - 0.5). It only has 0.5 nitrogen. The hen compost (NPK 2.0 - 3.0- 2.0) I mentioned earlier has 2.0 nitrogen. The nitrogen was the one ingredient in all the other compost I used that was really low on.

So you could try the blood meal on a plant or two and compare.

argardener wrote:Where do I find out what plant requires which nutrient???


Rebecca

Click on the worm icon in my siggy -- when the page opens scroll down to find other veggies.

argardener wrote:Where do I find out what plant requires which nutrient???

Here's one website I found on nutrients but I would welcome any additional advice:
http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/2009/02/chemistry-of-gardening-what-nutrients.html

Great link! Thanks!