Are my Cukes just suffering from the heat?

Or is this something else? It looks a bit like pictures of downy mildew I've seen... I've been spraying with a solution of baking soda, oil, water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid. It's been in the high 90s here for several weeks, even up into the low 100s a couple of weeks back. I've included some pics from my squash plant (tromboncino) as well, as it seems to be having the same problem, jut not to the degree as the cucumbers.

Thanks for you help..... Cody

My cukes look like your first photo, without the brown border. Not sure why either. I've had to replant three times. Wondered if the seeds were bad or if the soil was lacking something. We've had soooo much rain. Maybe that's it.

I think it's too much sun and heat. I would cover them with some sort of shade if you can. Also, if your not against it, I'd also add some Miracle grow to your water. If your soil is lacking, because of rain and wash off, this would ammend it. Or add some worm castings around the bottom of the plants. Don't spray when it's sunny, because that will cook them.

Very familiar looking! So I'd say the weather is a very likely culprit as my plants have had the same weather. I've been pruning more heavily this year than last year, and I think it is helping. Especially on my squash I cut off leaves as soon as they get yucky looking like that and I really think it benefits the plant. Seeing what Acara does to his tomatoes and some YouTube videos that have been posted on here of a guy who stakes zucchini and prunes off everything below the fruit finally convinced me that I'm not going to kill plants by cutting off sick and dying leaves.

What kind of cukes are you growing and are they giving you anything? I've only gotten fruit from my Poona Kheera this year and even that shut down for a while before the cool front last week started things back up again. I've got a square with Poinsett 76 and one with an Armenian Serpent Melon and neither one has produced a single fruit!

Just started seeing Powdery Mildew a couple of days ago. Have been doing preventative sprays with neem oil and some "Organicide" I found on clearance at one of the big box stores. Still, this is the same week I discovered PM last year! But I didn't know exactly what I was looking for then and there's a lot less of it than there was when I started fighting it last year, so maybe this time I'll beat it. Oh, and the PM is on the healthy looking leaves at this point.

I'm not getting much from the cukes.... They are True Lemon

They're blooming like crazy, and so far only one small fruit has shown up. I'm thinking of trying to build some kind of sun shade and use the trellis frame as a support. I've been pruning, too as the leaves die off, but they've really started to die like crazy lately! I haven't seen much PM... much less than last year when it was so rainy!

My summer squash leaves get brown edges like that where the leaves rub each other when the wind is blowing. Lots of wind lately and it has been very dry as well. I too prune off any discolored leaves since I read a post here, I can't remember who posted it . My cucs have begun to pale a bit so I am giving them worm tea. I have gotten a few delicious fruits already, enough to make me crave more.

a0628h0427 wrote:I'm not getting much from the cukes.... They are True Lemon

They're blooming like crazy, and so far only one small fruit has shown up. I'm thinking of trying to build some kind of sun shade and use the trellis frame as a support. I've been pruning, too as the leaves die off, but they've really started to die like crazy lately! I haven't seen much PM... much less than last year when it was so rainy!

One thing I found was my first flush of flowers was male (no fruit) but once the female flowers (growing on the end of a tiny cucmber) started blooming, the bees and other pollinators came in and did their job. If you have female blossoms and the fruit is shriveling, perhaps they are not getting pollinated. Have you considered hand pollinating?

Male Cucumber flower - NO fruit on the base of the flower




Female Cucumber flower - Cucumber on the base of the flower

Furbalsmom -- I will take a look tomorrow and see what I've got.

I guess my Poinsett76 just needed to be called out publicly on the lack of production...finally saw a female flower today...up above the top of the 5 foot trellis! Also happy to report that the Poona Kheera is back in full production. I know they put forth male flowers first, but it's been weeks and weeks of blossoms with nothing to show for it, except for the Poona Kheera.

I'll trade you arugula for cukes! :-)

a0628h0427 wrote:I'll trade you arugula for cukes! :-)

LOL We're just now getting used to chard in this house...I think arugula would be a bit of a stretch!

Arugula's not that bad if you cook it into something like a frittata or if you saute it, but in a salad it definitely has a peppery bite!

I definitely have some female flowers popping up as well! Last night, I had three cucumbers about the size of an egg, with what looked like more on the way.

However, I did find some powdery mildew on the undersides of the lower leaves... looks like the baking soda's not doing the trick. I'll be on the way to pick up some Neem oil after work today...

Yay for the female flowers. Cucumbers on the way