cucumber killer.

just when i thought my killing season eas over ive lost 2 more cucumber plants, both the same way squidgy at the base of the stem.
i did a bit of research on the net and found this.

Cucumbers
Have you ever had your cucumber plants collapse on you when they are fully grown and producing plenty of fruit? Well I have as well and though I have it very rarely, this season was worst than ever and itâ??s soul destroying to walk into the greenhouse to be met by limp foliage that eventually turn yellow and die. This is a bacterial disease called basal stem rot which has other common names as well such as soft rot, cucumber foot rot and canker. It affects the base of the stem, sometimes at soil or compost level, other times just below the soil level which makes it difficult for the uninitiated to understand what is happening as they just canâ??t find out why such a big plant is wilting. The immediate reaction is to give more water, exactly the same as one would when the brassica leaves wilt during the Summer when the roots have been eaten by the cabbage root fly; a complete waste of time.

If you scrape around the soil you will note that the stem is soft and the canker has destroyed the plants cells rendering it incapable of taking in any further moisture or nutrients. If you can catch it in time you can sometimes dust some flowers of sulphur over the brown area and then apply a moist peat mulch around and higher up the diseased area.

The problem with the all female cucumbers that most of us these days seem to grow is that they really require a minimum of 70°F whereas the older ordinary varieties would grow well at 60°F. This summer has certainly not been warm where I live and the cooler temperatures with the plants need for regular moisture at the roots as well as a surrounding humid atmosphere can cause the incidence of this disease. The two affected plants have now been removed and destroyed, shall I let you into a little secret, I shall be glad to see the back of this awful Summer.

maybe its not me who killed them but just the elements.

 

Hammer- Thank God you found that! 2 of my remaining 3 cucumbers have pathetically collapsed after I went on holiday and entrusted my dad with the watering - didn't want to blame him but the alternative was blaming myself! Next year i'll make little mounds and it will all be different! The annoying thing is I did get one cucumber to eat before they collapsed and it was really tasty - all the more so for being a brave survivor!

 

hi lost another one yesterday same thing soft at the base of the stem,it was the smallest of the bunch, but still go 4 others which are going great guns so if i get a edible cucumber this year il be well chuffed.
good fun this gardening lark.

 

Its my 1st year growing cucumbers i have had some bellters from a couple of f1s growed them in the conversatory took advice from daitheplant [david ] not overwatered and not watered near the stem.Other wise it could just have been lady luck

 

ive got 5 left in the green house they are nearly hitting the eves loads of cucs on em do i nip the growing tip out like toms or leave em.

 

"ive got 5 left in the green house"

FIVE?? You'll be eating Cucumber soup out of the freezer until the cows come home :D

I've trained the leader on mine along the ridge. It has hardly grown any side shoots, and the ones it has, down the bottom, haven't had any flowers on, so I'm reluctant to pitch the leader out.

 

Hammer, how big did you say your greenhouse was?:D:D

 

hi m8 ive got a glass one 8x6 and just got a norfolk greenhouse 8x6 but its not glass only that thinnish plastic sheets, they sell for 225 in argos my m8 bought it last year and gave up putting it up, so i gave him 60 pounds for it and it was a git to do but its up now but i dont think its as good as my glass one,which my mrs friend gave it to me for nothing.
just stopped raining here so ive gone mad on the slug pellets and nearly trod on 3 frogs-all good fun. :D:D:D

 

Hammer, with all those cucs, your greenhouse has already paid for itself. Good on yer.:thumb::D And don`t forget the frogs are your friends.

 

cheers dave just learning this year greenhouse wise, im happy at the mo i know ive made mistakes, but thanks to you good folk i can correct them.
about the frogs my mrs is petrified by em, thats why i take her for a walk after its been raining in the back yard. :D:D:D:D

 

Can anyone suggest where I'm going wrong with my cucumber. I only have 1 plant, and its the first I've ever grown. I have had plenty of potential cucumbers crop up, but as soon as they start growing they go yellow, and die, that happened to about the first four that formed. I then have 1 hugely succesful cuc. growing on the plant, and then after that about another 6 have failed like the others.

In case it was the watering issue as discussed in the earlier replies, I have built up a mound of soil, and ensure that I water around the stem (and not on it). I am growing it in a greenhouse.

Thanks.

 

Its normal for cucumber plants to "shed" flowers / baby fruits when they are carrying all the Cues they can. But carrying one doesn't sound like a full crop!

Pick that one as soon as its big enough to sue (don't let it get to Supermarket Size) and other fruit will set.

If you have more than one plant it evens out the crop. (Well, you probably don't want more than a couple of plants for an average family!)

 

do i cut the growing point off the cucumbers as there hitting the roof.
been watering mine morning and night was worried abt one as the base of the stem changed colour so i put more compost around it,seems to be doing fine.
had 2 good ones so far and they taste great.

 

I've trained mine along the roof of the greenhouse

 

so how long do you let em grow, like you said trained mine along the roof, is this ok to do,do you get a better crop.
just trying to learn.