Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Sleepingpopman on May 12, 2017, 08:26
-
Morning all. I bought a cucumber plant from local G/C & was lucky to get 2 very healthy plants in the same pot, (a bogof.) When I got them home I re-potted them into 2 slightly bigger pots & put them in the kitchen window where they've grown up to about 5" tall, this week I've been putting them outside in the day & moving them back in at night but not in a heated room, to harden off before going into unheated g/h. Yesterday pm I noticed that they were wilting a bit & the leaves had got a yellow tinge so I moved them inside & gave them a drop of water, this morning they are still looking poorly but not as bad. Do you think the sun was a bit strong for them or could they be suffering with wind burn, as the wind picked up in the afternoon & do you think I would be better to start with a new plant again. I look forward to any comments. Keith.
-
The wind can do an awful lot of damage and cucumbers are notorious for being suicidal.
I don't like to give up on a plant till it looks very sick.
-
What sort are they, Sleep?
-
When you say you're putting them out, does that mean outside in the open? If so, shouldn't they be going out to the greenhouse during the day, if that's their final destination. It's still a bit nippy outside for cucumbers.
-
Hi folks. Thanks for your comments. the cucumbers are Burpless Green & I was putting them out in the g/h daily & bringing back in at night but with it been so hot in g/h this week I put them outside in the sun, it wasn't till later in the day that noticed how the wind had picked up in the part of the garden where they were.
-
you may have spoken harshly to them there get upset quick an die lol
-
You don't really need to harden them off if you're going to put them in an unheated greenhouse, Sleep.
If they're too big, then pop them into the GH and perhaps wrap them on cold nights, but although cuces normally try and die automatically, you should be fine just taking care of them like that!
(We've lost about a dozen so you're among friends)!
-
Once again many thanks for your comments, I have left them in the G/h & will give
them a few days to see if they improve.
-
As Paul Plots pointed out in another thread, sudden changes in temperature murder these. So, however well you tried, with the recent weather, you probably did wrong.
Hardening off, you do in fair weather. On the other hand as Growster says, you don't need to harden off, if they are gh plants. As it were, I do not harden off my outdoor plants of cucurbits in general. Just open the windows/doors on them and only put them out in June.
-
Sounds to me your mistake was moving them in and out.
I would leave them in the greenhouse, but out of strong full sun while they are just starting out.
remember, not to overwater them, they must not dry out, but too much water at the base will rot the stems.
Give the soil level a moist regularly watering and mist the leaf area.
You say they are 5 inch tall, that's big for this time of year, most will have only been going a few weeks or early April and will be a few inches with a new growth starting above their first two leaves.
If they are 5 inches tall I would be putting them in their final position in the greenhouse.
For me outside would be fine now, but would leave till later this month for up North for outside.
Still plenty of time to go and grow from seed, cucumbers germinate in 7 days.
Just curious, what variety are they?
-
We bought some Cucumber plants recently - Snack Box 'Cucino' and lost them in similar circumstances to what has been mentioned. Consolation that we are not alone , but frustrating never the less. Will try again as we had a reasonable harvest last year and they are good for the packed lunch.
-
We bought some Cucumber plants recently - Snack Box 'Cucino' and lost them in similar circumstances to what has been mentioned. Consolation that we are not alone , but frustrating never the less. Will try again as we had a reasonable harvest last year and they are good for the packed lunch.
It's been an odd year for getting cuces to start, and I still keep peering at our plants, expecting them to keel over, and curl up, but fingers crossed, we may get some survivors now.
It'll work out at roughly three quid a cuce..:0)
-
My Plants are in an unheated polytunnell here in South Wales, plenty of protection from wind, but some of the leaves are turning yellow, then white and dying off. any ideas why?
-
Cuc's will keel over given half a chance . Do you water from the top ?
I find all small cucubits are best stood in a shallow saucer and watered sparingly from that.
Even full grown cuc's are best watered away from the main stem. Water should be at room temp or warmer not from a cold main tap.
-
My Plants are in an unheated polytunnell here in South Wales, plenty of protection from wind, but some of the leaves are turning yellow, then white and dying off. any ideas why?
Cold and stem rot are just two of the things which will kill off young cukes, but I used to find than even when established, the plants still grew but the leaves quickly developed white patches, dried off, and died, as did the whole plant eventually.
Can't be 100% sure of this, especially as no-one else has mentioned having the same problem, but extra feeding has made a big difference in the past few years. Try a liquid feed - it won't hurt and may fix the problem.
-
thanks I will try that
-
Morning all.
Just a quick update on my original question. I have planted 1 of the 2 plants into
it's large bucket I normally grow them in, filled with a mixture of compost & new
grow bag material with a sprinkling of growmore in our unheated G/H & touch
wood (head) after 4 days it's still upright & looks the same as before planting up,
it could have grown a bit taller as I planted it slightly deeper. The other 1 I've left
in it's original pot, it's grown slightly taller so fingers crossed I will pot it on again
in a few days ready for putting outside in the garden. First time I've grown 1 outside
but it came free as a bogof so will give it a go.
Once again thanks for all your interest & helpful comments.
Keith.
-
I would not be repotting cucumbers, you will create a weak stem and upset the roots. Its the one area that cucumbers do suffer from, week stems and disturbance of the roots.
You can still sow cucumbers, now in a greenhouse with a 7 day germination and then when they have germinated and have their main stem above the twin leaves they will be ready to carefully move to their final position in the greenhouse or outside.
June outside would be fine for most of the country by sowing direct in the soil or a pot.
-
I germinate my cucumbers in a heated propagator and as soon as they emerge they go into the unheated greenhouse, this way they have no change in temprature to deal with.
If it gets cool on a night they just seem to deal with it!
I do grow Marketmore though so this might be something to do with it.
-
Morning All. Just a quick update on things. I moved both sick cukes into our
unheated greenhouse on May 12th (day of original post) & left them in there
medium sized pots, then last Friday 19th I re-potted 1 of them into it's final
growing on site which is a large builders bucket with holes in the bottom filled
with a mixture of general compost, new growbag material & a sprinkling of
growmore, the bucket is then stood in a big trug. The plant is looking ok &
does have some new growth so fingers crossed, the other 1 is also looking ok
& has grown taller, this 1 is going out in the garden eventually.
Once again many thanks for all your comments.
Keith.
-
Just a small point...
In the past, when we've had this situation, we've mounded the compost right up the stem to just below the seed leaves. It's not over-damp compost, just enough to introduce new roots on the stem, which cuces always want to form.
Several potential disasters over the years have been alleviated this way, but it ain't foolproof...