[aneng]

Hi,

I'm a complete novice gardener, and I've got some veg growing in my greenhouse, but all the leaves are going yellow and drying out / have lots of small holes in.  Could someone more experienced than I take a look at these pics please and offer any advice ?

Cucumber leaves:






Butternut Squash leaves:


Cherry Tomato leaves:


Chilli / Pepper (not sure !) leaves:


I've grown all of these from seed, and I think they're all going to end up dead unless I can stop whatever it is from attacking them.

Any ideas ?

Many thanks.

[davidmw]

I've got a cucumber with similar leaf to yours turning brown around the edges and also found 1 leaf on my tomatoes had quite a few holes in aswell. I thought it was possibly from water but not quite sure.

[Scullion]

I had similar problems with my tomato plants, without the holes. As the leaves began changing colour to that yellowish colour, I began snipping them off, and the rest of the plants currently remain in good condition with the problem not spreading.

I was also told to ensure that the green house has plenty of ventilation!?!

[davidmw]

I am wondering if that could be one of my problems as I havent been opening the door or windows on warm days.  will start opening the vent in the day time and see if it helps

[aelf]

What conditions are they growing in - It is easy for the greenhouse to get too hot this time of year even for cucumbers. I leave the greenhouse door and window slightly open to ensure good ventilation and stop the temp getting too high. It also helps to control fungal growth.

Have you fed the tomatoes and squashes? And when watering, just wet the soil and not the leaves of the plants, especially in bright sunshine.

[simonwatson]

If your greenhouse lacks ventilation it could easily be heat damage. I put a thermometer in my greenhouse just to get an idea. On a sunny morning at 9am, outside temperature 10 Celsius, the greenhouse was hitting 25.

I've taken to just leaving the door open during the day and closing it at night.

The simple wax filled automatic window openers look like a good solution (about £18 on ebay).

[Doddy]

The simple wax filled automatic window openers look like a good solution (about £18 on ebay).

They are life-savers.

I can't remember the full details, but I did buy a couple from Homebase... Whereas I'm normally seen wandering about HB with jaw to the floor at their high prices, I remember being pleasantly surprised at the prices of the auto-openers on their shelves. Just a thought to check if you're passing by a HB. I've just tried to check their website but...

[sunshineband]

The chilli plant has had some aphid damage to the leaves when they were very small I think, hence the buckling of the leaf veins.

The brown marks are probably scorch, where the leaves had water on them in full sun

[aneng]

Thanks for the help folks.  I have the greenhouse shaded very well now, using that paint-on powder stuff, and I've had an auto-vent in there for ages.  What sort of temperature should I consider a maximum ?  It often gets to 30-31 C on warmer days.

Also, re the greenfly damage - is it OK to spray a soap solution instead of using insecticide ?

[pink aubergine]

Yes, soap is fine. Some of the holes are due to small slugs . If you don't want to use slug pellets, water the surface and then place a piece of tile or something similar on the surface - look under first thing in the morning to catch them.