[wcndave]

For years I've been growing cucumbers in the ground, with huge success, some years getting 40 a week from a 2 square meter patch.

The problem was they spread all over the place, and growing them up a frame was a bit of a challenge.

I then got some rebar lattice which I can lean against my most sunny wall, and it's a perfect set up.  But the soil there is terrible quality, so I decided to put them in fabric growing bags.

2 years on the trot that I have done that, they have not grown, are yellow, and if anything look smaller than the plants when I bought them.  They have been in for 5 weeks, and were covered by fleece at night for the first week.

I am thinking there's something missing in the soil they were getting in the ground, or it's too dry, or we just had a cold snap or something...

I put them in a mix of half general purpose compost and half soil from garden.

Any thoughts on what is causing it, and what (if anything) I could do?

[Subversive_plot]

It's hard to tell from the photos, but I would wonder if they are getting too much or too little of some mineral.

What soil or compost are they growing in? Any chance that they have gotten too much fertilizer of some type?  The leaves look burned, which sometimes comes from too much fertilizer, or a salt build-up of some kind.

[lettice]

They do look very yellow.

Do find that once Cucumbers start to set flowers and then you get that plethora of cumbers growing, they need watering very regularly.
I water mine in the greenhouse every day.
I do lay off the water once transplanted as the plants rot at that time if waterlogged or very wet.

I have mine in raised beds and reuse some of last years soil, and mix in some multi purpose compost and loads of homemade compost. Do also pour some homemade seaweed liquid feed over the bed over winter.
It works well like that for me and I'm sure its said that Cucumbers need a good fertile bed.

Once a week I use a liquid fertilizer, some Tomorite once a week.
I do find as they grow over the season and get higher that you get the odd yellow leaf lower down that I pull off so it does not fall off and rot on the soil.

As mentioned above that looks more like a deficiency, probably Nitrogen, Perhaps mix in some blood fish and bone to give it a boost.

[wcndave]

Hey all, sorry about the delay replying.  So to answer some of the questions, they were 50/50 in general compost and normal topsoil.  They were watered every other day after transplant, and then every day after a couple of weeks.

Not sure where I would get any seaweed here, I'm about 300km from the sea

I use a cucumber feed every fortnight once fruits start to set, however never got that far this year with those plants...

I also can't get blood fish and bone here, it's quite confusing to know what to use instead when it's all in two languages I am not fluent in...

I replaced the plants eventually, and I am getting about 5 cucumbers a week, but they don't look great.  On the ground they grew for metres, and then I staked them upright. Now they are still only 60cm tall and bearing just a fruit a week each, compared to 3 or 4 a week each in previous years...

The only differences really are that they are in containers, and I am trying to grow them up a trellis from the start.  Perhaps the containers get too hot/wet/dry/cold something else....

Next year will grow some control plants at the same time in the beds, to compare!

Thanks, Dave