[squowse]

Hello all!
First post, long time lurker..
I was hoping someone would be able to suggest what is happening to my (indoor) cucumber plants. They are generally very healthy, growing fast and producing fruit but are all suffering from the same affliction - the lower leaves have a mosiac like yellow marking and they produce some "still-born" fruits, going yellow very early and shrivellling (i nip these off so the plant can concentrate on the other more successful fruits).
I feed them weekly with homemade comfrey liquid (dilute) and a dash of seaweed liquid but maybe they are still deficient in something?
There are some more hi-res photos here - https://picasaweb.google.com/109312613228732886219/Cucumbers?authkey=Gv1sRgCNHe6oXE-5j41wE&feat=directlink
Thanks for you help!
Roger

[mumofstig]

Welcome Roger.
First question is what size pots are they in they look a bit on the small size? They may have run out of nutrients early, if the pot is on the small size.
Are they being watered enough? mine are taking half a pint, sometimes 1pint, everyday, and they're still dropping some fruits. This is normal, IMO as the plant only fattens as many as it can support at any time..
Your leaf problem is only on the bottom few leaves, new growth seems ok, so remove affected leaves.
Perhaps a change to a tomato food with added magnesium may be all they need. Carry on with the seaweed as well

[squowse]

Thanks for your reply!
They are in 9 to 12 inch pots of a mixture of potting compost and coir fibre.
I just give them a good drench of feed once a week, no other watering but I do check that the soil hasn't dried out.
It's quite a strange pattern on the leaves isn't it. They get dehydrated and curl up at the edges in the end. I'll take them all off I think.

[simonwatson]

Might it be this?

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/DiagnosticKeys/CucurLeaf/Uloclad/Uloclad_cuc.htm

Picture looks very similar.

[squowse]

I hope not. I am thinking it is magnesium deficiency, as the photos I have seen are very similar, and over-use of high-potash fertiliser has been implicated in stopping the plants being able to absorb it.
So I think I will try some epsom salts and lay off the comfrey liquid a bit. It's hard to know how much to dilute it as it's homemade. It is pretty thick stuff though.