Discussion
What is it with cucumber plants? Do they have suicidal tendencies or do the expire just to spite me?
Germination: no problem. Nice healthy young plants: yep. Brought in from the greenhouse if a cold night in prospect: yep. Looking good and ready to go into their final, nice big pots: yep.
Then a few days later they just wilt and die. This has happened twice this year now. Second time around I disinfected the pots and used brand new compost to ensure no trace of anything fungal and detrimental to cucs could be present. Partial sun end of the greenhouse to they don't get scorched or dry out and... they just give up.
The first year I grew cucumbers we had so many we couldn't give them all away. Now, despite the best care I can give them, I just can't get the little b
ds to stay alive. Why??
Germination: no problem. Nice healthy young plants: yep. Brought in from the greenhouse if a cold night in prospect: yep. Looking good and ready to go into their final, nice big pots: yep.
Then a few days later they just wilt and die. This has happened twice this year now. Second time around I disinfected the pots and used brand new compost to ensure no trace of anything fungal and detrimental to cucs could be present. Partial sun end of the greenhouse to they don't get scorched or dry out and... they just give up.
The first year I grew cucumbers we had so many we couldn't give them all away. Now, despite the best care I can give them, I just can't get the little b
ds to stay alive. Why??
Cucumbers hate the cold as young plants, especially F1 hybrid indoor types. They will turn up their toes at the merest hint of a draught or cooler air. This is the most likely cause of demise and young plants should be kept in a constant 15c until their stems have got a bit tougher. They are unlike virtually all other veg in this respect and need extra attention. This year has been a bit more difficult than most with such varying temperatures and conditions and you are not the only one I heard of with the problem.
Thanks all for the input.
As suggested, I think temperature fluctuation may have played apart. When they were all in small pots I was taking them out to the greenhouse around 10:00am and bringing them back into the house at 17:00 to ensure that they got as much light as possible during the day and didn't get exposed to anything less than 15C temperature-wise at night.
I've only given them clean tap water (allowed to stand for a few hours in the greenhouse to reach same ambient temp) as previous years' experience suggests that water butt water seems to encourage algal growth. When I thought they were big and ugly enough to withstand permanent greenhouse residency and a wider temp range (i.e. daytime around 25C and night temps 10C give or take) I put them in 10L pots. As mentioned, I put them up the shadier end of the GH so that they don't get too hot. And still a large proportion of the ungrateful little sheisters gave up the ghost!
Some survivors still remain. A mix of F1 and non-F1 so we'll see what happens...
As suggested, I think temperature fluctuation may have played apart. When they were all in small pots I was taking them out to the greenhouse around 10:00am and bringing them back into the house at 17:00 to ensure that they got as much light as possible during the day and didn't get exposed to anything less than 15C temperature-wise at night.
I've only given them clean tap water (allowed to stand for a few hours in the greenhouse to reach same ambient temp) as previous years' experience suggests that water butt water seems to encourage algal growth. When I thought they were big and ugly enough to withstand permanent greenhouse residency and a wider temp range (i.e. daytime around 25C and night temps 10C give or take) I put them in 10L pots. As mentioned, I put them up the shadier end of the GH so that they don't get too hot. And still a large proportion of the ungrateful little sheisters gave up the ghost!
Some survivors still remain. A mix of F1 and non-F1 so we'll see what happens...
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