Topic: cucumber trouble. Help !!!

[silverback]

Hello,

My cucumber plants were ok til a week ago then the smaller fruit started to turn yellow and shrivel up i have recently nipped the top to concentrate on fruit. was this my mistake. I was told that not to keep any yellow fruit on the plant as this can kill the plant. My first BIGGER cumbers are ok. Any help would be much appreciated.

THANKS IN ADVANCE

[tim]

It is annoyingly normal to get fruit aborting - usually when more have set than the plant can cope with at the time. It usually happens when they are an inch or so long.

If bigger, it may be something more serious.

[Svea]

phew, thank god for that, tim.
mine has been doing that too. annoyingly, i have onnly had one cucumber from the plant so far - this was before we went on hols. and nothing since - it's been a long cucumberless wait for me :o
now i have another 2 to 3 inches

do you think they might also abort if they are short of water/food? i havent yet fed my cucs though planted them into rich soil into tubs. what kind of feed and how often?

also, the leaves are a shade of yellow rather then lush green.

svea

[tim]

This is what I mean.

Reason?  I'm only assuming.
Prevention? Don't know - but, if they are bigger, poor pollination - like with courgettes - might contribute?

Feed? In bags, they get about 1 1/2 litres of dilute feed per day. Double in the really hot weather.

[silverback]

cheers tim

what sort of feed do you use for yours ??

[tim]

Very non - U. A commercial Vitax 2-1-4. Nothing clever about that. Any tom feed at the recommended dilution.

[dicky]

I've just been using tommy feed at about 5-5-10 concentrated, they seem to love it. Could be lack of feed or lack of humidity

[northener]

5-5-10? can you explain

[tim]

I quote!

These numbers represent the percentage of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (N-P-K) contained in fertilizer. Nitrogen (always the first number) is important to stimulate growth rate and to "green up" the foliage so that it can process nutrients more efficiently. Phosphorus, the middle number, stimulates root growth. And Potassium, the last number, stimulates flowering and fruiting.

[northener]

Thanks for that

[shirl]

Im getting this as well.  I was worried at first because it was a lot of the small ones going yellow, however I have still had tons of cucumbers.  The trouble is they all seem to be ready at the same time.  I have three plants and i've been giving cukes to anyone who will have them!

I dont seem to have so many ready now so it may have just been an early thing, I do hope they continue through the summer though, they are delicious!  :)

[tim]

Continuity, Continuity!!

Planning, Planning!!

As I've said before, we've failed AGAIN, & all are up to the roof & 6+ feet beyond. That's with more than a month's difference in sowing time.

They DO slow up.

[shirl]

Mine were planted on the same day but the difference in size is enourmous (a good four feet!)  The straggly one has now taken off and although weeks behind the other two, its now giving me a good supply of cukes, so there you have it, can you actually plan at all? ???

[silverback]

so i made mistake nipping them out ??

 iam going to get f1 hibrids from thompson and morgan next year he only planted 3 three germinated now he's got more cumbas than you can shake big stick at !!!

I have only had about 5 to take off the plant so far

[Greenfingers Jo]

I've discovered why my cucumbers look so odd.
I bought the seeds from Lidl and didin't read it properly, I've got F1 Restina Pickling Cucumbers. Any ideas whether I can do anything besides pickling them?

[wardy]

I should think you can use them as you would normal cumbers  :)