why do my cucumber leaves at the bottom and cucumbers die off at the bottom of the plant but then has new leaves and fruit come on at the top only had 1 cucumber this year
Are they outdoors or indoors? Maybe they are not pollinating correctly, if the fruit are dropping off when the just start to form.
I find that the bottom leaves always die off as the plant grows, I just snip them off when they start to look yucky. Happens with most squashes.
they are inside and about the size of short fat matchsticks
Quote from: beanie309 on August 08, 2011, 13:48:04
about the size of short fat matchsticks
I am kind of hoping that you mean the fruit and not the plants! It sounds like they are not being pollinated properly. You can do that yourself to help them along if they are not readily exposed to insects - you can see two types of flowers, one that has like a little bulge in its base. Those are females. The others are males. You should use a little brush and brush the male flowers then brush the females so they get pollinated. Do this gently, and early when the flowers are open. If you find it hard to tell, brush a bit all over the place, something is bound to take!!
Lower leaves dying off indoors - taking the baby cucumbers with them, while newer leaves are green - sounds like red spider to me...
Commiserations.
In which case he would be able to see them on the plant, I suppose?
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=190 (http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=190)
Some plants lose/dry their leaves very quickly from a minor red spider attack before webs form - especially if you sensibly remove the dead and dying leaves early.
Sometimes you can only see what looks like powder on the underside of a sick leaf - the mites also move very slowly - unless you have very short-sight you need a good loupe to see them as living things.
The photo of webs in the RHS link is at high maginification.