Cucumber blight may not be the end of your cucumbers

Cucumbers, as any veggies grown in your own garden, are unique and the taste is simply incomparable with the “stuff” you get in supermarkets, but growing beautiful, large cucumbers may not be as easy as it might seem. Cucumber mould for example can destroy the entire harvest… So, if you see yellow spots on leaves, you need to take an action and be vigilant.If you fail to do so, leaves will turn yellow, dry up and eventually the plant will die.

Pseudoperonospora cubensis

Commonly known as cucumber downy mildew is a powerful enemy of cucumbers. Its spores easily spread through the air. There are several issues that make the spread easier. For example, if water remains on leaves for 6 hours or more there is a great chance that mildew will occur, and if the temperature is above 20 °C during the day, and around 15 °C at night, well, you have perfect conditions for mould. Sometimes cucumber mildew is often confused with other problems. Some people may thing that they got spite mite (Tetranychus). See second picture.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Using mesh for support

Using a mesh to help cucumbers to grow vertically is a great way to reduce the number of cucumber lying on the ground.You need to build a support net which cucumbers will use as a partial support. Cucumbers will not climb naturally, you must guide them to form a compact green area. You will have easier time to harvest cucumbers growing on the supporting net and you don’t have to worry cucumbers lying on a wet ground.

 Photo: Radek Štěpán

Prevention and chemicals

The vertical method is also a great preventive measure, but you should choose a resistant variety that grows quickly, if you want to have an early harvest. So, make sure to sow early and provide proper nutrition. Another good way how to help cucumbers is to use a non-woven fabric to get rid of excessive moisture. If you need to use chemical preparations use Aliette 80 WP or Ridomil Gold MZ but, you can also try chemicals with copper such as Kuprikol 250 SC.

Preview photo: commons.wikimedia.org