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I have three cucumber plants planted on my balcony. The plants started great and went on growing. What looked like a promising start is looking like a disappointing end.

It started with white mildew. I used one tablespoon of baking soda in one liter of water solution to spray the leaves. The solution was too strong because it would burn the leaves.

Now all the leaves are yellowing and dying.

The plants produce fruits that turn yellow prematurely and die.

What can be the problem?

Update. Unfortunately all three cucumber plants completely died out.

Niall C.
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Balcony Gardner
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4 Answers4

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I have removed most of leaves and not that many left. I have been fertilizing the plants with manure tea every week. I also added Epsom Salt, Calcium and zinc.enter image description here

Balcony Gardner
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2

This kind of plant needs much sun and air to thrive. Try making here a better place on your balcony.

It is possible there is nothing you can do for it, sorry. And we can see that it has already a very long tail with no leaves. It must be quite old already.

J. Chomel
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2

Baby it and here's how.

  • They don't like wet feet, they need well-drained soil. Your potting soil might retain too much moisture.
  • Do not over water. Water ONLY when the first inch of soil is dry. So use your finger to do a little digging in the dirt to determine if it's dry enough to water. I found my small yogurt containers I sprout seeds in dry out very fast, and bigger containers stay moist longer.
  • They like warmer weather with nights above 60F. Give them that. They love it when it's 80F outside and sunny. Cold nights might be causing some of the mold and baby cuke dropoff problems.
  • Keep their leaves dry, do not use automatic sprinklers to water them or get the leaves wet. Use a drip system instead.
  • Keep cuke plants separated if you can so the leaves will dry quickly if they do get wet.
Bulrush
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Lets first take care of the basics. Consider removing some of the affected leaves so the mildew (or disease) does not spread to other leaves or plants. Secondly, when was the last time you fertilized the soil to ensure healthy growth? I am not sure what the baking soda did to the plant but that is not something you can undo any more. Hope for the best and be patient.

JStorage
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