What to do and what to do if cucumber leaves wither in a greenhouse: recipes for processing

The wilting of cucumber leaves, ovaries and whole vines upsets beginning and experienced vegetable growers. Despite the same symptoms - loss of elasticity in the vegetative part, the reasons, as well as ways to correct the situation, may vary. Let's consider what to do if cucumber leaves wither in a greenhouse, and how to treat them.

Why do leaves wither on cucumbers in greenhouses and open ground?

The first thing to do when cucumber leaves are wilting is to generously watering the beds. If this does not help, look for the cause of the problem and promptly eliminate it.

Direct sunlight

Scourges grow and develop best in shaded areas. In direct sunlight, tender cucumber leaves will get burned. It will not be possible to save severely damaged bushes; they will die.

Thickened planting

Beginners often place cucumbers too close together in order to harvest more. The lashes always grow rapidly, and the plantings thicken. Such plants have nothing to breathe, they receive little light and nutrients from the soil. As a result, the leaves lose their elasticity.

Improper care and watering

Cucumbers have a delicate root system. Minor damage during loosening, pinching or harvesting interrupts the supply of nutrients from the soil. Such bushes are becoming depleted.

Excessive moisture in the soil leads to wilting of the leaves: the delicate roots cannot cope with the supply of nutrients from the wetland to the stems.

Nutrient deficiencies

Cucumber - demanding of nitrogen vegetable crop. A deficiency of this substance causes loss of turgor in leaves and stems, reduced growth, and absence of ovaries. Other vital elements for the vegetable are potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. Therefore, the crop is fertilized with urea, ash, superphosphate, chicken droppings, manure, charcoal, and ash.

On a note! During mass flowering of bushes, they are not pollinated or sprayed - this will scare off pollinating insects and reduce yields by 50–70%.

Sudden changes in temperature

Plants in open ground planted in June are more susceptible to wilting of stems and leaves due to sharp changes in daily temperatures. The period of mass formation of ovaries and fruit ripening in summer plantings occurs in August-September. At this time, the days are hot and the nights are cold, causing the cucumbers to freeze.

In greenhouses and hotbeds, this problem rarely occurs if agricultural cultivation techniques are followed.

Fungal or bacterial diseases

Fungal spores and pathogenic bacteria quickly multiply in protected soil and instantly affect the entire plantation. Frequent diseases of cucumbers in a greenhouse are fusarium, verticillium, and gray rot.

In open ground, fungi are less likely to infect beds, but with prolonged rains, the risk of fungal wilting of cucumbers increases.

Pests

This is a dangerous, but easily diagnosed cause of wilting of cucumber leaves and stems in beds and indoors. An initial inspection of plants will help determine the type of insect based on the nature of the damage:

• melon aphid leads to withering of leaves, shedding of ovaries, slow growth of fruits;
• whitefly located on the back side of the leaves, sucks the juice from the stems (three generations of the insect live on the plant at the same time - eggs, larvae and adults, similar to white moths);
• spider mite reddish color sticks to the leaves, envelops them in a thick web and sucks out all the juices, causing small white dots to appear on the leaves;
• It is impossible to detect the root-knot nematode by the appearance of wilted bushes: it settles on the roots, which are covered with brown tubercles, and sucks the juices from the plant.

Harmful insects not only mechanically damage the plant, but also transmit spores of fungal diseases.

How to understand why cucumbers wither

To accurately determine the causes of wilting, plants are examined first of all for the presence of diseases. With fungal infections, the color of the vegetative part at the bottom of the bush changes: fungal spores live in the soil, infect the vines from the root collar and gradually make their way up.

Colonies of pests cover mainly the back side of leaves and stems.

If leaves in open ground lose their elasticity during the day, but restore it in the evening, the reason is a lack of moisture. Similar symptoms are observed with sunburn, but then the outer surface of the leaves is covered in places. yellow spots.

Attention! A lack of nutrients in the soil causes the bushes to wilt, as does their excess.

If after watering the water does not go into the ground within an hour, this means that the soil under the cucumbers is waterlogged and needs to be mulched.

Rescue methods

In each case, measures to eliminate unfavorable factors differ. It is important to diagnose the cause of wilting in time in order to choose the most effective method:

1. To prevent burns from direct sunlight, the beds are shaded or cucumbers are planted near fruit trees. Burns in a greenhouse are more dangerous: glass serves as a kind of magnifying glass and enhances the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation. To prevent this during the day, the structure is covered with non-woven material.
2. Excessively thickened beds in open ground and greenhouses are promptly thinned out and planted. Remove the lower, dry, wilted and too large leaves.
3. In open beds, the soil rarely becomes waterlogged. Sometimes this happens in a greenhouse. To prevent waterlogging, timed drip irrigation is organized. When weeding, act carefully, loosen the soil no more than 5–7 cm.
4. Triple feeding during the season, it will completely replenish the nutritional needs of cucumbers. Mineral or organic fertilizers are applied on the 14th day after emergence, during mass flowering and formation of ovaries. Substances are added to the ground when watering or sprayed on bushes.
5. Late plantings in open ground are heated with dark stones in the rows. During the day they will heat up intensely under sunlight, and at night they will gradually release heat to the plants.
6. Sufficiently lit and well-ventilated bushes in a greenhouse rarely get sick. To prevent fungal infections, they are sprayed with Trichodermin and Planriz. Timely thinning and pinching, ventilation of greenhouses, and adherence to watering regimes help combat mass lesions. Sick and sluggish lashes are treated with fusarium - "Fundazol", from verticillium - "Maxim", "Topaz", from gray rot - “Rovralem”, the drug “HOM”.
7. Cucumbers affected by insects are washed with a stream of water and sprayed with insecticides.“Fufanon”, “Aktellik” help against melon aphids, “Aktellik”, “Verticillin”, “Pegasus” against whiteflies, “Apollo”, “Aktofit”, “Vertimek” against spider mites, and “chloropicrin” against root-knot nematodes.

Prevention and recommendations

If cucumbers wither in open ground or a greenhouse, follow these recommendations:

• according to the rules of crop rotation, the crop is not planted after cucumbers, zucchini, and squash;
• plants are planted according to the scheme indicated by the breeders on the packaging;
• mulching waterlogged soil with dry material partially relieves the roots from rotting;
• Fertilizing with mineral and organic fertilizers alternates;
• in a greenhouse, plants are not fertilized with manure or droppings: pests and diseases multiply in them instantly;
• bushes weakened by drought are watered through a fine mesh at the root by hand, without touching the leaves;
• Regular ventilation of the greenhouse and weeding in open ground significantly reduces the risk of Fusarium infection.

Cucumbers are watered in the morning or evening. During the day, drops of water on the leaves will refract the sun's rays like a lens and cause burns.

Conclusion

Cucumber tops wither for various reasons - non-compliance with agricultural cultivation techniques, diseases and pests, unfavorable natural factors. Regular watering and fertilizing, weeding, thinning thickened plantings and treatment against insects and infections will eliminate the problem at the initial stage and prevent it from worsening.