Why do the leaves of cucumbers wither in a greenhouse, open ground + seedlings?

Most often, such a disaster happens in a greenhouse or under cover - suddenly one leaf of a cucumber withers or suddenly a whole flaccid vine is discovered. This happens both with young plants and with long-bearing ones.

The gardener's first reaction is predictable: there is not enough water, you need to water it quickly. And if after watering the leaves come to life and return to their usual tugor, you can exhale and relax - the leaves have withered from lack of moisture, we have fixed everything, we are great.

And if watering doesn’t help... you’ll have to look for the reason, figure out why the leaves on the cucumbers are withering and whether it’s possible to somehow correct the situation. Let's figure it out together.

Why do cucumber seedlings wither?

Gardening practice shows that seedlings wilt most often due to insufficient insolation. An effective method to solve the problem is to choose a suitable location.

Deviations in the timing of transplantation can also negatively affect the growth of seedlings and the turgor of green mass:

if the deadlines are ahead, the seedlings are unable to withstand the action of external factors;
when planting with a delay, there is a greater chance of damaging the roots.

The third and fourth reasons include watering errors and too dense planting, in which neighboring seedlings begin to compete with each other for light and nutrients as the growing season progresses.

An excess or deficiency of micro- and macroelements can lead to disruption of the metabolism of the cucumber plant.

Many gardeners forget to weed their beds to remove weeds, the presence of which negatively affects the growing season of seedlings.

Less common reasons why cucumbers wither and die are fungal diseases, infrequent ventilation or drafts, low temperatures at night and attacks by insect pests.

Read the article about what to do if the ovaries or leaves of cucumbers dry out and fall off, including drying out at the edges.

The seedlings changed color after planting

But a change in the color of leaves and stems in seedlings is a dangerous sign. Violet, red, gray and brown shades should alert the gardener. Thus, plants are literally screaming about an acute lack of certain nutrients in the soil. Most often they are deficient in phosphorus, potassium or nitrogen, but they may also be deficient in boron or iron.

Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium - signs of deficiency and excess in plants
What do excess or deficiency of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium lead to? Find out in our infographic!

What diseases cause cucumber seedlings to wither?

Proper care does not fully guarantee that your cucumbers will not be subject to disease. Very often, plantings become easy prey for various microorganisms. They can affect both adult bushes and young seedlings. As a result, the plant begins to wither. The presence of infection can be determined by external signs that every gardener should know.

No region is immune from sudden changes in temperature. It is this factor that often causes the appearance of powdery mildew. Sometimes watering plants with cold water can activate its appearance. The first and most obvious sign of the disease is the appearance of a white coating on the leaves, after which they begin to fall off, the stems become thinner and wither. Therefore, carefully monitor whether your seedlings are well protected from drafts and temperature changes. Water young plantings only with settled water that has been naturally heated. If the disease still has time to manifest itself, then the cucumbers can be treated with Topaz, Hom or Quadris.

From rhizoctinia, late blight, scab

From late blight, alternaria, gray rot

Violation of watering rules and temperature fluctuations can lead to another disease - downy mildew. Its symptoms are small yellow spots that appear on the leaves. Gradually their size increases, and the reverse side of the leaf plate becomes covered with a gray coating. First of all, the leaves wither and fall off, and then the entire bush dies. To combat the infection, it is necessary to treat the seedlings with Bordeaux mixture or Ordan, Kuproskat or Ridomil.

Downy mildew From late blight From altarnaria From late blight

Using large amounts of cold water for irrigation can lead to the development of fusarium. Initially, it affects the root system of cucumbers, as a result of which all vegetative parts of the bush begin to dry out and rot. Phytocide and Trichodermin will help in the fight against the disease.

Fusarium

Often the cause of death of seedlings is sclerotinia. Areas of fluffy mold of a light gray hue begin to appear on parts of the bush. Then the leaves and stem become covered with dark spots, and the plantings die. The drug Fitosporin M will help overcome the disease.

White cobwebby mycelium of the fungus with numerous sclerotia on the affected stem

From late blight, from scab

Very often, cucumbers get sick due to fungi. One of the most common diseases of this type is “black leg”. Popularly, it got its name due to the fact that the disease manifests itself in the form of blackening of the base of the stem of cucumbers. The fungus spreads very quickly, so measures to destroy it must be taken as early as possible. If the affected area is not yet too large and the bush is alive, then the damaged area can be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate. You should also reduce the volume and frequency of watering and mulch. Specialized products include Fitolavin, Baktofit or Fitosporin.

Blackleg

From rhizoctoniosis of the Colorado potato beetle and wireworm

Many insect pests that prefer to feed on plant sap can also provoke wilting of a bush. Cucumbers become tasty prey for melon aphids, spider mites, sprout flies or whiteflies. Most often, they lay larvae on the back side of the leaf, so plants must be treated carefully, spraying or wiping each infected leaf blade.

Sprout fly

Spider mite

Whitefly

Aphid

In cases where watering is carried out too often and abundantly, rot may appear in the root system. It is difficult to determine its presence externally; it manifests itself in a deterioration in the appearance of the plantings, the stem becomes thin, the leaves become limp. As a result, the bush dies completely because the stem breaks. Stopping watering, eliminating monotonous fertilizing, and adding sand and wood ash to the soil will help correct the situation.

Sometimes diseases spread so quickly that no means of control help. In this case, it is better to plant new seedlings and pre-disinfect the used seeds to strengthen the immune system. Infected seedlings must be dug up and burned. If several bushes are sick, then they need to be transplanted from healthy cucumbers and monitor the dynamics of recovery.

Rules for caring for cucumber seedlings, watering features

Usually, the best prevention of seedling wilting and the appearance of diseases is good care. It allows you to strengthen the immunity of seedlings and the vascular system, and increases resistance to the effects of pathogenic microorganisms. You can reap an excellent harvest from such bushes. It is necessary to begin work on disease prevention at the seed preparation stage.

All seed material must be disinfected. The soil also needs to be disinfected. After planting the seeds, the container with the future seedlings is covered with film and placed in a warm place. After approximately 7 days, the first shoots will appear. As soon as this happens, the film is removed, and the seedlings are sent to a well-lit place, protected from drafts. Experienced gardeners recommend thinning seedlings by cutting off weak shoots. There is no need to remove them by the roots; this manipulation can damage neighboring plantings.

To avoid problems with seedlings, you need to follow a few simple rules, which will be the key to getting an excellent harvest at the end of the season.

Cucumber seedlings grow best at an air temperature of 21 degrees during the day and 18 degrees at night.
Seedlings love light, but direct sunlight can cause burns and cause the plants to dry out. If there is not enough light, the stem quickly stretches, and very few leaves grow on it.
Avoid drafts, they are harmful to plants.
Cucumbers grown in a greenhouse must be ventilated daily.
Before planting seeds, check whether the container for growing them has drainage holes. Without them, water will accumulate at the roots, which can cause rot.
For watering, use only warm water.
2 weeks after the first leaves appear on the cucumbers, you can fertilize them using mullein, urea or manure. It is recommended to repeat the procedure after 8 days. Some gardeners prefer to fertilize with wood ash.
To increase productivity and speed up the growth process of cucumbers, some gardeners carry out picking. After this procedure, the seedlings wither slightly, but then recover. The drugs Humate and Epin will help speed up this recovery process.
If the bushes grow rapidly, it is recommended to pinch the crown.
7 days before transplanting cucumbers into a permanent bed, you need to start hardening them. To do this, the air temperature is reduced, watering is reduced, and the container with seedlings is periodically placed outside.

How to reduce the likelihood of infection

Preventive measures reduce the risk of crop loss. It will take a little time, but will bring a lot of benefits. Having completed the destruction of pests or pathogens, the greenhouse or vegetable garden is disinfected with the preparation “Aktelik”, “Biotlin”, “Fitoverm”. The dosage is indicated on the packaging. It is important to treat every corner, otherwise a relapse will not be long in coming. Other recommendations:

Herbal infusion - mix chamomile and plantain in equal proportions. Pour boiling water over the composition and leave for 12 hours. The seed is placed in the liquid for 3 hours.
A solution of 20 g of grated laundry soap, 30 drops of iodine and 10 liters of water. Treatment is carried out every 10 days.
A solution of 1 tablespoon of soda and 10 liters of water. They water the beds 4 hours before the planned planting. 300-400 ml is needed per 1 m².

A solution of 500 g of onion peels and 1 bucket of hot water. The mixture is infused for 12 hours. The husks are removed and the solution is filtered. Add clean water in a ratio of 2:8. Treat the leaves once every 4 days. Under the influence of the composition, pathogenic microorganisms die.

Drying of the stem and the appearance of cracks on it indicates problems in the development of the cucumber bush. Pests, diseases and gardener mistakes weaken the plant. Before taking any measures, analyze the condition of the seedlings. There should be no mistakes or hasty actions, otherwise there is a high risk of losing the harvest.

Why leaves on adult cucumbers wither: main reasons

If the leaves of cucumbers become limp, you need to immediately identify the cause and begin to eliminate it so as not to lose the harvest. Errors in watering, nutrient deficiencies, poor planting location, infections or attacks by parasitic insects, and growing next to crops whose growing conditions vary markedly are the most common causes of plant wilting. Let's look at them in more detail.

Incorrect watering

Proper watering is the key to plant health. Common gardening mistakes include:

Insufficient watering reduces foliage turgor and leaves turn yellow.
If the soil is too wet, root respiration becomes difficult, creating favorable conditions for the growth of pathogenic fungi.
Using cold water provokes the development of root fungal infections.

Read the article about why cucumbers turn yellow when grown in a greenhouse.

Undernutrition or overnutrition

Cucumbers respond with great gratitude to feeding. A properly balanced soil composition is the key to a rich harvest. For normal growth and development, plantings require nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and other microelements, which may be too little in the soil. But not only the deficiency of nutrients, but also their excess affects plantings. In both cases, the process of leaf withering progresses, new ones appear rarely and grow poorly, and the stem dries out.

Nitrogen is necessary for the active growth of the cucumber bush. Its deficiency affects the vegetation of the plant. Growth slows down, the foliage turns pale and dries out.

If there is too little potassium in the soil, this can be determined by the leaf blade curling down and dark spots appearing along its edges, similar to burns. If there is too much potassium in the garden bed, then the color of the bush begins to fade, and it becomes covered with spots.

Phosphorus deficiency can be recognized by the leaves curling upward, and its excess is manifested in too rapid aging of the bush, on which necrotic spots appear.

The lack of minerals can be easily corrected by feeding. Their increased number can be reduced by abundant watering at the rate of 1.5 buckets per square meter.

Read the article about how to feed cucumbers in a greenhouse for growth and fruiting.

Wrong landing site

Most often, gardeners make one of two common mistakes:

Seedlings are planted in bright sun, which leads to dehydration of the plant.
The growing area is too shaded. This is often observed due to close planting of other plants.

Infection or pest damage

If you do not take the necessary protective measures, diseases can destroy the plant in a fairly short period of time:

Fungal diseases: Root rot - externally manifested by drying out first of old leaves, and then of young ones.
Tracheomycoses (tracheomycosis wilts) - these include Fusarium (Fusarium) and Verticillium wilts, which are caused by the fungi Fusarium and Verticillium, respectively.
White rot - pathology can be suspected by soft falling leaves (tops) and brown basal spots located on the stem.

Read the article about all cucumber diseases and methods of treating them.

Insect pests: Melon aphid - lays eggs on the underside of leaf blades;
Spider mite - a typical sign of its invasion are cobwebs, visually visible on the back of the leaves.

Note! If the cucumber suddenly begins to wither already during fruiting (for example, in June or July), the reason is probably fusarium. How can I check this? Make a longitudinal and transverse section of the stem of the affected bush; if you see that the color changes from green to white or yellow-brown, it is Fusarium wilt.

Exposure to chemicals

Cucumber crop is very sensitive to herbicides. The sedimentation of the substance on the foliage often leads to its wilting.

Wrong choice of "neighbors"

Pumpkin plants do not tolerate proximity to tomatoes due to differences in the conditions necessary for the normal growing season of both types of crops.

Read about how to make a greenhouse and greenhouse (from polycarbonate and other materials) for cucumbers with your own hands.

The seedlings became covered in spots after planting

The appearance of spots of different colors and shapes on the leaves of transplanted seedlings can indicate three things at once. Firstly, this is how a lack of nutrients is expressed. Brown spots indicate a lack of potassium, blue-green spots indicate a lack of phosphorus, and red spots indicate a lack of nitrogen. Secondly, some insects leave such traces. For example, the tomato rust mite shows its presence with brown spots on the leaves, the onion secretive proboscis, tobacco whitefly, soldier bug and melon aphid - yellow, California thrips - silver. And finally, the spots can be burns left by drops of water falling on the leaves. This happens if you water the seedlings not at the roots on a sunny day.

What to do : carefully inspect the plantings for pests. If no signs of their presence are detected, carry out corrective feeding with the missing nutrient. If insects are found, take action.

What to do if cucumbers wither in a greenhouse, open ground, on a windowsill and balcony

To eliminate plant wilting, it is necessary to understand its causes and use appropriate control measures:

If cucumbers quickly wither due to lack of moisture, you should increase watering, but if the soil moisture is increased, stop watering for a while.
Perhaps the crop responded to a lack of nitrogen. In this case, feeding with a yeast solution or carbamide solution will be useful.
Cucumbers really do not like direct sunlight. To improve their vegetation, it is recommended to shade the ridges.
The cause of leaf wilting can be herbicides on leaf blades. They should be washed off with water, for example by irrigation.
High planting densities can lead to wilting. In this case, the beds should be cleared.
Sometimes cucumbers are affected by fungal diseases. Treatment in this case consists of removing damaged foliage and vines, as well as treating green mass: with biological agents (Trichodermin or Fitosporin);
chemicals (Topsin-M, Fundazol, Previkur).

In case of severe damage to some fungal diseases, for example, verticillium, you may not have time to save the cucumber; the bush is dug up and destroyed.

We recommend an article about why cucumbers can curl and grow crochet.

In the event of an attack by insect pests, the gardener will be helped by: folk remedies (soap solutions, as well as onion or garlic peels);
biological insecticides (Strela, Fitoverm or Aktofit);
chemicals (Iskra, Canmix or Intavir).

Read the article about how to grow cucumbers on the balcony and windowsill at home.

Reason 3. Diseases and injuries

Often cucumbers wither due to damage to the root system. They can be either mechanical - they were damaged during replanting, loosening, a cat dug around, rodents, etc. So are those caused by diseases. The same flood can cause root rot. These are also various fungal diseases. They also affect the condition of the leaves. In addition to outright lethargy, fungi lead to the appearance of stains and rot. In this case, it is important to treat the plants with antifungal drugs. And if everything is already too neglected, remove and dispose of it before the entire garden becomes infected.

Also, the leaves can turn into rags if someone eats them. This could be spider mites, aphids, or flying insects. But in this case, other signs are also visible. So, with spider mites, the leaves do not so much wither as turn yellow and dry out. Aphids are noticeable to the naked eye; they leave areas with the juice sucked out of them - thin and dried out. Other pests usually leave gnawed holes and tunnels in the leaves. You can fight them with folk remedies (spraying with mustard infusion, solutions of vinegar, soda, sprinkling with tobacco dust, etc.). There are also ready-made biological products (Fitoverm, Akarin), they are more effective.

To help the plant, it is important to correctly determine the reasons for what is happening. Acting at random can only make things worse. After all, if, for example, a plant is flooded, watering it again in the hope of returning the elasticity of the leaves will be a fatal mistake.

How to keep picked cucumbers from wilting

There are several approaches to preserving cucumbers:

Maintaining a certain temperature regime when storing in a polyethylene bag, plastic container or cling film: +1...+2 °C – allows you to keep cucumbers fresh for 20 days; +4…+8 °C – 15 days; +15 °C – 1 week.
Dry and washed fruits can be stored for a long time (up to six months) in glass jars from which oxygen has been removed (by using a wick or a burning candle).
In order to preserve vegetables for 4-8 weeks, egg white can be used, which is applied to the cucumber surface and, when dried, forms a film that protects the fruit.

Read the article about growing tomatoes and cucumbers in the same greenhouse, is it worth doing this or is it better to plant them in separate places.

Tips from Mister Summer Resident: preventing cucumbers from wilting

To avoid wilting of cucumbers, our portal https://mrdachnik.com advises following a few simple recommendations:

Try not to plant a crop twice in the same place, both outside and in the greenhouse. Cucumbers grow well after previous cultivation of tomatoes, legumes, nightshades, carrots, various varieties of cabbage, spinach and potatoes.
The bed should be well lit, but direct sunlight on the plant should be avoided.
It is better to plant seedlings or seed material according to the 0.5 m * 0.5 m pattern.
In order to prevent possible diseases of already harmful insects, beds and seeds should be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate, and insecticides should be used during the growing season.
After planting the ridges, it is useful to mulch. This will retain moisture, protect against weeds, and also warm the root system.
Plants should be watered with warm water 1 or 2 times a day, depending on the temperature and humidity. Of course, if it’s hot outside, cucumbers need more frequent watering, and in heavy rain there is no need to moisten the plantings at all. Read about how to properly water cucumbers on our website.
Do not forget that cucumbers require regular feeding with both organic and mineral fertilizers containing potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen.

Interesting video about growing cucumbers in a barrel:

Common varieties of greenhouse cucumbers

Among the variety of cucumber varieties for greenhouses, the early varieties of this plant are considered to be the most productive, which also include various cucumber hybrids. These include:

Suomi F1. It is well resistant to cold climates and various diseases. In addition, ripe fruits of this variety cannot outgrow, since their growth is limited.
Sarovsky F1. This variety does well in greenhouses with insufficient light and low temperatures.
Hybrid Valaam. It is distinguished by its cold resistance and can be grown in greenhouses in the northern regions. The variety has limited fruit growth and a fairly significant fruiting period, which ends with the onset of severe frosts.

In addition to greenhouse cucumbers, which have regular sizes, there are also varieties such as gherkins. These hybrid varieties differ from others in the small size of their fruits. The most common ones are Conrad, Alex, Moth and Enchanter.