"EDUPSHAW" wrote:
I looked up cucumbers in one of my trusty Rodale "How To's"
and it seems that they like acidic soils (5.0-6.8) so I don't think
that coffee grounds hurt your plants. You do need to give them
lots of Phosphate and Potasium.

How wet is your soil? Could your leaf browning be caused
by fungus? That would start with round spots and soft spots
on fruit.

The soil is sand for the most part that has been turned and
mixed with some dead dried out leaves, some dead dried
grass clippings, some dead dried oak leaves, a variety of other
leaves and stems. As sand it drains very well. The other stuff
I've mixed in seems to keep it from draining so quickly.

Someone may correct me but I believe "Curciforms" are
leafy plants with opposing leaves. The ones that we keep
hearing are good for us: Spinach, Collards, Turnips,
Brussle Sprouts, etc

Cruciform according to the definition at dictionary.com:
(Bot.) having four parts arranged in the form of a cross.

I'm thinking along the lines of maybe Spanish Needle, where
there are three leaves on a stem. I don't know. Maybe
someone else can help out.

While going through things, I found the word cucurbit...

And it is possible, based that what I thought were Asian
LadyBugs are really cucurbit beetles (spotted cucumber
beetles). The leaves started to dry out and wilt. I'm pretty
sure some of the ladybugs I saw were actual ladybugs. But
there were quite a few bugs out there. I watched some as
they developed through their larva stages. I've spent the
last hour or so looking up stuff on cucurbit, cruciform and
all and I have to give up on it and get some other things
done. Perhaps there was a combination of ladybugs and
spotted cucumber beetles.

I should have took some pictures of the bugs. :-)

--
Jim Carlock
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