"EDUPSHAW" wrote:
Or on a giant sandbar...
Maybe it was the Vapam that helps create sand?
I'm trying to keep this simple and unwordy so discard this
line and read on...
Cucumbers do grow in "amended" sand. They prefer shade
here in Florida, and if put in direct sunlight, they will grow
if watered daily. It doesn't seem to take much to make the
sand healthy for cucumbers. A good bunch of dead dried
leaves, some dead dried branches, and most importantly,
some a banana peel added monthly or less. g
I don't seem to be having a problem right at the moment with
instant sand. I know the summer sun and vacant patches of
"sand" which I'm working (mixing leaves into) will get
over the problem of sand, as well as adding some more of
the 1-2-1 fertilizer. That seemed to work pretty good with
only one application in the spring.
I'm going to turn the discussion around right now... I haven't
started researching nematodes yet and I don't know what
those are. They seemed to have been a problem for Norm
Rohrabaugh.
2 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ABOUT NEMATODES:
What promotes a healthy nematode and what destroys a
nematode? I don't even know what a nematode is right at
the moment, I'm assuming it's a bug (beetle that attacks
roots).
Maybe what's killing the cucumbers are root rot nematodes ?
Nawh... the cucumber leaves were attacked and whatever
infected the cucumbers started at the leaves... and it then
worked its way from the leaves inward. I'm assuming the
whiteflies did them in... There was a problem with silverleaf
whiteflies... I can pretty much positively identify those are the
ones that attacked the Yamato cucumbers. And there seemed
to be whiteflies that attacked the MarketMore 76 cucumbers,
the leaves didn't get the white looking lines (of poison?) running
up gradually making the whole leaf pale.
The leaves on the Marketmore 76 cucumbers died and once
the leaves died, the vine itself started dying, starting from the
outermost part going back down to the roots. I'm thinking
that is from a lack of leaves now, rather than a poison running
back to the roots. The base stills seems to be okay, but it is
definitely NOT growing any new leaves or stems... so my
lack of a full understanding on what whiteflies do is slowing
my resolution in this matter... as well as the fact that coffee
grounds DO seem to be a problem for cucumbers... but
perhaps there's something in coffee grounds that promote
a very healthy whitefly and attracts whiteflies? I'm thinking
along the lines that coffee grounds might be beneficial for
cucumbers if there are no whiteflies around? This is all
hypthetical stabs in the dark though... but perhaps someone
out there might be help out...
I'm not sure I need to pursue the root rot nematode thing at
the moment... I'm 90% convinced that it was whiteflies.
ASIAN LADYBUGS, CUCUMBER BEETLES, and
WHITEFLIES...
But that brings me back to the Asian ladybugs, they are
benificial, right? They seemed to be attacking the whiteflies.
But they do also look like cucumber beetles. So I guess I
need to seperate the Asian ladybugs from the cucumber
beetles visually in the next attempt.
I've already started another set of cucumber vines. I'm
hoping I can get the Yamato variety to fruit this time. I'll
be spraying the undersides of the leaves daily to get rid
of all whiteflies and whatever else attacks the undersides.
DISH DETERGENT ???
I've positively identified that spraying water works very
well in this manner. I've also identified that spraying dish
detergent does not "seem" to present a problem. I tried it
over the summer on the Yamato cucumber vines (those
are the ones that never fruited). So I'll just stick with water
this time, :-), unless someone has already done some
research on the effects of dish detergent... (the bottled variety
that you use to clean dishes in sinks, NOT the stuff people
stick in a dish washer).
There's a lot of stuff here and I hope I've presented it very
clearly... and alot of it are just throwing ideas up in the
air for people to add onto. There are quite a few issues
involved so if folks reply, I'm asking that the replies at
least start with the question that was asked that is being
answered... then perhaps leave the unanswered and
relavent questions after your signature, or inline with
comments that you don't know the answer and/or a
suggestion. Thanks!
--
Jim Carlock
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