Ive got cucumbers in a grow bag in a greenhouse, last year in the same position they were great, lots of fruit and no problems, this year they are being treated exactly the same but after the fruit has developed to about 1" long it turns yellow and wilts (or rots?).

The leaves look OK and there is no obvious sign of pests or diseases, any ideas please?

In article ,
Zaf wrote:

Ive got cucumbers in a grow bag in a greenhouse, last year in the same
position they were great, lots of fruit and no problems, this year they
are being treated exactly the same but after the fruit has developed to
about 1" long it turns yellow and wilts (or rots?).

The leaves look OK and there is no obvious sign of pests or diseases,
any ideas please?

Any sign of pollinators, e.g. honey bees?
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/2/maude
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/2...al_crime_scene

Zaf said:

Ive got cucumbers in a grow bag in a greenhouse, last year in the same
position they were great, lots of fruit and no problems, this year they
are being treated exactly the same but after the fruit has developed to
about 1" long it turns yellow and wilts (or rots?).

The leaves look OK and there is no obvious sign of pests or diseases,
any ideas please?

I would suspect lack of pollination. This could be due to lack of
pollinators visiting the plants, or due to a lack of male flowers.

Some cucumber cultivars are gynoecious (bear only female flowers),
and require another cucumber cultivar to pollinate them. Usually seeds
for a pollinator variety are included in packets of gynoecious cultivars.
Home gardeners growing only a few cucumber plants risk not having
enough plants to ensure one of them is the pollinator cultivar.

Cucumbers cultivars can also be parthenocarpic (set fruit without
pollination) and these cultivars are ideal for greenhouse growing.


--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Vegetables are like bombs packed tight with all kinds of important
nutrients..." --Largo Potter, Valkyria Chronicles

email valid but not regularly monitored

Most of the types we grow do not need to be pollinated, so that's a good tip. How is the watering going if the fruit are rotting?

We have exactly the same problem As ZAF in the interior of British
olumbia - blooms, then fruit, then they turn yellow and do not develop.
However a couple of cukes have developed on a couple of the plants - does
this eliminate the pollination problem as a cause?
"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
Zaf said:

Ive got cucumbers in a grow bag in a greenhouse, last year in the same
position they were great, lots of fruit and no problems, this year they
are being treated exactly the same but after the fruit has developed to
about 1" long it turns yellow and wilts (or rots?).

The leaves look OK and there is no obvious sign of pests or diseases,
any ideas please?

I would suspect lack of pollination. This could be due to lack of
pollinators visiting the plants, or due to a lack of male flowers.

Some cucumber cultivars are gynoecious (bear only female flowers),
and require another cucumber cultivar to pollinate them. Usually seeds
for a pollinator variety are included in packets of gynoecious cultivars.
Home gardeners growing only a few cucumber plants risk not having
enough plants to ensure one of them is the pollinator cultivar.

Cucumbers cultivars can also be parthenocarpic (set fruit without
pollination) and these cultivars are ideal for greenhouse growing.


--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Vegetables are like bombs packed tight with all kinds of important
nutrients..." --Largo Potter, Valkyria Chronicles

email valid but not regularly monitored

Graham Gilbert said:


We have exactly the same problem As ZAF in the interior of British
olumbia - blooms, then fruit, then they turn yellow and do not develop.
However a couple of cukes have developed on a couple of the plants - does
this eliminate the pollination problem as a cause?

No, I think that inadequate pollination would still be a prime suspect.

Either most of the blossoms are not being properly pollinated or the
cucumber vines are aborting the fruit because they are under stress
(examples: disease, lack of some particular nutrient, too much shade).

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Vegetables are like bombs packed tight with all kinds of important
nutrients..." --Largo Potter, Valkyria Chronicles

email valid but not regularly monitored

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:43:23 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

Graham Gilbert said:


We have exactly the same problem As ZAF in the interior of British
olumbia - blooms, then fruit, then they turn yellow and do not develop.
However a couple of cukes have developed on a couple of the plants - does
this eliminate the pollination problem as a cause?

No, I think that inadequate pollination would still be a prime suspect.

Either most of the blossoms are not being properly pollinated or the
cucumber vines are aborting the fruit because they are under stress
(examples: disease, lack of some particular nutrient, too much shade).

It's easy to find out, cut one (yellow cuke) in half and see if there
are any seeds. No seeds, it didn't get pollinated and it's being
aborted.

Newb

In article ,
wrote:

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:43:23 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

Graham Gilbert said:


We have exactly the same problem As ZAF in the interior of British
olumbia - blooms, then fruit, then they turn yellow and do not develop.
However a couple of cukes have developed on a couple of the plants - does
this eliminate the pollination problem as a cause?

No, I think that inadequate pollination would still be a prime suspect.

Either most of the blossoms are not being properly pollinated or the
cucumber vines are aborting the fruit because they are under stress
(examples: disease, lack of some particular nutrient, too much shade).

It's easy to find out, cut one (yellow cuke) in half and see if there
are any seeds. No seeds, it didn't get pollinated and it's being
aborted.

Newb

New info...Thanks

--
Bill S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden
What use one more wake up call?

In article ,
wrote:

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:43:23 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

Graham Gilbert said:


We have exactly the same problem As ZAF in the interior of British
olumbia - blooms, then fruit, then they turn yellow and do not develop.
However a couple of cukes have developed on a couple of the plants - does
this eliminate the pollination problem as a cause?

No, I think that inadequate pollination would still be a prime suspect.

Either most of the blossoms are not being properly pollinated or the
cucumber vines are aborting the fruit because they are under stress
(examples: disease, lack of some particular nutrient, too much shade).

It's easy to find out, cut one (yellow cuke) in half and see if there
are any seeds. No seeds, it didn't get pollinated and it's being
aborted.

Newb

It would be a little early to expect seeds.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/2/maude
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/2...al_crime_scene

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:05:24 -0700, Billy
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:43:23 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

Graham Gilbert said:


We have exactly the same problem As ZAF in the interior of British
olumbia - blooms, then fruit, then they turn yellow and do not develop.
However a couple of cukes have developed on a couple of the plants - does
this eliminate the pollination problem as a cause?

No, I think that inadequate pollination would still be a prime suspect.

Either most of the blossoms are not being properly pollinated or the
cucumber vines are aborting the fruit because they are under stress
(examples: disease, lack of some particular nutrient, too much shade).

It's easy to find out, cut one (yellow cuke) in half and see if there
are any seeds. No seeds, it didn't get pollinated and it's being
aborted.

Newb

It would be a little early to expect seeds.

No it's not. This type of forensics may require visual aids such as a
magnifying glass, depending on how good/bad ones vision is. If one
knows what a seed pattern in a cuke, watermelon, etc looks like,
finding that pattern on a smaller scale is dead easy.

I learned this trick from Master Gardener Cisco Morris. You can
discuss it further with him if you like: http://ciscoe.com/

Newb

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:49:24 -0400, Bill who putters
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

On Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:43:23 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote:

Graham Gilbert said:


We have exactly the same problem As ZAF in the interior of British
olumbia - blooms, then fruit, then they turn yellow and do not develop.
However a couple of cukes have developed on a couple of the plants - does
this eliminate the pollination problem as a cause?

No, I think that inadequate pollination would still be a prime suspect.

Either most of the blossoms are not being properly pollinated or the
cucumber vines are aborting the fruit because they are under stress
(examples: disease, lack of some particular nutrient, too much shade).

It's easy to find out, cut one (yellow cuke) in half and see if there
are any seeds. No seeds, it didn't get pollinated and it's being
aborted.

Newb

New info...Thanks

You're welcome. I learned that from a local Master Gardener who has a
radio show on the weekends. I called him about this a couple of years
back and that's what he told me to check. I did, it had no sign of
seeds meaning we had a pollination problem. So I called a friend who
raises honey bees and he placed a few hives on our property. End of
problem, plus we charge him a little honey for rent ; )

Newb