Cucumber plants with white edges - please help!

[robsimm]

Hello everyone,

Having successfully germinated 6 cucumber plants from seed I feel a little out of my depth over this issue.

Over the past week I have found that my planted-out cucumbers have developed an odd 'brittle' paper-like feel to their leaves with yellowing and whiteness to the edges of the leaves. I have nipped-off some of the dying leaves with success (the plant keeps growing new green foliage) but then the same eventually happens to those.

I have attached a picture to help identification.

Thanks in advance!

[Tomatoking]

I wouldn't worry too much about the leaves, and only remove them when you need to for better air circulation. It looks like some sort of scorch or burn. In the summer I would have said maybe too little water on a hot day. The other reason for this is to strong a feed, either added at the wrong strength or compost not rotted down enough or mixed in properly. You can also get a burn from frost , but that usually is black.

Do not over water to resolve the problem as you could get root rot, so a little and often is best when watering cucumbers.

[robsimm]

Thanks Tomatoking for your prompt reply.

Based on what you're saying - I guess it's attributed to the excess nitrogen from the manure in the beds . We added a good helping of manure (well rotted, from a 4 year old pile) in approximately 8 weeks before we planted out our cukes.

I read that you can flush out the excess nitrogen by watering the soil down - but am hesitant based on your advise to not over-water and starving the roots of oxygen could only make the situation worse?

The plants themselves seem to be producing fruits (tiny little buds coming up around top-end of plant), so I guess the quality and quantity of fruit will be reduced because of this?

Any ideas on how to rectify would be most appreciated!

[Two_Sheds]

my planted-out cucumbers ...

it's wind burn.

did you harden them off before planting out?

[robsimm]

Hi Two_Sheds, thanks for your reply.

Not so sure what you mean by wind burn? Perhaps I overloaded the term 'planted out'. The cukes are in a poly tunnel which has maintained good temps (above 12 degrees and on average 28 degrees). They were hardened off for a few days prior.

Sent from my RM-821_eu_euro1_342 using Tapatalk

[Two_Sheds]

Leaf scorch ... the death of tissue along the edge of the leaf, showing as white or brown edges to a leaf. Caused by insufficient water reaching the leaf margin cells.
This can occur if
1) there is insufficient moisture in the soil
2) water is lost too fast from the leaves to be replaced, eg if they're outside in a dehydrating wind

Wind scorch/RHS Gardening

[Tomatoking]

Thanks Tomatoking for your prompt reply.

Based on what you're saying - I guess it's attributed to the excess nitrogen from the manure in the beds . We added a good helping of manure (well rotted, from a 4 year old pile) in approximately 8 weeks before we planted out our cukes.

I read that you can flush out the excess nitrogen by watering the soil down - but am hesitant based on your advise to not over-water and starving the roots of oxygen could only make the situation worse?

The plants themselves seem to be producing fruits (tiny little buds coming up around top-end of plant), so I guess the quality and quantity of fruit will be reduced because of this?

Any ideas on how to rectify would be most appreciated!

Nitrogen gets flushed out easier than any other nutrient so don't try to flush it out as they damage is only minor. As best in most cases it is best to do nothing and with correct watering and feed the plant will be fine. It defiantly not effect any cropping.

Sometimes we try to rectify a problem after it has passed, causing more problems, plants do right themselves in many cases.