Question
I have some cucumbers I bought from the nursery in a small container about 3 weeks ago. I transplanted them to a larger container. I move them in the garage at night and back out to the driveway during the day. The leaves and stems are turning light green and have dry white places on them. Are they getting sun scalded, am I watering them too much, not enough fertilizer?
Answer(s)
There could be two different issues with the cucumbers. Sunscald is a possibility. Greenhouses often have screening or other treatments to help keep them from getting too hot. Plants growing inside are actually growing in filtered sunlight, not direct sunlight. Also, relative humidity is usually higher inside a greenhouse than it would be in your yard. That is why it is best to harden bedding plants before putting them out into the garden. Hardening involves cutting back watering a little bit and setting bedding plants out as you have, but perhaps where they will get some shade during the hottest part of the day at first but gradually moving them into more direct sunlight for the full day. It can be tricky to do and you might see some signs of sunscald even if you do everything well. But with a little luck, your bedding plants will recover and do fine.
The other issue has to do with cucumbers and other members of the cucumber family. These are best transplanted into the garden when they are quite young--when they have only two or three leaves. Older plants will experience more transplant stress.
Answer(s)
There could be two different issues with the cucumbers. Sunscald is a possibility. Greenhouses often have screening or other treatments to help keep them from getting too hot. Plants growing inside are actually growing in filtered sunlight, not direct sunlight. Also, relative humidity is usually higher inside a greenhouse than it would be in your yard. That is why it is best to harden bedding plants before putting them out into the garden. Hardening involves cutting back watering a little bit and setting bedding plants out as you have, but perhaps where they will get some shade during the hottest part of the day at first but gradually moving them into more direct sunlight for the full day. It can be tricky to do and you might see some signs of sunscald even if you do everything well. But with a little luck, your bedding plants will recover and do fine.
The other issue has to do with cucumbers and other members of the cucumber family. These are best transplanted into the garden when they are quite young--when they have only two or three leaves. Older plants will experience more transplant stress.
Answer(s)
There could be two different issues with the cucumbers. Sunscald is a possibility. Greenhouses often have screening or other treatments to help keep them from getting too hot. Plants growing inside are actually growing in filtered sunlight, not direct sunlight. Also, relative humidity is usually higher inside a greenhouse than it would be in your yard. That is why it is best to harden bedding plants before putting them out into the garden. Hardening involves cutting back watering a little bit and setting bedding plants out as you have, but perhaps where they will get some shade during the hottest part of the day at first but gradually moving them into more direct sunlight for the full day. It can be tricky to do and you might see some signs of sunscald even if you do everything well. But with a little luck, your bedding plants will recover and do fine.
The other issue has to do with cucumbers and other members of the cucumber family. These are best transplanted into the garden when they are quite young--when they have only two or three leaves. Older plants will experience more transplant stress.
Boyd Kitchen
County Director, Ag, 4-H Youth Programs, Water Management Agent, Uintah County
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