Is this cucumber bacterial wilt?

[DirtMechanic]

I will try to separate your multiple questions. Bear with me.


I've made the beginner mistake of putting four plants in a small pot, and I ended up with a lot of leaves close to each other
Obviously it's too late to transplant, but would like to aks if I can cut some leaves, maybe the old ones, to make up some space and improve circulation.

-kill 2 or even three and let the best survive and prosper.


I've noted some spots which I hopefully is not powdery mildew, and which I'm suspecting could be fungus due to stress

-not possible as fungus is from spores


of the plants being entangled in each other or lack of circulation due to high humidity, which many times exceeds the 95% mark in my country.

-these factors contribute to pathogen growth of course

I water it once every two days.

-why? poke your finger in the dirt. is it that dry?


The holes are being made by ants,

-borax? bifenthrin? ants are easy but not sure of your suppliersfor insecticide.


and the bees are inexistent, so I have to make hand pollination.

-not the only pollinators


I would also like to ask if it was a good idea or not that I placed a netting mesh to protect the plant from hot sun rays and protect it from excessive wind.

-Wind yes but that looks like too much shade

 

[thealley]

I will try to separate your multiple questions. Bear with me.


I've made the beginner mistake of putting four plants in a small pot, and I ended up with a lot of leaves close to each other
Obviously it's too late to transplant, but would like to aks if I can cut some leaves, maybe the old ones, to make up some space and improve circulation.

-kill 2 or even three and let the best survive and prosper.


I've noted some spots which I hopefully is not powdery mildew, and which I'm suspecting could be fungus due to stress

-not possible as fungus is from spores


of the plants being entangled in each other or lack of circulation due to high humidity, which many times exceeds the 95% mark in my country.

-these factors contribute to pathogen growth of course

I water it once every two days.

-why? poke your finger in the dirt. is it that dry?


The holes are being made by ants,

-borax? bifenthrin? ants are easy but not sure of your suppliersfor insecticide.


and the bees are inexistent, so I have to make hand pollination.

-not the only pollinators


I would also like to ask if it was a good idea or not that I placed a netting mesh to protect the plant from hot sun rays and protect it from excessive wind.

-Wind yes but that looks like too much shade

Thanks for the clarifications.

With regards to watering, you mean once every two days is too much or too few?

I don't use any insecticide. The only thing I do is this suggestion I've seen on the internet to spray leaves with milk mixed with water to prevent powdery mildew.

Thanks.

 

[thealley]

Hi,

Sorry to pop up again but it seems I'm still having problems. From the four plants, I cut out two of them to improve the circulation. I have also removed the sun shade. Despite this, I'm still getting the impression that the plants are weakening. The first plant didn't go up as tall as the other one. Yet its cucumber is doing fine though, but two small other ones in the same plant seem to have stopped growing, or at least that's my impression. The second plant is quite tall but it isn't producing flowers, or the ones it's producing are either remaining closed or falling off. To make matters worse, there are fungus-type spots on the leaves and even on some stems. The pictures don't show the worst ones which I removed.

Do you think the plant is dying and is there anything I could do to improve the situation?

Many thanks.

 

[DirtMechanic]

So that is not necessary bacterial wilt, but it looks like a fungus has gotten started pretty well. Have you 4 aspirin you could grind into a gallon of water and spray it? The bacterial wilt comes from insects, usually some form of cucumber beetle. Have you seen some spotted or striped insects? The markings are distinctive. Look around the plant in resting areas, not just on the plant itself. They should all die.

 

[thealley]

So that is not necessary bacterial wilt, but it looks like a fungus has gotten started pretty well. Have you 4 aspirin you could grind into a gallon of water and spray it? The bacterial wilt comes from insects, usually some form of cucumber beetle. Have you seen some spotted or striped insects? The markings are distinctive. Look around the plant in resting areas, not just on the plant itself. They should all die.

No it's shouldn't be bacterial wilt. I just posted in this topic so as not to open a new one, apologies for the misunderstanding.

I've never heard of this aspirin thing, I'll definitely give it a try. I guess Panadols should work?

What I was also doing is the one part milk / two or three parts water, and spray it on the leaves once every week, but don't seem to be having an effect.

Will let you know in a couple of days of the aspirin/Panadol outcome.

Many thanks.

 

[Chuck]

So that is not necessary bacterial wilt, but it looks like a fungus has gotten started pretty well. Have you 4 aspirin you could grind into a gallon of water and spray it? The bacterial wilt comes from insects, usually some form of cucumber beetle. Have you seen some spotted or striped insects? The markings are distinctive. Look around the plant in resting areas, not just on the plant itself. They should all die.

I think it's the beginning of powdery mildew

 

[thealley]

I think it's the beginning of powdery mildew

Oh that's bad

 

[Chuck]

Oh that's bad

Yep, it is. You might try hydrogen peroxide or a copper spray but do it soon before it gets bad. Also do not water in the late afternoons and when you water try to not get water on the foliage.

 

[DirtMechanic]

No..just plain aspirin. it is a proven fungicide with organicically safe features. Do not use milk. milk has sugar, a growth medium, starches, another growth medium, and protiens, another growth medium. You might as well feed the desease. This is about acidifying the surface such that nothing grows on the plant. However, if you want to encourage moss on a stone path, milk is fine.

 

[DirtMechanic]

BTW the milk leads to that gray fungus. It is supposed to be beneficial somehow but I am not up on which fungal group it is supposed to be nor if unwanted fungal groups can also utilize the food source to the detriment of the plant.