Is this cucumber bacterial wilt?

[thealley]

Hi,

Up to this morning the plants were fine but I've been noting white spots from a couple of days. In the afternoon, most leaves were wilting quite heavily. I couldn't trace any pests but ants were roaming on leaves. The water you see on the leaves was sprayed to try to get rid of the ants - I don't normally pour water on leaves.

On a side note, yesterday I inserted the bamboo sticks in the soil for support, I hope the wilting isn't the result of damaging the roots with the sticks.

Any help please?

Thanks.

 

[Chuck]

Hi,

Up to this morning the plants were fine but I've been noting white spots from a couple of days. In the afternoon, most leaves were wilting quite heavily. I couldn't trace any pests but ants were roaming on leaves. The water you see on the leaves was sprayed to try to get rid of the ants - I don't normally pour water on leaves.

On a side note, yesterday I inserted the bamboo sticks in the soil for support, I hope the wilting isn't the result of damaging the roots with the sticks.

Any help please?

Thanks.

Wilting in the heat of the afternoon is normal. If they are wilted in the morning it is time to water. Mostly ants are not harmful but they can be. Make sure of what they are actually doing. Sometimes they farm aphids or they attack and eat other insects. On the other hand they like sugar and the blooms of your cucumbers may be at risk. Spraying them with plain water is just a waste of water, it won't do anything to them except make them a little tired from having to climb back up the plant. Where you live I don't know what is available to get rid of them. Boric acid and sugar or diotamacious earth or spinosad is what I use but if those aren't available try to find an ant bait. Your plant look healthy and you don't have a disease.

 

[thealley]

Hi Chuck,

Do onions and garlic, spread in the soil, repel ants?

Thanks

 

[Chuck]

Hi Chuck,

Do onions and garlic, spread in the soil, repel ants?

Thanks

Garlic more so than onions. Cinnamon works too.

 

[thealley]

Thanks Chuck, very helpful as usual

 

[thealley]

I'm really confused now. In the evening, the leaves recovered their upright position. This morning I put the plants out again, and at midday I found the leaves wilted again. So on one hand I'm aware that they need sun, but apparently the sun is the reason for their wilting.

What should I do? Should I leave them inside?

 

[Chuck]

I'm really confused now. In the evening, the leaves recovered their upright position. This morning I put the plants out again, and at midday I found the leaves wilted again. So on one hand I'm aware that they need sun, but apparently the sun is the reason for their wilting.

What should I do? Should I leave them inside?

Cucs love sunshine. Moving them so much has them in semi-shock. Move them outside and leave them alone. As long as it isn't cold they will do great without any help.

 

[DirtMechanic]

What you are seeing is called transpiration. The plant is opening its stomata in the heat just as you would for evaporative cooling. As there is loss of moisture up top, then the liquids can transport up from the root, bringing nurishment in addition.

 

[thealley]

Cucs love sunshine. Moving them so much has them in semi-shock. Move them outside and leave them alone. As long as it isn't cold they will do great without any help.

I see. I'll leave them out at night, the lowest temperature in my country at this time of year is around 15 degrees Celcius.

 

[thealley]

What you are seeing is called transpiration. The plant is opening its stomata in the heat just as you would for evaporative cooling. As there is loss of moisture up top, then the liquids can transport up from the root, bringing nurishment in addition.

So it's not a harmful thing,right?

 

[Chuck]

I see. I'll leave them out at night, the lowest temperature in my country at this time of year is around 15 degrees Celcius.

That's about 60F, great for cucs.

 

[DirtMechanic]

So it's not a harmful thing,right?

Same as breathing.

 

[thealley]

Same as breathing.

Well in my country, that translates to being harmful seeing the latest CO2 emission statistics

 

[DirtMechanic]

Well in my country, that translates to being harmful seeing the latest CO2 emission statistics

See? Plants must breathe deeply there because they take in CO2 and blow out Oxygen...

 

[thealley]

Hello,

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. I've noted some spots which I hopefully is not powdery mildew, and which I'm suspecting could be fungus due to stress 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. I water it once every two days. The holes are being made by ants, and the bees are inexistent, so I have to make hand pollination. 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 the hot sun rays and protect it from excessive wind.

Many thanks.