Cucumber fungus? - Ask Extension
My garden is located in Baltimore county, close to Baltimore city's border.
I have very vigorous indeterminate cucumber vines that are already set...
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Cucumber fungus? #799368
Asked July 04, 2022, 3:13 PM EDT
My garden is located in Baltimore county, close to Baltimore city's border.
I have very vigorous indeterminate cucumber vines that are already setting fruit (all three plants are on the same hill). The variety is Sweet Slice.
I found that several leaves seem to have some kind of mold; another single leaf also looks diseased, but it looks different. I am attaching pictures below.
Pictures Cucumber2 and Cucumber3 are the ones that show some kind of fungus. Cucumber1 shows a different kind of blemish.
I make sure to water close to the ground keeping the leaves dry; the latest change was the addition of commercial compost (LeafGro, produced by Montgomery and PG counties environmental services). Several weeks ago I also added a weak liquid fertilizer (4-12-4).
Please instruct; I prefer to use organic solutions.
Thank you very much,
Pedro N. Safier<personal data hidden>
Baltimore County Maryland
Expert Response
Hi-
Sweet Slice has purported resistance to a number of diseases:
https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest-management/disease-factsheets/disease-resistant-vegetable-varieties/
2&3- appears to be a minor botrytis (gray mold) infection, probably encouraged by warm, wet weather. Increasing air circulation through pruning and trellising can help reduce disease risk (although in this case the disease severity is very low).
https://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/growingsmallfarms-botrytis-in-the-greenhouse/
1- we cannot tell what caused the symptom on this single leaf. It could have been gray mold or an environmental stress issue (e.g., reflected light and heat, warm water from a hose).
Jon
Sweet Slice has purported resistance to a number of diseases:
https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest-management/disease-factsheets/disease-resistant-vegetable-varieties/
2&3- appears to be a minor botrytis (gray mold) infection, probably encouraged by warm, wet weather. Increasing air circulation through pruning and trellising can help reduce disease risk (although in this case the disease severity is very low).
https://growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/growingsmallfarms-botrytis-in-the-greenhouse/
1- we cannot tell what caused the symptom on this single leaf. It could have been gray mold or an environmental stress issue (e.g., reflected light and heat, warm water from a hose).
Jon
