What’s wrong when cucumbers look like this?
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Generally when leaves start turning brown at the tips it means either they are over watered or lacking nutrients. Because you do hydro as well, I’d feed them some of the hydro solution about 1/3 strength and see what happens. I’d also get more intense light on the ones that are just starting. The stems on the large ones seem leggy.
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Yes, I wanted to buy some lamps for the light, but I got discouraged with that idea.
I’ll see if I can get them in more sunlight and less water. Thanks Tom.
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I got to thinking further about what I posted Jan. That advice about the diluted fertilizer was meant just for the plants with their true leaves and the browning. Those just breaking ground starts should not be fertilized at least until they have true leaves. I hope I’m not to late with this news. Also you do not need expensive grow lights for starts. You can use shop lights as well. They just have to be at or over 6500K and preferably at least 5000w. I’d move those big plants into larger containers.
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I might be caused by environmental conditions like temperature fluctuations, or over watering. It also might be early mosaic virus.
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We have had problems with the plants for a few years now, the planting soil we buy contains almost only peat, and I think it gets a little too much water.
My wife has tried feeding tomatoes with a little chicken manure, but it doesn’t work much, as you can see they are long and thin, the cucumbers haven’t been fertilized.
I was thinking of buying LED fluorescent tubes to ensure the light but I got discouraged on that idea, she thinks it’s bright enough anyway, the problem is that it can get too hot too.
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We are just starting to get some slightly warmer weather or else I’d have most of my starts in the greenhouse by now. I checked yesterday and it was a 25F morning and 45F in the GH, so getting pretty close now. I have some plants sitting on window sills while they are small but even then they try and lean toward the light. That’s always a warning that they want much more. I do most of them in 27 gallon totes. They will hold 72 cells and will allow a two foot light to raise and lower inside them. I use two lights per tote. I keep the lights just a couple of inches above the top of the plant and adjust as it grows. We are still 7 weeks from our normal last frost day so still a lot of messing around time needed.
That’s a nice room you have. No TV or electronics. I could spend a lot of time sitting there. electro-detoxing.
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Those long stems could be a result of the of good light like you mentioned. Even if there is a lot of light in the house not everything is getting through the windows. Especially if you have good quality windows with some special UV layers.
At that stage exposing the plants to real sunlight could be a good thing. Even the grow lights aren’t the same as natural sunlight. But if you do expose them to the sun just be careful they don’t stay there too long. The plants will get burnt really quick since they aren’t used to that kind of light.
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The mosiac virus, which I am not sure it is, can be transmitted in the seeds.
For the soil usually you mix peat with 2:1 or 1:1 with sand, vermiculite or perlite.
There are all sorts of mixes, and pine bark and pine straw are also commonly added.
You can also add activated biochar in at like 10%
I am adding this link because they chased down general recommendations in a nice chart, which I think are high but that might be -their- activated biochar, and most of the ‘premium’ or professional potting soils now contain mycorrhizae fungus.
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Lots of wild foraging to do right now, onions on the rocky river banks.
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