What To Do When Cucumber Plants Yellow

Posted on Oct 14 2009 - 5:00am by Mike Lieberman

I’m still figuring out what to do with my cucumber plants because the leaves are yellowing.

It’s just over a month since I moved my cucumber plant across the yard. The plant was moved for a few reasons. First being that it was outgrowing the trellis that I built for it and needed more support, so I moved it close to the fence to train it up. The second being that the leaves were yellowing, which I thought was due to sun exposure.

The plant is growing along the fence, still bearing fruit and blooming. That’s nice, but the leaves are still yellowing. My next guess is that it’s due to the lack of nutrients, so I threw some left over compost that I had in the container.

The important part is that the plant is still producing because I’m about functionality first and aesthetics second. My guess is that the yellow leaves can’t be good for the long term health of the plant though, so I’d like to remedy that.

What’s your thoughts on what to do when cucumber plants yellow?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqjNPE149tc

28 Comments so far. Feel free to join this conversation.

  1. Michelle October 14, 2009 at 7:03 pm -

    http://michellereneesgardening.blogspot.com/ <– you are now on my blog! Thanks, Michelle

  2. Mike Lieberman October 14, 2009 at 7:34 pm -

    Sweet. Thanks for the mention!

  3. EarthMother - In The Raw October 15, 2009 at 8:12 am -

    My experience has been that yellowing leaves mean an over-watered plant. I know you're using self-watering containers. Check the drainage situation.

  4. Mike Lieberman October 15, 2009 at 10:13 am -

    They are draining. Maybe I have too large of a water reservoir? Thanks.

  5. Damon October 15, 2009 at 1:48 pm -

    Hi Mike! Great work…keep it up! You have officially inspired me to get back out there and get my beds ready for some winter greens! THANK YOU!
    How's your aeration? I found my big viney's like cuke, zucc and pumpkin like a big pile of sticks and dirt that add air and hold in warmth for me to get a good yield. So maybe temperature as well? I did have good luck with zucchini in pots on the roof to keep the roots warm last year.
    It's also time for me to restart my indoor hydroponic greens garden with new design enhancements….cross your fingers everyone, should it rival the last one I'll post my plans. Grow on Mike!

  6. Mike Lieberman October 15, 2009 at 5:20 pm -

    Awesome Damon. Glad to hear that. It's interesting, everyone has their own thoughts as to what it could be. As long as the cukes are growing, I'm happy.

    Definitely keep me updated on your projects. Fingers are crossed.

  7. RawDamon October 15, 2009 at 8:48 pm -

    Hi Mike! Great work…keep it up! You have officially inspired me to get back out there and get my beds ready for some winter greens! THANK YOU!
    How's your aeration? I found my big viney's like cuke, zucc and pumpkin like a big pile of sticks and dirt that add air and hold in warmth for me to get a good yield. So maybe temperature as well? I did have good luck with zucchini in pots on the roof to keep the roots warm last year.
    It's also time for me to restart my indoor hydroponic greens garden with new design enhancements….cross your fingers everyone, should it rival the last one I'll post my plans. Grow on Mike!

  8. Mike Lieberman October 16, 2009 at 12:20 am -

    Awesome Damon. Glad to hear that. It's interesting, everyone has their own thoughts as to what it could be. As long as the cukes are growing, I'm happy.

    Definitely keep me updated on your projects. Fingers are crossed.

  9. Smartie June 7, 2011 at 2:00 am -

    Try some epsom salts. I use it when my tomato leaves go yellowy.  The e.s. works to increase chlorophyll production and helps the plant suck up and use soil nutrients such as nitrogen.

  10. Mike Lieberman June 7, 2011 at 2:32 am -

    Word. Thanks for the tip.

  11. Anonymous June 21, 2011 at 12:59 pm -

    Well, this one is really the best informative post about Cucumber cultivating. And the existing content of this post really drives me on the crazy way about it. Well, I have really the best of experience regarding cucumber gardening with the use of hydroponic. And you really don’t believe  it, that I have really found the best quality cucumber from this method. And this one is really one of the extreme way for getting quality cucumber. Thanks for sharing some magnificent information about it.
     

  12. Mike Lieberman June 21, 2011 at 1:46 pm -

    Thanks for the comment Martin. There really has to be a better way for you to get a link back to your site then to squeeze links into your comments. It has been edited.

  13. Gretchen Morgan July 8, 2011 at 9:46 pm -

    One year I used chicken manure from my neighbor’s farm in the garden ; was terrible for all the plants except the the cukes which flourished!

  14. Mike Lieberman July 9, 2011 at 10:44 pm -

    Was the chicken manured composted and completely dried out. Heard chicken manure is supposed to be great.

  15. Kirsty@Bowerbird Blue November 23, 2011 at 3:48 am -

    Seaweed solution is always a good tonic when things look unwell, I’d try epsom salts too.

  16. Mike Lieberman November 27, 2011 at 10:43 am -

    Good call. Thanks!

  17. Anitaburns1 January 5, 2012 at 7:38 am -

    We grow lots of circubits including cucumbers using only fish emulsion and compost tea for fertilozer.

  18. Mike Lieberman January 5, 2012 at 8:19 am -

    Nice!

  19. @tropicalbloom May 2, 2012 at 2:46 am -

    If its the mature or lower leaves that are yellow I would try the epsom salt. If not I would try compost tea in a foliar application so the plant can recover faster from what appears to be a nutrient deficiency.

  20. Mike Lieberman May 2, 2012 at 6:19 am -

    Thanks for the info.

  21. Trjnmanb August 15, 2013 at 10:19 pm -

    did you ever find a solution to work? I am running into this with my cucumber plant now…

  22. Concerned August 24, 2013 at 12:53 pm -

    I’ve had the same issue with my cucumbers. Everything around it is doing excellent, but this past week my cucumber plants went from medium green to light green with yellow and brown spots. Needless to say I was scared. I researched everything and finally settled on making a compost tea ( organic compost with water) and adding diluted urine. I did that the last two days ( I just poured it around the base of the plant). I also stopped watering them overhead with my sprinkler nozzle. I actually took the nozzle off and just gently water the bases. It seems to definitely be working. I still have leaves ( lower ones) that have yellow spots, but the leaves are becoming a darker green finally. The top leaves are dark green. I also have flowers budding, so I think it’s doing better. The plants are also growing taller everyday! By the way, my compost isn’t very strong it only has 1% nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. I’ll probably add a little diluted urine over the next few days to make sure that it’s truly better. I also figured out that my cucumber plants are way to close together ( like 1-2 inches), which may be the problem also. I’m going to definitely look for a stronger organic compost for next year. This is my first garden, and I so love it.

  23. sherri powell July 3, 2014 at 3:59 am -

    Chicken manure is used around here and it works great on everything! Second only to cricket crap (really what they call it). Like you I wonder if it was composted completely.

  24. adamkleinberg July 26, 2014 at 10:03 am -

    Your first garden and you’re already peeing on your cucumbers? That’s impressive.

  25. HelenL1 July 13, 2015 at 6:15 pm -

    I learned 3 things now that my cucumbers died. I wish I had known this when I was about to plant. All of these steps should be taken for successful plants. One bake egg shells at 210 degrees, put into the blender, make powder. Blend this powder into the soil before planting (provides calcium). This will also prevent end rot in tomatoes. According to the internet, the powder stays potent for a whole year so you can collect shells during the winter. Two once leaves start to grow, spray a mixture of whole milk and water on each side of the leaf. This will prevent downy mildew. It must be done at the very beginning of the season as the leaves form. Three every 10 days mix two teaspoons of epsom salts with one gallon of water, spray on the leaves only when it is sunny so that the leaves will dry. This will give the plant magnesium. Avoid getting the epsom salt directly on any roots, it should always be dissolved. Until next year=( At least I got two dozen this year.

  26. hoya August 21, 2015 at 9:39 am -

    WHOs urine-YOURS????

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