Cucumber pest?

[Steve]

I've noticed in past years that when my cucumber vines get about 3 feet long, SOMETHING happens to the growing tip. It gets kind of brown up one side of the stem. The tip curls over and then dies. Eventually the tip-less vine makes one or more side branch and the vine grows on but sometimes the new tips die off too. Today I noticed the first tips starting to be affected for this year. So what does that? I've never seen any visible pest. I haven't used a magnifying glass or anything.

Steve in the Adirondacks

[Billy]

Might look at

[mor]

it could be Leafminers and if ti brown spot as you said then it Verticillium wil

-- mor

[Steve]

Well, this isn't going to be as easy as I hoped. The web sites you gave have a lot of information, especially that 3rd one. NOTHING there even comes close to describing the problem I see on my cucumbers. The only possibilities, as far as I can tell, are mites and thrips. Even those pests aren't described as affecting the growing tips. I have noticed that the biggest leaf (half inch wide at most) at the affected tip looks dried up as if mites had sucked the sap out of it. Again, I think my next move should be a close inspection with a magnifying glass. I didn't think to do that today.

Steve

[Steve]

Thanks but I can't find anything about miners affecting the growing tip. It certainly isn't a wilt. Only an inch at the growing tip dries up and dies. The rest of the plant continues on as normal.

Steve

[Richard at GS]

This is a long shot but deficiency in either calcium or boron can caus

the death of the growing point in cucumbers, but I am sure you woul see symptoms in other plants. Calcium is common in most soils (thoug poor compost mixes can be deficient) but uneven watering schedules ca cause calcium uptake problems. Hard water contains calcium as well s it is even more unlikely in these areas (unless using rain water) Boron is common in plant matter so good compost should be fine, o mixing home compost into soil. You should be able to find 'Borax' o similar to rectify a deficiency

-- Richard at GS