Yellow leaves on cucumbers – every garden owner should act quickly now. Because it doesn't always have to be diseases and pests for cucumbers, incorrect care or a lack of nutrients can also be the cause. What is hidden behind yellow leaves? How can they be avoided? What to do?
What causes yellow leaves on cucumbers and how do I avoid them?
Yellow leaves on cucumbers can be caused by care errors, nutrient deficiencies or diseases such as powdery mildew and cucumber mosaic virus. To avoid them, water more sparingly, use warm rainwater, fertilize regularly and choose resistant varieties.
What causes yellow leaves on cucumbers?
Whether outdoor cucumbers or greenhouse cucumbers - one of the most common causes of yellow leaves on cucumbers is care errors. From ventilation to watering to fertilizing - it's often just small things that cause cucumber plants to react with yellow leaves. But the following cucumber diseases and pests can also be recognized first by yellow leaves.
- True and false cucumber mildew
- Cucumber mosaic virus
- Aphids
True and false cucumber mildew, the pathogen in both variants is a fungus. With the cucumber mosaic virus, the edges of the leaves become wilted and light yellow. Remove infected cucumber plants immediately if leaf veins turn yellow on the outside
How to effectively prevent yellow leaves on cucumbers
In general, yellow leaves are a sign of too much water. Simply water more sparingly and treat cucumber plants with warm rainwater instead of cold water. Water mainly the root area and rarely the greenery. Supply cucumbers regularly but moderately with horse manure (€12.00 on Amazon) or organic green manure during the growing season. This promotes their resistance and prevents yellow leaves due to magnesium deficiency.
Prevention is better than fighting
Cucumbers Fighting diseases and pests is often not even possible with chemicals, depending on the infestation. You should also carefully consider whether you are actually using poison when it comes to food. Prevention is always better for people and plants:
Maintain sufficient planting distance when planting cucumbers. Because dense green leaves too little air to reach the leaves. Most fungi and viruses spread in constant wet and damp conditions. Growing resistant F1 hybrid cucumber varieties. Or you can grow more resilient cucumbers yourself by grafting cucumbers.
Observe crop rotation and only plant cucumbers in the same location again after 4 years at the earliest. Aphids are the main culprit in transmitting cucumber diseases. The targeted use of beneficial insects in the greenhouse and garden offers the best solution and is worthwhile.
With these effective measures you can not only permanently prevent yellow leaves on cucumbers, but also prevent cucumber diseases and pests at an early stage.
Also find out about yellow leaves on tomato plants.
Tips & Tricks
Do not fertilize newly acquired young plants immediately. As a rule, the cucumber plants are pre-fertilized and have been supplied with all the important nutrients by the breeder.
