Cucumber woe

[ken]

As well as tomatoes, I grow a couple of cucumber plants in my 6x6 greenhouse. This summer has been very hot, and the greenhouse has inevitably got very hot too, even with the door and window open. The cucumbers have tended to wilt when it has been very hot, even though they have been kept well watered. Giving them a bit of shade by draping over some fleece seems to have helped a bit, and they have quickly recovered. However, although it has been cooler for the past few days, one of the plants now seems to have wilted permanently and I think I am losing it. Is this likely to be too much water, not enough water, or some other disease/condition?

[PLUMPUDDING]

Have the roots gone rotten on the poorly one? Do you really need two cucumber plants? I only grow one and am sick of the sight of them it is still producing lots every week.

[ken]

I'll investigate the roots later...we've certainly had plenty of cucumbers, though not as plentiful as in previous years. I seem to remember that tomatoes and cucumbers are not ideal neighbours in a greenhouse, as cucmbers like a vey humid atmosphere while that would encourage mould on tomatoes.

[Elaine]

Hi Ken.
One of my plants did exactly the same last year. The root hadn't rotted but it was definitely not as substantial as the other plant's root system. I grew three plants this year, aiming for two plants. Very early on, one of the plants just collapsed and again, didn't have a very good root system but the other two have been fine and are still producing fruit....for which my friends and neighbours are very grateful.

I'm fortunate enough to have two greenhouses on the plot and grow the cucumbers and tomatoes separately.

[Primrose]

I wonder if placing a moist light cotton piece of sheeting over your cucumber leaves would help the humidity environment for them without adversely the conditions for your tomatoes? I grow. mine in front of my tomato plants in an outside border. To water, I direct the hose or watering can spout at the roots of the tomatoes and the use the spray part to keep the leaves of the cucumbers moist, which generally seems to work, especially when it's hot.

[ken]

I've now dug out the dead plant. The roots hadn't rotted but the stem was almost bitten through at ground level. I suspect slugs as one or two ground level leaves have been nibbled as well. Checking the other plant, I see the stem there has also been chewed, but not as badly. Still, I guess we're getting to the end of the season, so we haven't done too badly for cucumbers this year...