Why, after planting in the ground, the leaves of cucumbers turn white and what to do
Cucumbers are a fairly common vegetable crop that most vegetable growers like to plant in their dachas and greenhouses. While growing, some face many different problems. This vegetable does not respond well to poor ventilation, inappropriate temperatures and insufficient light. Because of all this, the leaves of the cucumber seedlings turn white.
Why do cucumbers have white leaves
If cucumbers have white spots, then you should understand the causes of their occurrence. There are several common reasons for leaf discoloration.
Lack of light
Sometimes after planting cucumbers in the ground, white leaves appear due to poor lighting. This problem often appears when planting in a greenhouse, but sometimes it also occurs outdoors. Due to the lack of light, the lower leaves begin to brighten. If all other leaves do not start to change their color, then you should not worry. After all, the lower leaves almost always lack light due to the fact that cucumbers grow too thickly.
Moisture
Another reason why the leaves of cucumbers turn white is a lack or an excess of moisture. Most often because of this, the leaves of the cucumbers that grow in the gardens begin to turn white, since it is not always possible to control the humidity outside. In summer in some regions there is too much rainfall and this leads to the fact that the cucumber leaves turn white. Also, high humidity negatively affects the root system of plants. Over time, the root begins to rot and the bush gradually dies.
Lack of moisture also leads to the fact that the tips of the leaves brighten and begin to dry. To get rid of this problem, it is enough just to water the seedlings more often.
Lack of nutritional components
Seedlings of cucumbers in the greenhouse and outdoors can become covered with light spots due to insufficient amount of nutrients. This reason is much less common than all the others.
If the bush brightens and dries up from below, then this indicates a lack of potassium or magnesium. Therefore, at the first opportunity, it is necessary to add top dressing containing these components to the soil.
When the stems with cucumber leaves are also covered with dark veins, the plant lacks manganese with iron. With an insufficient amount of copper, the leaves located in the upper part of the bush first brighten and dry.
Aging
Any plant begins to age over time, which is why the process of photosynthesis gradually slows down and each leaf slowly dries up and withers. Natural old age occurs only after the entire harvest has been collected.Therefore, if the bush began to dry earlier, then this was not due to aging, but for some other reason.
Pests
If white spots began to appear at the edges of the leaves, then you should think about the fact that there are pests on the site. Often, the bush dries up due to a spider mite or whitefly. These insects feed on the sap they suck from the cucumber leaves. Together with the juice, they suck out the nutrients, which leads to the clarification of the leaves.
When insects appear, bushes and a vegetable garden should be treated with special preparations. To do this, you can use folk remedies or effective pesticides.
Diseases
Most often, it is because of diseases that the seedlings of cucumbers on the site dry out. Most diseases manifest themselves in the same way. At first, the cotyledon leaves are covered with small spots, which increase over time. Then the affected leaves gradually curl and fall off.
If the plant is affected by fusarium, then the bush, a few days after infection, becomes lethargic and does not respond to watering. Almost all cucumber diseases appear after warm sunny weather is abruptly replaced by cold and heavy rains.
Ways to fight
Having figured out why the leaves of the seedlings turn white, you can start treatment. Inexperienced vegetable growers do not know the peculiarities of proper cultivation of cucumbers and what to do when their leaves have brightened. If the leaves of the cucumbers turn white, then you need to immediately get rid of this problem. For this, it is recommended to use special preparations that will help get rid of pests and the most dangerous cucumber diseases.
Quadris
This tool allows not only to treat bushes from diseases, but also to protect them from the reappearance of diseases in the future. It is recommended to process cucumbers with Quadris in the evening or sutra, when there is no strong wind outside. After the first treatment, the drug immediately penetrates into the whitened leaves and removes all pathogens from them. Also, Quadris prevents the germination of spores in the initial stages of the disease.
During processing, about 100-200 ml of the drug should be consumed for each plant. The procedure is carried out three times during the cultivation of cucumbers. In this case, the interval between each use of Quadris should be at least 3-5 weeks.
Cuproxat
White leaves of cucumbers in a greenhouse or garden can be treated with Cuproxat. This product has been specially formulated to protect vegetables from insects and diseases. The product is sold in large plastic containers, with a volume of about 10-20 liters. The liquid can be used immediately after purchase. It is recommended to apply Cuproxat before planting cucumbers in the soil.
The fact is that the drug is more effective if it is used before pathogens and spores enter the leaves.
Cuproxat should fall not only on the edge of the lightened leaf, but also on its entire surface. In order for the agent to be evenly distributed over the plant, it is necessary to spray the liquid in calm weather early in the morning.
Jet
If, after planting, the cotyledons began to gradually brighten, then they can be treated with the Jet fungicide. The drug is sold in the form of a powder, from which you will have to prepare a working solution in advance. To do this, add about 100 grams of fungicide to 10 liters of water. Then the mixture is mixed and infused for 20-40 minutes. The prepared solution should be used almost immediately, as it is not suitable for long-term storage.
Jet should be used twice a month. At the same time, spraying will have to be repeated before harvesting.
Folk remedies
Some vegetable growers, when cucumbers begin to turn white and wither, use not drugs, but folk remedies.
Onion peel
To protect cucumbers from parasites and pests, products made from onion peels are often used. To prepare a medicinal mixture, it is necessary to mix 300 grams of husk with 5-7 liters of water. Then the container is placed on a gas stove and brought to a boil. The prepared mixture is infused for 10 hours, after which it can be used to process plants. The tool can be used not only for spraying leaves, but also for watering the soil.
Milk serum
It is recommended to use kefir with whey when the cucumber tops have turned white. To prepare the working mixture, 7 liters of water and 2-3 liters of whey or kefir are added to a 10 liter container. Some people add a little sugar to the mixture to improve the yield of the cucumbers.
Bread loaf
To make a loaf mixture, soak several loaves of bread in a large container of water. It should be soaked for at least 12 hours. After that, a spoonful of iodine and 10 liters of water are added to the liquid. It is recommended to use the prepared mixture twice a month so that the leaves always remain green.
Conclusion
Cucumber leaves turn white quite often. To get rid of this problem, you should figure out why this happens on cucumbers in a greenhouse and what needs to be done to treat the plants.
This problem is quite common, I have come across this several times already and feeding the seedlings with potassium helped. Cucumbers recover in just a few days.