Cucumbers are a fairly common vegetable crop that most vegetable growers like to plant in their dachas and greenhouses. During cultivation, some people face many different problems. This vegetable reacts poorly to poor ventilation, inappropriate temperature and insufficient light. Because of all this, the leaves of cucumber seedlings turn white.
Why do cucumber leaves turn white?
If white spots appeared on cucumbers, then you should understand the reasons for their occurrence.There are several most 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 in open ground. Due to a lack of light, the lower leaves begin to lighten. If all the other leaves do not begin to change color, then there is no need to worry. After all, the lower leaves almost always do not have enough light due to the fact that the cucumbers grow too densely.
Moisture
Another reason why cucumber leaves turn white is a lack or excess of moisture. Most often, because of this, the leaves of cucumbers that grow in vegetable gardens begin to turn white, since it is not always possible to control the humidity outside. In the summer, in some regions there is too much rainfall and this leads to the fact that the leaves of the cucumbers 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 causes the tips of the leaves to lighten and begin to dry out. To get rid of this problem, just water the seedlings more often.
Lack of nutrients
Cucumber seedlings in a greenhouse and outdoors may become covered with light spots due to an insufficient amount of nutrients. This reason is much less common than all the others.
If the bush turns lighter and dries out from below, this indicates a lack of potassium or magnesium. Therefore, at the first opportunity, it is necessary to add fertilizers containing these components to the soil.
When the stems with cucumber leaves are also covered with dark veins, the plant lacks manganese and iron.If there is not enough copper, the leaves located in the upper part of the bush lighten and dry first.
Aging
Over time, any plant begins to age, which is why the process of photosynthesis gradually slows down and each leaf slowly dries out and withers. Natural aging occurs only after the entire harvest has been harvested. Therefore, if the bush began to dry out earlier, then this was not due to aging, but for some other reason.
Pests
If white spots begin to appear along the edges of the leaves, then you should think about the fact that there are pests in the area. Often, the bush dries out due to spider mites or whiteflies. These insects feed on the juice that they suck from cucumber leaves. Along with the juice, they also suck out nutritional components, which leads to lightening of the leaves.
When insects appear, bushes and gardens 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 cucumber seedlings dry out on the site. 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 a plant is infected with fusarium, the bush becomes lethargic a few days after infection and does not respond to watering. Almost all cucumber diseases appear after warm, sunny weather suddenly gives way to cold and heavy rains.
Ways to fight
Having figured out why the leaves of the seedlings turn white, you can begin treatment. Inexperienced vegetable growers do not know the specifics of properly growing cucumbers and what to do when their leaves turn light.If the leaves of cucumbers turn white, you need to get rid of this problem immediately. To do this, it is recommended to use special preparations that will help get rid of pests and the most dangerous cucumber diseases.
Quadris
This remedy allows you not only to treat bushes from diseases, but also to protect them from the recurrence of diseases in the future. It is recommended to treat cucumbers with Quadris in the evening or early morning, when there is no strong wind outside. After the first treatment, the drug immediately penetrates the whitened leaves and removes all pathogens from them. Quadris also prevents the germination of spores in the initial stages of the disease.
During treatment, about 100-200 ml of the drug should be used 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 bed can be treated with Kuproxat. This drug was specially released 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 use Kuproxat 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.
Cuproxate should be applied not only to the edge of the lightened leaf, but also to its entire surface. To ensure that the product is evenly distributed throughout the plant, the liquid should be sprayed in calm weather early in the morning.
Jet
If after planting the cotyledons begin to gradually lighten, they can be treated with Jet fungicide.The drug is sold in powder form, from which you will have to prepare a working solution in advance. To do this, you need to add about 100 grams of fungicide to 10 liters of water. Then the mixture is stirred 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. In this case, spraying will have to be repeated until harvesting.
Folk remedies
Some vegetable growers, when cucumbers begin to turn white and wither, use folk remedies rather than drugs.
Onion peel
To protect cucumbers from parasites and pests, products made from onion peels are often used. To prepare a medicinal mixture, you need 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 treat plants. The product can be used not only for spraying leaves, but also for watering the soil.
Milk serum
Kefir with whey is recommended to be used when the tops of cucumbers have turned white. To prepare the working mixture, add 7 liters of water and 2-3 liters of whey or kefir to a 10 liter container. Some people add a little sugar to the mixture to improve the yield of cucumbers.
Baguette
To prepare the loaf mixture, soak several loaves of bread in a large container of water. It must be soaked for at least 12 hours. After this, 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 need to figure out why this happens on cucumbers in a greenhouse and what needs to be done to treat the plants.
