Help: what is this cucumber missing? (feddit.org)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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It's in some mix of cannabis soil I had, with 30% added compost.

A tomato plant got the same mix and is doing just fine, this cucumber guy seems to be unhappy.

I checked the pH (mixed soil with some water and used my pH / EC meter) and it was around 6, so I thought it should not be nute lockout, cucumbers are supposed to be between 6-6,5?

I have no clue but I would guess it's iron, guessing from images I've seen, but I'm surprised how it could be lacking iron if a tomato is doing fine in the same soil.

Also whatever it is, how should I fix it?

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[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Where did you get the seed from and what variety is it?

That looks like a seedborne virus.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

I did not grow that one from a seed, it's one I bought with the two first real leaves randomly in a supermarket and the first two leaves did not have this problem, it looked healthy.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

The first few leaves normally don't express. It takes a little while for the virus to replicate. If I had to guess it could be ZYMV. It is seedborne in cucumbers and is spread by aphids. ZYMV is endemic to all seed production regions. So it pops up with regularity.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Is it only affecting cucumbers ? Should I kill it and do I have to get rid of the soil to not infect anything else or other cucumbers if I would start a new one ?

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

ZYMV mainly infects species in the cucurbit family (squash, pumpkin, melons, cucumbers etc). I don't recall if it bothers tomatoes.

The only way to know for sure is with an ELISA test strip.

Of course multiple nutrient deficiencies like Mg, and K can also cause mosaic like symptoms. A heavy infestation of fungus gnats in the soil can also damage the roots and cause similar symptoms.

So give it some fertilizer and wait a week. If the new growth improves it's nutrient related. If not, it's a virus.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Thanks! That was roughly what I also decided to do, wait and look at new leaves. There's no reason for them to be that way.

Could something like this be caused by me waiting too long from potting the plant from its tiny nursery pot into the current one? Like immobile nutrient deficits only showing once it could start growing in the bigger pot? Or is it rather unlikely to persist over like 4-5 leaves ? I don't know maybe if something went wrong when these leaves were still in the tip of the shoot and with immobile nutes this is like stamped over their development ?

The side shoots (which are not growing a lot right now) have a leaf showing out that looks normal, I thought about removing the apex shoot and seeing what happens with these other shoots when they have to take over.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If you pop the plant up and look at its roots right now you'd answer your own questions. Cucumbers roots grow very rapidly at that stage. They are all over that pot chasing nutrients. If it is a nutrients issue, it's from that potting soil.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Okay, i need to know as well. Mine look the same. It has a cucumber baby on it, but otherwise it’s all yellow and dry:(

I water it every day making sure it never dries out

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Well for one you probably shouldn't be watering it every day. If you keep the roots constantly wet, they'll rot and the plant will die.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Hm. From what i heard cucumbers need a lot of water. Was that wrong?

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Sweeping generalization: they need lots of water, but they also need to be planted in a space that gives them a sufficient root base such that they can go a few days without drying out.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Yes/no, depends on if you water log them or not. You can also add some hydrogen peroxide to oxygenate the soil for around 24 hours in pots.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

It’s definitely chlorotic, but there are a ton of potential reasons for that.

Can you give us a brain dump of watering habits, environmental conditions (temps/humidity/light), fertilizer use, plant age & provenience, specific contents of the soil/compost used, etc?

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

I water earliest when the top looks dry and with a finger I dig in and it is not still dark and wet there. For a pot like this and a small plant like this, it does not need water more often than twice a week, depending on temperature.

Temperature is what it is inside, it was around 25 °C this week, humidity always has been in the healthy range around 45-60 in the last weeks.

I potted it into like 70% of this mix https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B0CZ78WNG3?psc=1 that I had from last year in my basement and like 30% of this compost https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B07NWY7R87?psc=1

Oher plants including a young tomato grow just fine with it.

Since I thought somehow it must be missing something I also fertilized it a bit with some CalMag (die deficiency looked like Magnesium or Iron, but I don't have special iron fertilizer so I just thought adding some Mg will not hurt in case it is in fact Mg).

Was thinking about buying iron chelate or what it's called, iron supplement granules.

Unless someone has a better idea.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

That’s very helpful, thanks! Unfortunately, this one is over my pay grade - nothing you’ve mentioned seems like an obvious culprit to me.

You can definitely try iron supplements, but given that your other plants in the same soil are doing okay, iron deficiency doesn’t seem to be a super-likely cause either. You might be better off starting fresh from seed, given that cucumbers take off rather fast. Sucks to lose a plant, but you’ve given it a strong setup here.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Okay thanks, at least good to know I'm not doing anything obviously wrong.

this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2025

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