Disease:Cucumber Wilt

Cucumber wilt

A few days ago I arrived to find one of our three cucumber vines extremely wilted. Instinctively, I thought "Did I forget to water them this morning? Did I accidentally skip them in my morning routine? Did I do it subconsciously? Do I hate cucumbers but haven't realized it yet? Am I such a horrible person that I can't take care of my plants properly? Imagine how you will do when you have kids. Nooooo!!! "<end rant>. Then the rational part of the brain kicked in. The other two vines which share the same pot weren't wilted so it couldn't have been lack of water. There wasn't anything wrong with this particular vine. In fact, it was thriving, already having produced cucumbers while the other two hadn't. A mystery. I checked my bible and there was no mention of anything that would affect cucumbers so suddenly. Google time. About 607,000 results (0.28 seconds). Answer - Disease:Cucumber Wilt.

Cucumber wilt (Erwinia tracheiphila)  is a bacterial disease transmitted by the cucumber beetle. This animal (actually these animals since cucumber beetle is a term used for various species of beetle) and its larvae can be found in various plants in the Cucurbitaceae family (squash, cucumber, pumpkin, watermelon, etc). They lay eggs on the underside of leaves. Once the larvae hatch they start feeding on the roots of a plant or on the soft stems of young plants. Today's lesson: "Always check the underside of leaves. Bad critters tend to dwell there. Example: cucumber beetles, whiteflies, the dreadful aphids." <end today's lesson> These beetles can also transmit another nasty disease called cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). Hopefully we'll never have to write about that one.

The most obvious symptom of cucumber wilt is vines that have been well watered suddenly wilting. Before this happens though the leaves of your vines will exhibit dull green patches. However, the onset of the disease is so fast that you may never notice this dullness. I know we didn't. After a plant is infected slime clogs the water conducting tissue thus causing the plant to dry out and wilt. Fruits may become wilted themselves. Once a plant becomes infected there is no cure. The best thing to do at that point is to destroy the affected plant. (Doesn't it suck when you realize you are powerless to do anything to save your plants. Lesson: Nature > us)

Prevention is the most important step in controlling cucumber wilt. So how do you prevent it? Healthy plants are naturally more resistant to diseases. Water your plants regularly and inspect them every day. Plants that have been subjected to drought or water stress are more likely to be infected by this disease. If you find any eggs on leaves promptly destroy them by squashing them with your hands. Some sites on the internet suggest putting a cloth or barrier around seedlings and young plants to prevent adults from laying eggs on your plants. Personally, I find this very impractical if you are only planting two or three vines. As a last, last (and we mean last) resort pesticides can be used to kill the eggs and larvae. However, be mindful that at some point you will be consuming fruits from this plant so toxic pesticides should be avoided.

Now you know what to do (or not to do) when you encounter cucumber wilt. If you have experienced this let us know in the comments section. Until next time keep on gardening.

Hold Me Tight

We used a net to support our cucumbers

Let me come out clean and say this at least once: We haven't been the best planners when it comes to our garden. Partly because of inexperience, partly because of laziness and partly because of plain old stubbornness (that last one applies to me only). But our loss is your gain and we hope you learn from our mistakes. Today's topic is something we did not fully take into consideration when planning our garden. Trellises. A trellis is a structure made of metal, wood, bamboo, plastic, or even rope used to support vines or climbing plants. Trellises come in many shapes and sizes. What you choose will ultimately depend on your garden space and needs.

When planning your garden take into consideration the growing habits and final size of your plants. Common plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, beans, climbing roses, and peas require a trellis for proper growth. Vines require a trellis for growth but also to support its fruits. How a vine climbs will determine the type of trellis you use. Some vines, such as cucumber, use tendrils to secure itself to any structure. Other vines use its leaves or stems to wrap around structures. As a general rule of thumb thicker structures are needed for "wrapping" vines while thinner materials may be used for "twiners". For our cucumbers (a "twiner") we used a net tied to our balcony posts for support (see picture above). We helped the plant by loosely wrapping the tendrils around the net. After a few hours the tendrils will coil and wrap themselves tighter thus securing itself.

Bamboo fence used as a tomato trellis

Tomatoes, on the other hand, are not a true vine. However, their stems are extremely weak and require a trellis or a cage to hold the plant (and fruits) in place. If you don't provide a trellis your tomatoes will grow on the ground or, as we can attest to (see the classic Man Down! post), your plant may break. We eventually learned our lesson and bought a retractable bamboo fence for our tomatoes. We tied the fence to our balcony posts using plain old tie wraps. Then we tied the stem and branches to the trellis using garden training wire.

It is always recommended that you secure your trellis to your pot or to a strong structure. Otherwise it may shift during strong winds, heavy rain, or under heavy weight. Also, metal trellises are not ideal to use in Puerto Rico because they tend to get hot and burn your plants.

Almost any material can be modified into a trellis. This post barely scratches the surface on trellises. The only limit is your imagination. So share with us what you've used to provide support for your plants and join us next time for more on container gardening in Puerto Rico.

A death in the family

Today's title is a little homage to one of the most iconic moment in a famous superhero's history. One of the first stories in which readers could influence the outcome. If you know what this story is, consider yourself a geek. Now back to our regular programming.

Payasito, you'll be remembered

Even though most things are going great in our little container garden there are always setbacks. These setbacks happen to everyone and I wanted to share ours with you, our faithful reader, so you don't feel alone when things go wrong. Last week we went for a long weekend to Punta Guilarte (not recommended btw) to spend some quality time with Jessica's family. We decided to move our plants inside (except for the cucumbers) since we wouldn't be able to water them. In retrospect this was the correct move since the plants would've dried out if left outside. However, there were consequences. Our lupin(e) seedling (which we first mentioned in our After the storm post) did not survive the lack of sunlight and water. Also, our cucumbers suffered a bit from the lack of water and about half of the leaves died. The plants did survive though and produced two beautiful cucumbers during this time. Also, our payasito died during this time. Although to be quite honest it may be pure coincidence since the plant had been in decline for the past few weeks. Lesson: Always research plants before you buy them. For all we know the payasito could be an annual that dies right after flowering, who knows?

Not all is bad news though. We continue harvesting cherry tomatoes on an almost daily basis and we're getting cucumbers every week. We also planted some lupine seeds to replace our lost seedling. So have you had any setbacks which frustrated you? Please share them with us in the comments section.

After the storm

So it seems I jinxed myself. Two days ago I posted that Irene wouldn't stop us unless the internet went out. Guess what. The internet went out... for two days. Lesson learned: Choose your words carefully.

Speed round today

• Our plants are ok. We moved them outside today and they seem happy. 
• We're keeping inside the tomato that was broken to speed up its recovery. So far it's looking like it will recover. 
• On Saturday we picked our first cucumbers. They measured approximately 6 inches. They were delicious.
• Peppers continue growing. We have three growing right now with a bunch of flowers on each plant.
• Tomatoes keep growing too.  Hopefully we will be able to harvest them in a few weeks.
• We have a new addition to the garden: Lupin (aka Lupine). Lupin is a tall flowering plant that comes in many colors.

That's all for today. Our next post will be about fertilizers unless a storm pushes us off track again.

Pickling your interest - Part 2

Yes it's big.

And we're back. After tragedy struck the other day everything's back to normal. We still don't know if the tomato trunk will survive but as soon as we know we'll write about it. Continuing with our cucumber theme today. Cucumbers are 90%+ water therefore the key to growing them is consistent watering. If the soil is allowed to dry the cucumbers will taste bitter. When the weather is hot (as it always is in Puerto Rico) the vines (and the cukes) grow fast. Very, very fast. To support this growth you will need to provide a balanced fertilizer every week or so. (Editor's note: I know we haven't discussed fertlizers yet but who said we were writing this blog in any logical order.)

Once the crazy growth starts you will see a few males flowers blossom. A few days afterwards you will start seeing female flowers (the ones with a little cucumber behind them). At this point you can follow our advice for pollinating if there are no bees in your area. Once the cucumbers start growing you need to keep an eye on them. Never let a cucumber mature in the vine. If the skin turns yellow your cucumber has matured and the plant will stop producing cukes. Picking the cukes early and often will encourage the plant to produce more.

We still haven't picked any cukes yet but they are only a few days from being ripe. Once we pick the first we'll let you know how they taste. If you follow our advice you will be getting cukes yourself in no time. If you do let us know how they taste. Until next time!

Pickling your interest

Our cucumber container

So today we're going to talk about cucumbers (also known as pickles or cukes). Cucumbers are an ideal plant to grow in Puerto Rico. Originally from India cucumbers like hot and humid conditions and hate the cold (much like myself). Cucumbers will generally germinate only when temperatures are above 70 F (21 C). The warmer it is the faster they'll sprout. Cucumbers currently hold our current record for fastest germination: overnight! Seed today, plant tomorrow.

Cucumbers are usually categorized into pickling and slicing varieties. Slicing varieties are ideal for eating raw while pickling are better for making...pickles. In nature they grow in vines but plant breeders have come up with some variations that grow like a bush. Our cukes are the vine type. Vines can grow up to 6 feet long so take that into consideration when planting cucumbers.

Small strings attaching to the net

Space plants at least 1 foot apart with a minimum soil depth of 10 inches. Under the right conditions the vines (and the fruit!) can grow very quickly. Vines send small strings to attach themselves to any available structure. Trellises or other support structures are recommended for growing any vine plant, especially cukes. We used a net which we tied around some posts as our trellis. We then trained the vines to move around the sructure. We'll see if the net holds up when the cucumbers grow heavy.

Pollinating a female flower

Cucumbers produce two flowers: a male and a female flower. Both flowers are yellow but they are easy to distinguish since female flowers contain a small cucumber behind them. Bees or other animals pollinate these flowers but if there are no bees in your area you can pollinate the flowers yourself. Early in the morning pick up a small soft brush and go from male flowers to female flowers. Congratulations, you've just become a human bee.

Well that's all we have for today. If we pickled your interest join us tomorrow for more cucumber action. Who knows we may even show you our cukes!

Roll Call

Time for a little roll call. Below are the plants we currently have in our garden. Photos taken by of our official photographer, my lovely girlfriend Jessica.

Verbena (right)

Culantro

Chives

Tomatoes

Pepper and parsley (at left)

Parsley

Mint

Cucumber

Chamomille

Lettuce

Romero

Miniature Rose

Oregano

Payasito

Basil (center)

Unknown flowering plant