5 Reasons Cucumbers Become Deformed or Misshapen
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- deformed fruits, funny shapes, pointed and curled tips, all are things that you can experience when growing cucumbers. But why does it happen? In this episode I will hilight 5 reasons this happens and what you can do to prevent it.
I always add kissing sounds when I pollinate. It just seems appropriate.
😄 🤣 😂 😆
😳🤣🤣🤣
😘😄
Do you crave a cigarette too ??
Lol
I just picked a cucumber that looks like it has a little belly button in the middle! (Not pest damage, it's just bent with a pinch in the middle)
Diatomaceous Earth also referred to as DE. Sprinkle on top of leaves and make it into a spray to squirt under side of leaves. Reapply after rain. Hope this helps.
Really helpful. I paintbrush mine but I'll be more diligent.
Good video, thanks. What cucumber variety are you using ?
U'all see that squirrel run by on that powerline? It went by so fast at first I thought something crawled across my screen. That was cute.
We had temps in the 110° in my part of canada for a few weeks here in my part of mid western canada this summer! Explains why they are weird shapes this summer! We usually hit 100° and up for only 5 days a summer on average in my area of Canada, but this summer has been extremely hot and extremely humid!
Good video! Thank you
Can someone answer this question, how many days apart do you plant cucumbers and dill? I can never seem to get it right. My cucumbers are ready but dill isn’t or it’s the other way around. Thanks.
Should I water every day?
This year I discovered that amaranth is a trap crop for cucumber beetles. I grew a variety of amaranth called “callaloo” that is for summer greens. The cucumber beetles loved it and I never saw any of the beetles on the cucumbers until mid August. I never did get any greens because there was a caterpillar that also loved the amaranth and the leaves were all eaten. But that didn’t deter the beetles so I just let it grow. Thanks for the great post.
0:49 Main cause - pollination problem
5:08 Pollen problem - high heat sterilizes pollen, pollen got too wet and it molded,
6:11 - Disease - cucumber beetles, cucumber wilt, cucumber slugs
7:52 - Nutrient Deficiency - Nitrogen Deficiency
9:05 - lack of water
10:29 Squirrel on the wire
Too much water .
Thanks for the CliffsNotes. ✔️
Thanks for the time saver!!
@@sceromakes7437 Yeah I was just gonna post rofl.
I needed this answer right now!!! Right on time!
Me too!!!
Same!
Me too!
Same here!!
Yes yes yes!
Thank you for explaining this. I’m a new gardener. I had a lot of irregular shaped cucumbers this year. I’ve also had tons of squash bugs.
I had a lot of those cukes! Changed to Japanese cukes, one is a complete circle smh
You answered my question. I've had half of my cucmbers come out normal and the rest grow half the size and curl at the end. Thank you!!
So glad this helped! Thanks for your support.
Hi thanks for this, I just harvest my cucumbers 🥒 maybe waited to long to pick them, but what do you do with the old dried up vine ? Will cucumbers still grow at some point? Please 🙏
@@siry5164 The dried up vine won't produce any more cukes. You can put it in your compost. If you have a long enough frost-free season, you may be able to grow new cucumber plants.
I planted cukes this year for the first time. All mine were mishapen. I remember this info for next year. Thanks.
Thanks 🙏🏼 the rest of my second crops planted where the first crops grew haven’t been growing well since the first batch, maybe something going on with the soil. I don’t know 🤷♀️ what’s going on? Can someone enlighten me please. In zone 9-10
At first glance, I had to ask myself who “Miss Hapen” was.
I'm assuming they are still edible. I sort of tuned you out once the squirrel ran across the wire at approximately the 10:30 mark in the video. I had to watch it 3 times. LOL So cute!!
lol, so you are saying you squirreled.
@@clancarney2541 OMG YES!!! lol
Dude I learn so much from you it’s insane. Thanks for all the amazing details
“Temps over 105 can make pollen go sterile.” Oh I am so screwed.
Same here!
@@SpicyBricy
Shade cloth will help your lives
Same! I'm in Zone 9....I'm just going to wait until the fall to try cucumbers again
I used baby pools & a tent cover
Same. But that's ok, it was so hot I didn't get any female flowers anyway. 3 plants and a ton of vines, but only 5 cucumbers so far.
Some people drink coffee and watch some news channel in the morning I drink coffee and watch migardener!
Same! Or any gardening channel!
You’re probably happier and better informed than those people
@@rhuffstedtler migardener teaches what is worth knowing
I've lucked out because there is an urban farm with beehives a few blocks away.
Lucky you! :)
Interesting because bees usually stick very close to their hives like 15-20 feet max
@@taxigirl5637 not really at all. Each wiggle a bee gives in their communication dance is about 50 yards. They travel up to 3 miles for nectar and pollen, unless there is a dearth going on , then they may travel further. They may find close resources, but they have no way to communicate to other bee's where it's at.
I have had only bumble bees pollinating mt cucumbers. They stay busy all day. Where do they come from?
@@ms.anonymousinformer242 bumblebees from my reading typically have their nests underground. In fact I had to pause my garden bed in one area when I noticed there were bumblebees coming out of the ground where the newly built box was going.
Today I learned that there are male and female cucumber flowers and how to tell the difference. Neat. Thank you for all the information you teach me!
Thanks for posting this. I was going to glance at the video and this comment made me watch the whole thing.
Same applies to all in that family. Squashs, pumpkin, zucchini, all cukes:)
1. Lack of bees and pollinators
2. Disease
3. Pests
4. Nutrient deficiency
5. Lack of water
You can do this with tomatoes too to help with pollination. Give the flowers a bit of a shake, I call it "diddling" the flower (I know, sounds like something Michael Jackson would do). But yeah, diddle your flowers for better pollination.
I do the same
🤣.
In a small amount of time watching your channel. Youve helped me learn and care for my garden beyond imagination. Glad to see these new episodes. I havent seen all of them yet but will continue to watch
We have tons of bees (I have a pollinator garden next to my veggie garden), but I always hand pollinate cucumbers because the bees seem to only want the male flowers!
That last few seconds when you found a perfectly shaped cucumber made me smile. Your love for gardening is infectious!
You should see my wife’s smile when she finds one like this
I had this problem big time this year and I suspected it was poor pollination. What's crazy is I have 30 bee hives about 200' from my garden. What happened, in Oklahoma, was it rained like crazy in the spring, probably when all the cuc's were blooming and the bees couldn't get out to forage. It was a huge impact to honey harvest as well.
Fantastic video. Thank you for continuously coming out with new content that still educates the fairly experienced gardeners. Love coming to your channel to keep learning new things that I just don't find on other channels. You're awesome!
Thanks Jessica! That means a lot to hear!
THANK YOU!!!! I have been having MANY misshapen cucumbers over the last month. Water and fertilizing seems to be my issue. They've gotten better this last week or two with all this rain we've gotten in Roseville. It's seriously had me scratching my head. You, sir, are a hero!
Ugly food needs love too
Now THAT was a beautiful cucumber!!!! Mine are mishaped and small... thanks for the info and biology class!!😁
Never doing cukes in pots ever again only in ground! Huge difference!
Cucumbers in pots definitely have issues.
For the past two years I have grown cukes in hanging baskets off my deck…now, granted i didn’t get dozens from them, but enough for us!
4 in an earth box work great.
Making me nervous. I’ve got a space master bush in a pot on my deck. Lots of flowers coming so fingers crossed. 💚
I grew some in food grade 55 gallon drums full of water and compost tea and they are growing amazing . Never need to water either
Thanks brother. Much appreciated. I'm in southern Ontario and we've had lots of pollinators (as well as a little hand pollinating) but I've noticed a lot of issues with the rain we've had this year. Has effected my watermelons, canteloupes and honeydew melons as well. The ants have also been stealing the pollen. 😖 You've answered my question fully. Thank you! Keep up the great vids!!
Hi Luke I was aware of the m/f pollination thingy when it comes. However this year the leaves all became spotted. Some kind of disease? OR, lack of nutrients. I've been cutting the leaves off all summer. I did however have an abundant crop of straight eights and market more with a couple of pickling varieties. What to do?
Hi 👋, I have tried hand pollination with Q-tip. For some reason, I do not see any pollen (powder) on the cotton. Is it normal? I tried several male flowers, all the same. Yes, I got some weird shaped cucumbers just like in the video lol. By the way, my cucumber leaves are turning yellow. I suspect overwatering or over fertilizing. Which one? Any way to reverse it?
Bring up the same exact problem. I can literally see the pollen on the q-tip from the squash but not from the cucumber. When I pollinate, I see nothing on the female flowers. The yellow leaves are probably due to a lack of nitrogen
I’ve had the same issues, but only on my pickling varieties.
@@smooshiebear80 use more bloom. After I did that I got about six cucumbers. I don't know if it was coincidence or what
Speaking of bees, I think people who want to keep bees should have to take a course in beekeeping. I know a beginner and because they don't know what they are doing kill the hives each year. Now they've set up a trap in hopes to capture enough to introduce a queen. We have no bees. They closed them up in a garage over winter and they more than likely froze because of condensation. Drives me crazy.
IVF explained! Be the Bee!
Thank you soo much Luke. I’ve had nothing but misshapen cukes so far, and just moved my second wave plants to the trellis area and they’re starting to flower. Now I know what to do next.
Our homestead channel likes your garden vids!
This guy is really assuming that he is right. Deformed cucumbers are not a pollination problem, it is a calcium deficiency due to leaching out the calcium in the soil because of excessive water retention. Calcium increases the rate of cell wall expansion thus allowing the fruit to reach its size. Pollination takes place long before fruit growth.
I always use an electric toothbrush to manually pollinate when short on bees.
So I have thought about pollination all wrong. I thought you needed to have pollination before a fruit ever formed. I didn't realize that they continue needing pollination when they are growing.
Me too!
And me!
This just came out right on time. I have cucumber beetles. My plant is dying. What's the best way to get rid of the beetles? Please help! 🥺
Cut back some leaves and spray neem oil on both side of the leaves and followers
Thanks, Luke! We’re building our aquaponics system. So if cucumbers do great in hydroponics, they should do great in our aquaponics system, too. You discussed hand pollination so that should give us a leg up since our system is inside…fewer bugs, etc. (Rob)
This video came out at the prefect time for me. Had blazing hot weather for the past 2 weeks and a lot of my cucumbers were deformed. Now I know and will take the steps to save the rest of my season. I still have a lot of bitter cucumbers though and yet to find out why some taste bitter and some don't.
I would be interested too, why some is bitter and other isn’t (within the same plant).
And here I always thought it was because of low testosterone levels...
Luke, which of the five reasons were the answer for WHY YOURS were misshapen?
DH brought in a huge cuke that looks like a giant "L." We figured it's because we didn't trellis and it had hit the side of the box, forming the shape.
Ok, Peyronie’s disease was not the correct answer. Thanks!
Squirrel running the power lines at 10:31 got my attention!🙈😆
My favorite snacking cucumber to grow is lemon cucumbers. I'm really surprized that most urban farmers don't even know about these. My hint for harvesting lemon cucumbers is to pick them before they turn yellow.😉 Yellow means the seeds are maturing. And the smaller ones can pickled whole.👌
Last year, I had plenty of bees but almost no cucumber crop and what did grow were very small and shaped in a circle. I think it was the seeds so I purchased from several small seed companies this year.
Thank you for the pollination info because this is my first year growing in a greenhouse. We built a bumblebee box and I’m hoping to attract them in with flowers growing amongst the vegetables.
I saw a TV commercial for a drug that will fix that!!
Hi Luke, I just planted cucumbers inside egg shells...to be transplanted later. Just experimenting.
i've done that... dunno if its worth the work though. i never really noticed a difference
You can also use the tubes from toilet paper rolls :) although the egg shells add in extra calcium, cool ideas either way! 😁
Sitting here eating two sliced cucumbers from my garden watching you to find out why my cucumbers aren't growing in quantity and shape. Thanks for the info Luke!!
My cucumbers are born this was. I mean that the tiny females form this way before the flowers open, curled like this. Clearly not a pollination issue in my case.
Straight Eight cucumbers are my favorite 🥰
Half my cucumbers are normal and half are the size and shape of a tennis ball.
i only see those "pickling cucumbers" in jars, all the cucumbers we have australia are just smooth!!!
Oh you have to try them! They are so TASTY! I like them better then the bigger cukes! Get some seeds and grow some they are so good!
Do you mean the burps? The little nodes/spikes on the cucumbers? If so, those are not just on pickling varieties (which simply grow to a smaller size).
Had a bee keeper down the street last year. Now this year he is gone. Now minimal honey bees. It is a sad summer for me. Not seeing pollinators. Hope next year will be better. GOD BLESS.
Thanks Luke! 🙂
I haven't grown cucs yet. Maybe next year. And I won't freak out if I have some wonky ones.
My first year doing cucumbers and there doing good thanks for the helpful tips🍻
Thanks Luke. Are the cucumbers that are deformed from cucumber beetle virus still edible? Also, will the whole plant get the virus, or just the culled from the affected flower. Thanks!
I need to know that too...
Thank you Luke, great informative video. Your seeds are THE BEST. Thank you to you and your team for all your hard work getting your seeds to us gardeners :)
What makes the cucumber spongy especially on the stem end?
JUST THE VIDEO I NEEDED BUT DIDNT KNOW I NEEDED hahahahaah one of my cukes came out like this and i was like wtf.................................. I assumed it was inconsisten watering maybe............. only 1 of my 30 cucumbers came out that way
You are such a green thumb man, great sharing 👌
I planted two whole packages of cuke seeds a week or so ago. Only the MIGardener seeds came up the other brand didn’t. They might have been too old, but still. MIGardener seeds sprouted!
This year did turn out to be a great year for cucumbers 🥒🎉. Even down here in Peoria AZ 👍
I’m on my third batch of 14-day pickles; I’ve already made several batches of bread and butters as well as dills. We only put in three plants, but we’ve had more cucumbers than I know what to do with. They seem like English cukes but they are deeply striated and enormous-several over two feet long, with very few seeds and really tender skin
I tried cucumbers in my 5 gallon earth buckets this year with excellent results. I had to make pickles to use them all.
I was going to look for a cuke video. First tome I've ever grown cucumbers.
What causes BITTER cucumbers? LOTS & LOTS of veg but SO NASTY.... Unbelievably BITTER.
Question Luke. When you say wet, does that include humidity? we havent had a lot of rain but there has been a lot of heat and humidity, and my cucmbers didnt do well and there doesnt seem to be bugs or disease. Love your channel, always fun to watch and learn.
Thanks for a wonderful informative video on cukes. I am growing two plants for the first time and they are producing like crazy in my garden. Such a refreshing veggie to eat on a hot day! Glad I saw your video and now I understand why cukes can be deformed at times. Keep those videos coming, love to learn more from you! Happy Gardening!
I switched to drip irrigation and got much better results than watering with a sprinkler or wand. Now I need to dial in just how much to drip per hour per cucumber plant.
Why do they become so bitter though? I only was able to eat like three cukes out of dozens. :(
Maybe its lacking some nutrients? idk
I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your situation is hopeless because there is a 99% chance it is related to dark magic and witchcraft. I saw an Xfiles episode about it. Cucumbers are the veggies most likely to be cursed. When the spirit of the cucumber becomes trapped on earth and can't pass on to the next life--as a result of the curse--the result is bitterness.
HAHAHAHAHA jk lol
I have always wondered about bitterness, too!! Squash, zucchini, and turnips can also become bitter--ruined my potluck Thanksgiving dish. I guess it's just something with those particular veggies.
I can't remember why they get bitter - lack of water(?), BUT a coworker told me to slice off the end, then rub the flat sides together. This will cause a white foam/cream to form (yep... stay with me here...). This contains whatever it is that causes the bitterness (wipe this part off & if it's a large cuke, you might do both ends. Continue until no more white stuff comes out - that'll depend on how bitter it was in the first place).... and yes, the whole process verges on pornographic, but i promise it really works! Plus you'll get a good chuckle for feeling embarrassed making a salad!😁
@@pz4971 Wow very interesting! Kind of like "Why does the smell of boiled seafood leave your fingers when you rub coins on them under running water?" It just does!
@@karen1nicola the variety of the cucumber is called telegraph improved?
How do you address the cucumber beetles without harming the pollinators? The cucumber beetles are KILLING me this year....more accurately they are killing my cucumber plants.
I have an INFESTATION of cucumber beetles and a lot of my fruit is deformed. What could I try to rid them of my garden? Love all of your content!
I have the same problem. I just started a different variety that is parthenocarpic, which means they don't need pollinators. I am going to grow them under Agfabric so that the beetles cannot get on them.
@@skittles9970 that’s a great idea!
DE
@@HomewardBound961 Unfortunately I have tried that, but I just got tired of it because I had to do it almost every day. I do still use it on my eggplant though! I actually made a mix of DE, Kaolin clay and Captain Jacks Dead Bug. It does kill them, but it seems like they still have time to chew holes in the leaves before they die.
I was lazy and didn't get my cukes to climb....they just sprawled all over the place in a tangled thick mess. Guessing that made pollination difficult. I also think I need to plant more flowers in my garden to attract bees.
I have question my cucumber plants were growing so well this year. Until lately. They start drying up and getting fungus and mildewed. So I ordered some kind organic spray,called Earth's Ally 3-in-1 Plant Spray Concentrate | Insecticide, Fungicide & Spider Mite Control, for Indoor Houseplants & Outdoor Plants & Gardens - Insect, Pest & Antifungal . Is this safe to used. But it seems to me, it made it worse. I did start to see some cucumber beetles. Also how long will a cucumber plant , produce
I am have just this problem.
Last year I had a wonderful Bumblebee . I have a very HOT Patio some of the Babies died from the heat😨
Thank you my knowledge
Bank is full .
Ido Better 💞🐦.
JO JO IN VT 💕😄
Needed this also . Apparantly my problem is two fold possible three. The heat the dry weather and lack of nitrogen. Started watering and fertilized some are looking better but still have some strange looking ones.
What if my female flower identifies as a male flower? Will it be able to pollinate other female flowers? Lol
😂 was that a black squirrel running across the powerline... too funny. Thanks for the info it came in very handy🥒🥒🥒🙌🏽👏🏽👍🏼
Thank you for your informational video young fella. My summer crop of toms/ cucumbers/ carrots/ hot peppers/ potatoes etc. This answers a question about my cucs. 73+🍁 Manitoba hunter expat/ gardener
Thanks for your video! I was wondering why my cucumbers didn’t do well at all this year
Luke: do you prune you cucumbers? I’ve seen some ppl do. Kinda like the suckers on indeterminate tomatoes.
In a recent video I believe he said he prunes off every other cuke to reduce stress on the plant and have it produce more evenly over a longer period
I need this answer too.
@@Simply_Eden me too. My plan is going crazy with growth but not producing or maybe not pollinated
Some of one type of my cucumbers have produced orange striped “cucumbers” that look like tennis balls. What’s up with that?
Will have to try hand pollination, very interesting episode, thanks for sharing!
I planted pickling cucumbers and cannot figure out why the plant never climbed the trellis I had over it. Do you know why? Also, the cucumbers also grew round instead of thin like your index finger. What would cause that??
🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒
Thank you for sharing Watching cucumbers grow is so fun. 🐝I just love to see how they vine and bloom. All the hard work is worth it to me to get to see the new growth everyday it brings me so much joy! 🌻Your garden is inspiring! I appreciate your tips, tricks and advice! 👨🌾I look forward to learning more from each other as we grow!
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Great info, appreciate !
Know what?
The misshapen my pickles are, the more I like them.
Am I crazy?
Same with artisan breads...
I Believe on this video you answered one of my questions about my cucumber plant, my first and single plant that I have in a bucket is that it's too hot for it to produce any good cucumbers. I have tried to pollinate the flowers myself as I do not have bees in that area of our yard. We live on an acre and they don't come visit where I have my vegetables. We live in the Mojave Desert, so my poor cucumber plant has been attempting to grow in partial shade since May, and has produced exactly one cucumber. My question which was not addressed on this video, is why is it white.
It started out green, now it's full size, but it's pure white. It does get up over a hundred almost daily here for the last couple of weeks and into the 'high 90s previous to that for over a month.
I'm not even sure if the white cucumber is safe to eat. The plant itself grew really well initially then a lot of the leaves started drying up and falling off along with the tiny little beginner cucumbers about an inch long.
Although pollinated by me, they didn't continue growing. A couple of them became the size of a large grape, then turned yellow and eventually just fell off. But this one that actually grew to normal size is what I call anemic and I don't understand why.
Thank you for your videos, they have been helpful, hoping you can answer this
It’s my 1st time growing cucumbers and mine have black dots on the spikes, I ripped them outlast week and started something els! Any advice on the black spots?
It's my first time growing cucumbers and I have 2 plants I am just wondering but any reason I have 1 plant growing just mal flowers and 1 plant growing female flowers is there a reason this may be happening
OKAY BUT what do i do about mosquitoes if i dont wanna use a pest company??? i was told gardens do that??
Need help! My Pickling cucumbers are so bidder they are trash! why is that? What am I doing wrong?
I did hand pollination and do have flowering trees by my garden so had bees. My problem is the plants leaves started curling and staying small to very small and adark green. So plants have some cucs but are misshapen. I did reseed cloth pots because plants on way out. I have fertilizerd. Used neem oil. The cucs are short and some almost round. Water not a problem. I water daily. Its hot here in SW Louisiana with thunder storms EVERY afternoon. I have never had problems with cucs before.
I have never
Thanks to trifecta and the cattle panel, I have finally had a very successful cucumber season 💗💗
Hi Luke, just found this video. It explains a lot. I just dont understand why the female flowers dont even open?? Hope you see this post Thank You
Great, my one cucumber plant is climbing 8 feet I'm barely 5 feet, no hand pollinating there😕