Shrivelling diva cukes
 

The Diva cuke plant is flourishing. Its growing vigorously and has at least 15 cukes with flowers either blooming or past their bloom.

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And many more that are buds ready to bloom. It has had cukes on it for last two weeks. Yet none have grown in size and the first few are now shriveled and died. (about 5 of them). Would that be the fate of rest of them? Why does that happen? How can I correct the course here?

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As I understand, Diva does not need pollination, so lack of pollination cannot be the problem. Its in an "earthtainer" like container. So water is not an issue. There is a fertilizer strip of garden tone in that container (2 cups), it couldn't have been exhausted. Lows have been between 50-60 and highs between 75-90 in last two weeks. Rained only one day in that stretch. Leaves do not show any disease. So what gives?

Are you sure it is Diva? Any male flowers on the plant?
Presuming it is Diva, temps too high or too low can be a problem.
Too much water is a possibility as well.
Fert strip - it doesn't look like you have a cover over the media. Rain could have already "washed" most of the strip into the reservoir.
You may need to give it some supplemental Fert....

Looks like the cukes were not pollinated and not being so, it will just shrivel like that. Hand pollination is a must. Take a male flower and touch it to the female flower.
Oh wait a minute, you say that the Divas don't need pollination? Never mind...

James, they are supposed to be Diva. [URL="http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=32912"]There was one male flower[/URL] on the plant out of 30 or so flowers so far. However, it never bloomed successfully.
I am augmenting with soluble 9-3-6 fertilizer (foliage pro) at 1/4th strength. (1/4 tsp per gallon)
I think today I saw couple of cukes growing beyond their initial size. May be the nights were colder when these initial flowers had opened up.

[QUOTE=tnkrer;421395]James, they are supposed to be Diva. [URL="http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=32912"]There was one male flower[/URL] on the plant out of 30 or so flowers so far. However, it never bloomed successfully.
I am augmenting with soluble 9-3-6 fertilizer (foliage pro) at 1/4th strength. (1/4 tsp per gallon)
I think today I saw couple of cukes growing beyond their initial size. May be the nights were colder when these initial flowers had opened up.[/QUOTE]

That's a good sign.
I like Foliage Pro, solid product, but consider switching to something with less N in a few weeks. You will see what I mean soon enough. FP should cause some explosive growth.

So James, what fertilizer are you using during fruiting? FP has worked great for me at the begining of the season to get a lot of foliage and healthy plant. I am thinking that I should switch it mid season to something the helps with blossoms and fruit yield.

Texas Tomato Food. They make a Veggie as well but I am indiscriminate and find it easier to just use TTF on everything.
Very long thread on it:
[url]http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=27229[/url]

I had read about it and was watching that thread, did not know if it would be better than foliage pro for yields. No head to head comparison I think. But I am going to go ahead and get some TTF and use it for rest of the season. The fertilizers last a long time (10 years?) if stored properly, right?
Reading that thread again and UrbanFarmer says to use the product in the same season! so I suppose 2 years at most. hmm .. May be I will order it next season then

TTF has performed very well. I didn't do a side by side with Foliage pro, but the plant size was more manageable due to the lower N.
I don't know about 10 years for storage as I hadn't looked into that.

I am using TTF on my Sweet Success and Diva cukes with excellent results.

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Raybo:yes:

Hi tnkrer,

I can tell you that for two years I have had to hand pollinate my own cucumbers, melon and squash, until the bees find my plants. And, the pictures you show are exactly what happened to mine when they don't get pollinated. Pollinating cucumbers can be a lot more tricky than you would think.

Tip 1
I suggest looking to you tube for help. That is what I did and I still struggled until I dissected many flowers to really figure out where the pollen is and how to transfer it to the female flowers.

Tip 2
Use a small tip, paint brush and brush the top of the anthers. If you can see zero pollen on your brush, then it has probably already fallen under them. You can slide a small bristled paint brush between the anthers and into the cup like depression beneath them to collect it there. This is where I collect most of the pollen I use and it is good and works.

Tip 3
Do your pollinating before 10am for best results. If they are shaded for part of the morning, then you can extend that time a little longer.

I hope that helps,

Lorri D

Diva, as well as Sweet Success do not need external pollination. In fact, they remain seedless unless the bees accidentally pollinate them.

Raybo

Raybo, James thanks for additional info on the TTF. I like the thought that plants will be more manageable with less N. I reduce the frequency and concentration of foliage pro during fruiting and flowering time. TTF has some more components that may be helping better yields.

Lorri D thanks for all your suggestions. In my garden, I am the primary pollinator of most everything until bees find them. So I have successfully pollinated other varieties of cukes. Next year I plan to plant borage, calendulum and few other bee friendly flowers in my garden to entice them.
As Raybo says, Diva does not need external pollination. And my shriveling cuke problem has been partially remedied. It seems that the plant makes 4-5 cukes and the rest of the small cuke flowers shrivel until those 4-5 are ready to harvest and then the plant makes 4-5 more. So I am losing half the potential cukes. May be that is the norm for Diva. My aim is to get 20+ cucumbers per plant. So far I am at 8 from this Diva plant, so I think I will reach that goal. Of course, once I attain that, I would want to get 25+ :)

Hi rnewste,

I did not know that about them. I have grown: boothby's blonde, dragon's egg, lemon, marketmore, metki dark green serpent, spacemaster, beita alpha and delikatesse.

Do you know if the reason they don't need pollinating is, because they are [COLOR=#000000]parthenocarpic? Thank you for the info, Lorri D
[/COLOR]

Hi Lorri,

Unlike many cuke varieties, Diva, Sweet Success and a few others do not require the bee activity to develop fruit.

Raybo