Well, we cut our last cucumber last night. It may have had some time left on the vine still, but it needed to get cut… The second (and last) cucumber plant contracted something nasty… I’m pretty sure that it had powdery mildew* and then last night I noticed something else:
I have *no idea* what this might be. It looks like little mold spores or something like that. So I decided that the cucumbers needed to get cut down before this started to spread to my other plants. If anyone knows what this is (is it just a later stage of powdery mildew??), please leave a comment. One other thing that I wonder is whether this has contaminated the soil in the pot. Can I use it later or should I throw it out?
I set aside time this morning to do some work on the balcony. First I chopped down all of the cucumber vines and bagged them up. While I was out there, I trimmed any suckers that were growing on the tomato plants– and discovered that some of my tomatoes were suffering from blossom-end rot:
::sigh:: I cut four tomatoes that had this problem and hopefully I can prevent it in the future. According to the two reference books I have (see the new tab above), blossom-end rot can be prevented by even watering: making sure that the soil never gets completely dry between waterings. It is thought to be caused by calcium deficiency, so next spring I am going to try to remember to put some crushed eggshells in the bottom of my planting holes…
There were still chive plants in the pot where the first cucumber formerly grew (no black things on this plant before it bit the dust). I decided to try transplanting them to smaller pots just in case I try to use the big pot again (I’d like to replant lettuce and/or peas when the weather gets cooler in the fall!)
*Before I found the nasty black things last night, I was going to try to treat the powdery mildew according to the directions I found in The Bountiful Container (pg. 76):
“Cut off the most severely affected leaves, and spray the rest with a mixture of 1 teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in 1 quart of water. You may have to repeat sprayings every few days to keep the problem from spreading.”
I read isaiah543 often, I used to attend CEFC. Once-in-a-while I read your blog. I garden with my neighbor who is a master gardner. The first tomatoes that we harvested this year and last had blossom-end rot. But only the first few. After that they were fine. So, I hope the best for the next ones! The black spots on your plant remind me of some fungus spots we have on our trees. We just rid ourselves of a section of the branch to get rid of the leaves that are contaminated, but not the whole tree. But the spots were a black fungi so it was good to get rid of the plant to protect what is around it. Gardening is a lot of trial and error for me. As far as the soil. I just spoke with my master gardner friend and she said, Yes, get rid of the soil. That way you will protect whatever you put in there for next season. You could try a fall crop if you get rid of it now. Anyway, hope this helps.
I’m sorry for the yuckiness! I think one of my tomato plants and my bell pepper plant has the same white, powdery stuff you’ve described. I figure there isn’t anything worth doing now since I’ll replant everything in three or four weeks. I hope the rest of your tomatoes are wonderful and your basil looks yummy!
Hi Blondie,
Thanks for asking your master gardener friend about this… I hope your garden continues to be successful this season!
Thanks for you advice! I was worried about having to throw that soil out! Oh well… better safe than sorry, I suppose
Hi Melissa,
It’s kind of nice though that you have a fresh growing season just ahead of you, that must be exciting 
Your Aurora peppers are beautiful!
Sorry to hear that you’re having mildew problems, too!