Stupid cucumbers..

[BeTheChange]

Am I starting cucumber seeds too early? Mine keep getting about 3 inches high and then killing themselves by snapping their stems. Its like the leaves are too much for the stems. Everything else is growing like a champ inside. I move them outside during the day and then into a cabinet at night. Maybe I should just stick to squash, tomatoes and herbs. Im convinced that anyone can grow summer squash.

[troubleinwinter]

1. Cut worms? Earwigs?

[BeTheChange]

2. No pests..

The leafs at the top get too big and then the slightest breeze or movement of their container results in toppling. I think Ill probably just put the cucumber straight in the ground when it heats up a little.

[politicat]

3. Maybe keeping a fan blowing on them would help...

I know that's a good idea with tomato starts, because it helps them develop a strong stem.

Is it the baby leaves that are too heavy, or are they mature leaves? If it's the baby leaves, then they're having to stretch to get sunlight, while if it's the mature leaves, I can't think of anything except keeping them out of the wind until they've gotten a bit bigger.

[BeTheChange]

6. I think it is the baby leaves..

A couple weeks out from when they first poke their head out. I typically move them outside during the day so they get natural sunlight and then back inside into a dark cupboard during the early evening. I have noticed over the last week that they are twisting toward the crack between the cupboard doors just slightly. Ive started rotating the container every night when I put them up.

Maybe I should Install a grow light under the cupboard? Do seeds need a period of dark and light, or can they have light 24/7?
Thanks so much!

[jhain]

4. could it be

damping off?

http://tinyurl.com/m56et

[BeTheChange]

7. I dont think so..

Im actually worried that I dont give them enough water since they dont seem to be growing very fast. Also, it seems like they bend an inch or two up from the soil line.

[Ecumenist]

9. OOps, that what I thought of. eom

:hi:

[dcfirefighter]

5. when you transplant them

bury them to their cotyledons.

[Ecumenist]

8. Could you be having a problem with Dampening off?

Or cutworms?

[politicat]

10. I tried this.

Okay, too little sun, not enough water and a too shallow starting pot were the three causes I found for stem breakage.

I found that the best way to prevent it was to add a handful of soil to the pot when they got their baby leaves fully displayed, mounding the soil around the stem, but leaving the leaves exposed. Extra water and light helped, too, and my plants always get something approximating a natural day cycle. Plants do need dark for respiration, since they will stupidly photosynthesize all the time, becoming quite torpid if they don't respire.

(There's a reason that we can't grow cloudberries in most of the world - they're one of the few plants that is adapted to a 20-23 hour daylight cycle. And tropical plants don't grow at all well, even in heated greenhouses, in the far north.)

[Ecumenist]

11. Killing themselves? What're they doing?

committing suicide? All kidding aside, I would check for cutworms and earwigs. I would put collars around the stems of my seedlings, (once you've ruled out dampening off and other fungal diseases). If you can grow summer squash, you can grow cukes.