Cucumber red spot help and general advice please

[Alexis]

Hello all,

I'm new to this forum and would appreciate any help and advice.

I was lucky to get a second hand greenhouse this year and i have tomato and cucumber plants in there and i have also just planted a couple of green pepper plants - all are in growbags. I have never grown any veg before and am not sure what to look for.

I have been taking the side shoots off my tomato plants and they are growing good and strong. The cucumbers are also growing well, but although I have read up about growing them, i can't find any info on the red spots i have on one of the plants, nor can i find any pics of the male and female shoots to know which to remove. i will try to upload a pic of the red spots tomorrow, but any help in the meantime would be great. The plant has sprung tendrils which i beleive are for support, however along this tendril and on a leaf are tiny bright red spots - not many, but very noticible and I am concerned what this may be... help!!!!

Can anyone also help me out with knowing which bits to take off the cucumber plants aswell (male/female sections.)

Many thanks and I'm sure I'll be back with more questions over the next few weeks! Glad i have found such a helpful site

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Alexis, what variety of cucumber are you growing? Alot of the modern varieties are female so don't produce male flowers although you might spot the odd one. The difference between female and male flowers is the female flower will be on a thick stem which is actually a baby cucumber but the male flower will be on a really thin stem. Male flowers need pinching off greenhouse varieties but never remove male flowers from outdoor cucumber varieties.

As for the red spots - are they moving? Could these spots be red spider mite?

[Alexis]

Hi Lesley,

Thanks so much for replying.

I didn't think they were moving but having been down there today, the red dots are infact alive and are on every leaf!!! They are only on the middle cucumber plant which is ridge and the two either side are femspot. I have removed the little critters, but can you help with how to get rid of them for good and keep them away? I don't really want to use harsh chemicals.

Also, I noticied on the bottom of one of my tomato plants - the leaves are a bit shriveled and have dark purple flecks, is this anything to be concerned about? I am going to try to upload photos.

[Lesley Jay]

Alexis you can wash the leaves with water and a tiny drop of washing up liquid but not the anti bacterial washing up liquid. Be sure to wash under the leaves aswell. The plants can be sprayed with a hoze but watch you don't knock the flowers off the plants. Also look out for any eggs and be sure to wash these off. Keep misting the plants with a spray of water as red spider mites don't like those conditions. You can also buy organic sprays from the garden centres to kill them off.

The old bottom leaves on tomato plants can go a bit like that but be sure to check for the red spider mites on the tomato plants aswell.