When you spend most of the summer tending to your garden, including your cucumber plants, it can be distressing when you see your cucumber plants begin to wilt. You don’t know what to do because it seems like you’ve been doing everything right! Therefore, you begin to ask: why do my cucumber plants wilt in the sun?
Cucumbers wilt in the sun because temperatures are too high for your cucumber plants to flourish or because your cucumber plants have too much water. Wilting indicates a stressed plant.
Most people say that tomato plants are demanding, but cucumber plants can also be difficult in the high heat of summer. Keep reading to learn why your tomato plants wilt in the sun and what you can do to help your cucumber plants.
Do Cucumbers Wilt In The Sun
Yes, cucumbers can wilt in the sun.
Everyone knows that plants love sunlight, but too much sun can be bad for your cucumber plants. Full sunlight is not the best for your cucumber plants.
When your cucumber plants get too much sunlight, your plants can become stressed out and start to wilt.
Too much sunlight is not the solution for healthy cucumber plants. Sunlight can slow down the production of your cucumbers, so you’ll be waiting much longer to pick your harvest!
High heat, sunlight, and dry winds can also lead to your cucumber plants losing leaves when they lose too much moisture.
Why Do My Cucumbers Wilt During The Day
Cucumber plants wilt during the day because the temperature is higher in the sunlight than at night.
When your cucumbers get too hot, it is called heat stress.
When you get too much sun while you’re outside in the heat, your cucumbers can get stressed out from the sunlight and wilt.
I don’t need to tell you this, but your cucumber plants will struggle the most during the day.
Your cucumber plants might look the worst between lunchtime and two in the afternoon because this is the hottest point of the day during the summer. The sun is high, and the warm air may be blowing.
You may want to water your plants to help your plant out, but you do not want to stress them out even more by adding water to them.
How Do You Keep Cucumber From Wilting In The Sun
It can seem hopeless when your cucumber plants wilt in the sun, but there are steps you can take to help your cucumber plants in the sun.
You may struggle to know what it is exactly what your cucumber plants need when you’re new to gardening. Over time, you will be more in tune with your crops, and you can decide what your plants need.
Plant Your Cucumber Plants Where They Can Get Shade
Consider where you’re planting your cucumber plants when they’re still seeds or very young.
Full sign might seem like the perfect spot to put your cucumber plants, but that isn’t great when it is the hottest time of the summer.
Watch where the sun hits in your garden, and think about planting your cucumbers in a place where they get some shade during the day.
When temperatures get hotter than 85 degrees in the summer, your cucumber plants will start to wilt in the sun.
Give Your Cucumber Plants About Two Inches Of Water Per Week
You need a good amount of water for your cucumber plants – not too much and not too little.
You should give your cucumber plants about two inches of water per week. You do not want to drench your cucumbers with too much water.
Your plants should have enough water to keep the soil moist but not too wet.
Most gardeners agree that one to two inches of water a week is the perfect amount to keep your cucumber plants happy and healthy.
Give Your Cucumbers Less Water
As I said, you don’t want to overwater your cucumber plants.
Too much plant can create mud around your cucumber plants, which isn’t the best thing for your cucumbers.
There isn’t enough air in the soil when there is too much water on your cucumber plants. This might not seem like a big deal to you, but you effectively choke your plants with too much water.
Bring Potted Cucumber Plants Inside
Depending on the type of garden you have, your cucumber plants may be in pots that you can move.
Your potted plants can be moved inside when the sun gets to be too much for your cucumber plants.
If you don’t have enough room inside your home for your cucumber plants, you should pull them onto the deck or some other enclosed place.
Giving your potted plants just some shade during the day is better than nothing if they are stressed!
Pick Your Cucumbers Before The Hottest Part Of Summer
This is a more permanent solution for your cucumber plants, but you can pick your harvest when the summer heat is too much for your cucumber plants.
Picking your cucumbers isn’t enough to keep your cucumber plants from wilting, but it will protect your harvest.
You can still get your cucumbers, though you might not be able to save your cucumber plant overall.
I want some juicy cucumbers rather than long-lasting, healthy plants!
Add Mulch To Your Cucumber Plants
If you think your cucumber plants are struggling to retain water, you can try to add mulch to your cucumber plants.
Mulch will do a variety of things for your plants, including:
- Keep water from pooling near the stems
- Keep the soil moist but not wet
- Keep your cucumber plants cooler at the hottest points of the summer
Mulch should be added to your cucumber plants before the summer gets too hot, preventing them from getting stressed out in the first place.
What Happens When Cucumbers Get Too Much Sun
The sun is bad for your plants, but the sunlight can also damage your cucumbers.
I’ve already talked about how your cucumber plants can wilt and get stressed, but what will happen to the cucumbers?
One of the biggest problems that you may have with your cucumbers starts when your plants are beginning to blossom. Too much heat can cause your plant’s blossoms to fall off before they are ready. This can lead to a smaller harvest than you otherwise might expect.
Sunlight can also change the shape of the cucumbers that are already growing on your cucumber plants.
Most of us picture the perfect cucumber to be long and uniform, though perhaps a little fatter on one end than the other.
Heat can make your cucumbers look more like a gourd than a cucumber; it may not affect the taste of the cucumber, but they certainly won’t look like the perfect cucumbers we’ve come to expect!
Hi there, my name is Allie and welcome to my blog; GareningWithAllie!
Much of what you see written here is just our personal experiences with gardening. Along with the content I write here, there is also a unique collection of gardening topics covered by some of our close friends. I hope you find everything you read here to be helpful, informative, and something that can make your gardening journey the most lovely experience ever! With that said, Happy Gardening!
