My Cucumbers Are Growing Deformed on the Vine

Bacterial Wilt

• Bacterial wilt is spread to cucumber plants by the striped cucumber beetle and the spotted cucumber beetle, according to North Dakota State University. These beetles transmit this disease when they feed off of the water-conducting tissues on cucumber plants. When moisture conditions are normal, it can take less than one week for a cucumber plant to exhibit symptoms of bacterial wilt. Gardeners must monitor their plants for signs of the disease and look for the pests in the garden.

Symptoms

• Cucumbers produced from infected plants look deformed, small, wilted and poorly shaped, according to North Dakota State University. Gardeners find that their diseased cucumbers have a bad flavor. Other symptoms include dull patches forming on leaves, wilted leaves and an overall decline in health. Bacterial wilt kills cucumbers by blocking their conductive tissues, so that nutrients and water cannot be properly transported throughout the plant. Diseased plants cannot survive even when they have adequate soil moisture.

Test

• Gardeners may test their cucumber plants to see if they have contracted bacterial wilt. Use a sterilized pair of bypass shears to cut a wilted stem either from the base of a lateral branch or from the ground. Squeeze one of the ends from your cut stem to see if an ooze emerges. A white milky looking ooze coming out of the stem indicates that the plant has contracted bacterial wilt.

Prevention

• Infected cucumber plants cannot be saved. Gardeners must dig up these plants and throw them away. Avoid placing plants in your compost. To prevent bacterial wilt, control your striped or spotted cucumber beetle population. Spray cucumber plants with a light application of insecticides that contain methoxychlor, diazinon or carbaryl. Refrain from excessively spraying your cucumber plants, because you may wind up harming your crop.