Plant guide:ðĨ Cucumber
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Fungal
Anthracnose on Cucumber Plants
Commonly affects: Cucumis sativus (Cucumber)
Dark, sunken, circular spots develop on leaves, stems, and fruit, sometimes with a pinkish spore mass visible on fruit lesions in humid conditions.
Potential Causes
- 1Colletotrichum orbiculare fungus, spread by splashing water and surviving in plant debris
- 2Warm, wet weather with extended leaf and fruit wetness
- 3Reusing infected debris or growing in the same bed without rotation
Solution Steps
- 1Remove and destroy affected leaves and fruit promptly
- 2Water at the base only, avoiding splash onto foliage or fruit
- 3Apply a copper-based fungicide preventively if anthracnose has appeared previously
- 4Rotate cucurbits away from affected beds for 2-3 years
Prevention Tip
Clearing all plant debris at season's end removes the primary overwintering source of anthracnose for the following year.
