The cucumber opens: what to do if the cucumber fruit cracks

Every gardener dreams of a beautiful vegetable garden full of beautiful green plants with fruits such as cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers. It is easy to see why gardeners who find their cucumbers cracked can be confused, wondering what went wrong. Let’s see what causes the fruit in cucumbers to crack.

Why is my vomit broken?

Cucumber cracking is a rare symptom that can occur in fruit that has been over-watered. Other common causes of cucumber fruit cracking are common plant pathogens – angular leaf spot and belly rot can both cause cucumber fruit cracking when conditions are favourable.

Abiotic Problem: Irregular irrigation

Cucumbers that receive irregular watering or have been exposed to irregular weather conditions where too much rain has fallen at the same time can develop long, deep cracks. When cucumber plants are kept very dry during fruit initiation, the fruit skin loses some of its elasticity. As the fruit develops, especially when water is suddenly applied in large quantities, the expanding fruit develops tears in the surface tissue that develop into tomato-like cracks.

The best way to control abiotic fruit cracking is to ensure regular and uniform irrigation. This can be difficult when rains are sporadic during cucumber fruiting, but if you wait to water until the top 1-2 cm of soil is dry, there is less chance of over-watering. Applying a 4 cm layer of organic mulch to the plants can also help maintain more uniform soil moisture.

Bacterial disease: Angular spot

Angular leaf spot is mainly considered to be a leaf disease, causing yellow spots on the edges that start as small water-soaked areas but expand rapidly to fill the area between the veins. The affected tissue turns brown before drying completely and falling off, leaving irregular holes in the leaves. Bacteria can ooze from infected leaves to the fruit, where water-soaked spots up to 18 inches wide form. These superficial spots may turn white or tan before the cucumber’s skin cracks.

Pseudomonas syringae , the bacterium responsible for this disease, thrives in warm, moist conditions and can survive in the soil for two to three years. Crop rotation in a 3-year cycle is usually sufficient to avoid recurrence, but if seeds are saved, they may require hot water sterilization before planting.

Hardy cucumber varieties are available, including Calypso, Lucky Strike and Eureka cucumbers, as well as Daytona, Fanfare and Speedway cucumbers.

Fungal Disease: Belly Rot

Cucumbers which come into direct contact with the soil sometimes suffer from belly rot, an infestation of the fruit by the soil fungus Rhizoctonia solani . Depending on the conditions and aggressiveness of the fungus, fruits may show yellow-brown discoloration on the underside, areas of brown and watery rot or areas of crusty cracks resulting from watery rot which has been briefly stopped by sudden drying of the fruit surface.

Wet weather favours abdominal rot infections, but symptoms may not develop until after harvest. Discourage cucumber colonization by growing your plants with a plastic barrier between the fruit and the soil – plastic mulch serves this purpose very well. Chlorothalonil can be applied to endangered cucumbers when the first pair of real leaves emerge and again 14 days later.