Why Are My Cucumbers White - Yard And Garden Guru

Cucumbers are an easy crop to grow, but they can go wrong. Like all homegrown vegetables, your cucumbers may not look exactly like store-bought cucumbers, but they should taste better. Inexperienced cucumber growers often worry if their plants don’t produce as expected, and you can hear home gardeners asking, why are my cucumbers light green bordering on white?

If you have cucumber turning white, there is no need to panic, yet you need to fix the issue. In our guide, you can learn a few things about white to light green cucumbers and what causes the problem.

By the end, you’ll know much more about growing cucumbers and how to fix the problems. Next time you plant cucumbers, you’ll know how to fix these common cucumber plant problems. (Learn How Long Do Cucumbers Last)

What Does An Overwatered Cucumber Plant Look Like?

When you have proper development in your cucumbers, they will be a pleasant color of green. However, unless you are growing white cucumber varieties such as White Wonder, you can panic if you see white fruit or white leaves showing up, and the chance of them to taste bitter is on the horizon.

Here are a few reasons your cucumber plants may look white.

Overwatering

Cucumbers that have been over-watered are very pale, almost white, with fading leaves. If you detect these two signs, hold off before adding more water.

Cucumbers are 95% water, so it’s no wonder they require a lot to thrive and often require daily irrigation in some areas.

However, not all growing circumstances are the same in the same location as another. Excessive watering leaches phosphorus from the soil, so any fruit may appear white or pale green. Remedy this by cutting back on your water and adding a high-phosphorus fertilizer into the soil.

Root Disease

Plants use their roots to absorb nutrients and moisture from the soil. As a result, plants risk nutrient deficiency if something goes wrong with their roots.

Cucumber fruits turning white could show that the plant cannot absorb sufficient nutrients to support healthy growth. Over-watering can cause root rot, or something may have been injured during transplanting. If there is a case of root disease, it is the fruit that will show the first signs. (Read How Do I Grow Grapes)

What To Do When Cucumber Fruit Turns White?

To begin, determine the source of the problem. It could be something like over-watering, a root problem, or even too much rain to leave you with a white cucumber rather than a green color. A root problem could be the problem if you just transplanted the cucumber plant. Over-watering is more likely to blame if the soil is soaked and the leaves have gone yellow.

Root rot has no treatment. The best thing you can do is remove the plant to prevent it from spreading to other plants. (Read Why Are My Cucumbers Bitter)

The solution to over-watering is simple: stop watering the cucumber plant. Before resuming an appropriate watering plan, wait until the top 2 inches of soil have dried off.

Why Are My Cucumber Leaves Not Dark Green?

Why are cucumber leaves turning white is another common question. The above can be the start, and leaves paling is the secondary symptom. However, there are other reasons this can happen.

Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is the most prevalent reason for cucumber plant leaves turning white and any other plant that turns white. It usually begins with the edges of cucumber leaves turning white, then spreads throughout the entire leaf and other sections of the plant, including the fruit.

Powdery mildew will begin on the fruit’s upper surface, linked to the cucumber vines, and spread across the entire fruit.

Powdery mildew is more likely when there is a lot of high humidity, excessive moisture, and insufficient air circulation.

Cucumbers that have been infested with powdery mildew should be thrown away rather than composted. Place them in the garbage. The affected garden areas must be made less inviting to reduce the likelihood of it happening again.

• Thin plants to obtain adequate air circulation.
• Instead of watering in the evening, consider watering first thing in the morning.

Plants that are irrigated at sunset will remain damp all night, which promotes the growth of fungus. They will dry during sunlight if they are watered in the morning. Consider a Drip Irrigation System if it is workable.

You can eradicate powdery mildew using a variety of products and proven techniques.

Transplant Shock

Cucumber plants are quite sensitive to environmental changes. Pale plant leaves show cucumber seedlings that have been started indoors from cucumber seeds and transported outdoors. This could be part of their initial shock and acclimatization, or it could be something else.

The plant will adjust to the new temperature and sunlight in a few days or weeks. If it doesn’t heal, it’s powdery mildew. You have a problem if you plant green cucumbers and they become white.

Blanching

Blanching is another option if powdery mildew does not cause your cucumbers to turn white. Blanching occurs by the cucumber fruit is completely covered by leaves. You may have thick foliage and healthy-looking vines, but the cucumbers are completely shaded beneath leaves and receive little or little sunshine.

Cucumber plants require light for their fruit and lush foliage and shouldn’t suffer from overshading. Too much sun and they could suffer from sun-scald, so cut the foliage back a little to allow circulation and enough light. (Read Do Cucumbers Need To Be Refrigerated)

What To Do When Cucumber Leaves Turn White?

Since powdery mildew is the most prevalent cause of cucumber leaves turning white, treating it is recommended. Powdery mildew is caused by a fungus that is difficult to eradicate. Powdery mildew spreads swiftly to adjacent plants, so act promptly. Isolate the afflicted plants from the others. (Learn How To Grow Cucumbers Vertically)

Powdery mildew is one reason your cucumbers may be white rather than green. Powdery mildew resembles a fine sprinkling of flour and can infect the entire fruit and the foliage. Powdery mildew gives the illusion that your cucumbers have been sprinkled with flour and turned white. This fungal disease will grow throughout the entire fruit and on the leaves.

A combination of high humidity and insufficient air circulation usually causes powdery mildew on cucumbers. Spray all of your affected plants twice weekly with a solution of 1 tbsp baking soda diluted in a gallon of water. Spray the entire area, including the soil, not just the damaged plants, as the fungus may spread to other plants. To avoid the recurrence of powdery mildew, you must also modify the surroundings.

• As much airflow as possible should be available around the plants.
• To rectify poor air circulation, thin out weaker plants.
• Morning watering is recommended to allow the soil to dry out during the day.
• Splashing water onto the foliage and fruit is not a good idea.
• A drip irrigation system is an excellent investment to reduce humidity in your growing region.
• Use loose, well-draining soil with plenty of organic matter.
• Water leaches nutrients, so add the right fertilizer to the soil to avoid nutrient deficiency.

Cucumbers are affected by Pythium Fruit Rot, often known as Cottony Leak. Cottony Leak causes a fungal disease on soft, white cucumbers that occasionally resemble cotton.

A chemical fungicide is used to cure this illness, but you can lessen the impact by reducing excessive moisture and boosting ventilation. Plants infected with this fungus result in white cucumbers with a soft, white fungal mass resembling cotton.

Pythium Fruit Rot fungal disease can only be treated with a chemical fungicide while boosting airflow and lowering humidity levels can help to mitigate the disease.

How Do You Fix Overwatered Cucumbers?

It is not a complex problem to solve if you have a white cucumber problem caused by too much moisture. Over-watering causes your cucumber plants to become pale green or white because they can’t get enough phosphorus from the soil.

Reduce the amount and frequency of watering as soon as possible. In hot weather, many plants will wilt throughout the day, but watering may not be essential if the leaves recover by the evening. After that, feed your cucumbers with a high-phosphorous fertilizer. A banana peel tea can be made in minutes by soaking the banana peel in water. (Read Can Budgies Eat Cucumber)

Are White Cucumbers Safe to Eat?

Cucumbers that have become white and no longer green because of powdery mildew or cottony leaks will not taste good and may even be dangerous! Cucumbers that have turned white due to blanching or over-watering are safe to eat, but they may not be as tasty as expected.

If you don’t want to eat white cucumbers, feed them to chickens.

Tim Graham

With over 20 years of hands-on gardening and landscape design experience, Tim Graham, the founder of YardandGardenGuru.com, is dedicated to sharing expert advice and fostering a vibrant community for garden enthusiasts. His award-winning designs and sustainable practices reflect a deep-rooted passion and expertise in horticulture. Connect and cultivate your green thumb with Tim!