[egbert]

Help please, I am having a bit of a panic about my poor cucumbers - they are meant to be outdoor variety

They were possibly getting a bit leggy, definitely a bit too big and starting to latch onto things around them, so I put them out at the weekend - I filled a big trough with compost, put in some stick and twine for them to grow along and have placed the trough in a plastic growbag cover/coldframe thingy.

The large leaves at the bottom are looking all droopy and sorry for themselves - so I shut the coldframe door thingy in case they were cold (they are on the south facing house on a beautiful sunny day, its about 16 degrees minimum.) Now they look even more droopy so I am worried I have cooked them - but when they were in doors they were on the same side of the house in a sunny room that gets too hot - so they should like the warm. At the top they appear to be sprouting new growth quickly, its just the largest leaves at the bottom that look sad

So - too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry . . . .? Whats going on?

And if they lose the bottom leaves, will the plant itself be ok and carry on growing?

[Hermit]

Hard to say without seeing conditions , but they do droop when too hot even though they are watered . Do they bounce back when cooler or watered. Cucumbers and courgettes etc are funny things they like steady watering, damp all the time instead of watered when dried out. If they bounce back just take care, if there is rot at the stem you will have a problem. On a hot day my polytunnel looks like a wilted lettuce even though watered. Try putting something over the glass to keep it cool in hot sun. That is one reason why some greenhouses are whitewashed out in summer. Good luck