this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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Well it's in the title... They were growing great but in the last days or so the leaves started wilting. They always showed some yellowing and I thought about nitrogen deficiency so I fed them with slurry but without success... Any tips?

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[–] feedum_sneedson 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That probably won't be a good enough fertiliser. My cucumbers needed watering every day in the heat. 10% perlite will aerate the soil but is unlikely to change the drainage very much. Just a few things to think about. Good luck!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Thanks for you thoughts! I didn't know perlite didn't do anything for drainage. I honestly thought aeration and drainage were more or less two sides of the same coin.

[–] feedum_sneedson 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

It will help, but depending on what's in the organic part of the mix you could put perlite in at 50% and still find it was going anaerobic at the bottom of the pot, particularly with the new peat-free mixes. The best way I've heard it explained is that if you took a bucket of Angel Delight (like American "pudding"), how much grit would you need to add before it drained properly? A lot of these newer retail mixes just wet out into a slurry with zero structure to it. Making a free-draining mix is actually a huge challenge.