HELP, I'm killing my cucumbers!

[silvercaster]

Hi Folks,
My wife and I have several cucumber plants in a raised garden. For a few weeks we were getting many larger sized cucumbers.
Then the aphids came...
I sprayed them with an insecticidal soap and killed many of them.


Now not all, but many of the leaves are burned and dried, there are not as many leaves, the cucumbers are small and few and the aphids are back.

I'm going to try ladybugs for the aphids.

But, is there anything I can do about reviving the health of our Cucumber plants?

All Suggestions are appreciated

Robert and Cindy

[dragonfly]

If it were me, I would buy a really good quality compost and side dress the plants fairly heavily, then baby them for a week or two. Also, don't spend a fortune on lady bugs. I bought some to try and resolve an aphid problem on one of my tomato plants, released them as directed, and they were all gone the next day without eating any of the aphids before they left. A couple of months ago, I used some home-made soap spray with one of the Pantene shampoos in it for a different application. It got rid of the aphids, and didn't hurt the beneficials. I was just trying to be "really organic" with the ladybugs, and it didn't work, so it's back to the shampoo. Some of the organic gardeners that I know won't use shampoo, but I figure if I can use it on my hair and skin, it won't hurt too much to use it on bugs a couple of times.

[BOBBY SHEPHERD]

I am having trouble with my cucumber plants also.I am not sure if I have pests or what.The leafs are all spotty aith brown splochs and although I have a large number of blooms I have no fruit starting as of yet.
HELP