Hello:

I grew a cucumber plant from seed. The seeds were labeled "Persian Baby Cucumbers / Green Fingers," and I had three seeds in a container that's about 14" wide and 14" deep. All three sprouted and grew fairly quickly. They flowered and put out a few cucumbers. I didn't cut any of them down although it did get a little bit crowded and I probably should only have kept two.

After some time--a couple of months or so--they developed blemishes on the leaves, pictured in the attachment. Whatever this was took them down completely. They are now dead.

I would like to know what caused this so I can determine whether it's worth planting more seeds or whether there is something about my culture that is just too inhospitable for these plants to bother.

I live in coastal southern California where the temps for the next few months will range between 60 and 75; on hot/dry days it might get to 90, and those occur a couple of days out of every 2-3 weeks or so, at least in recent years. The plants are on a balcony, with a roof, so they get sunlight between 5:30 AM and noon; after 7 AM or so the sunlight is direct. (Over the last couple of months when I grew these plants, the lows occasionally dipped into the mid- or lower 50s, but only on a couple of nights did we get something like 48 or 49).

My most likely theory is that this was moisture. I am very close to the ocean and we get ocean moisture. Over the last few months we've had the usual "May Gray" and the fog has been pronounced. I expect less of it for the rest of the summer, but you never know. In any event, moisture will always accumulate on the leaves overnight because it's always coming in off the ocean and the temperatures always drop, fog or not.

Is that what these leaves look like or is this something else? Maybe something I can control with a natural substance like neem oil?

Any tips would be appreciated. The cucumbers were amazingly tasty and I'd like to grow them if I can, but if I'm destined for failure I might as well use the container for something I know I can grow like peppers (or basil if I'm really feeling lazy).

Thanks for any advice you can provide.