english cuke problem?

[bills]

My english cucumbers, that are in the greenhouse, are starting to have all the leaves turning a pale green. The other thing I notice is that the developing cukes themselves, are fat at both ends but thin in the middle.

I have never been totally happy about the number of female flowers vs male, (about 1 female to 40 male) and haven't really gotten the production I would have thought I would get. Initially the plant growth was fantastic, and I did get several nice fat cukes.

What the heck is going on? Do these plants think they are all finished and are starting to die off, or could there be some major deficiency in the soil?

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

I certainly wouldn't think that it's a sign that they are trying to finish up for the season. My first thought with pale leaves is usually a nitrogen or other nutrient deficiency (perhaps iron?).

How have you fertilized so far?

 

[bills]

Early on I was feeding them a low nitrogen liquid fish fertilizer, and then I later top dressed them with Sea Soil, which although a compost, has a fairly high nitrogen content. I backed off on the fish fertilizer as it seemed I was getting a lot of leaf growth, and thought the watering in of the sea soil would maintain feeding.
http://www.seasoil.com/

My wife, who is a Certified Master Gardner, has used Epson salts in the past to green up her flower plants that were yellow leafed, (eg; Angels Trumpet), which worked well. Her training is mainly in ornamentals though not veggies. I suppose I could try it. I don't want to spoil the flavor of the cukes, although I don't know if epso salts would change that.:/