1. Our cucumbers are suddenly NOT happy - their stems seem to be saturated and goey, and they become mush within a day or two. The soil isn't waterlogged - any ideas? surface and if I dig down near where the roots are)
This has also happened to a few other plants lately. but the tomatoes and other stuff in other areas is doing alright...





Different area-
2. It was very wet for a few days in a row about a month ago - but afterwoods, a few plants were bone dry (dead) and a few seemed to be covered w/ dry mold. the leave would crumble into dust as if it was dead for a year and was the desert...

Sounds like a fungal infection, there are products available to treat this in the lawn and garden of most box stores.

quote Originally posted by DeV8er: Sounds like a fungal infection, there are products available to treat this in the lawn and garden of most box stores.

"Pythium root rot"

Thanks man!

+1 has been added to your rating as a reward for your sheer awesomness.

Fungal infection as stated above or possibly--a calcium uptake problem.
Calcium problems are the same thing that causes the end of cukes, squash and other vegs that have blooms on the very end, to begin rotting back. Usually called bloom or blossom rot. On cukes, it begins at the end of the developing cuke, shrivels it up, and spreads backward into the vine itself. Blossom rot (really misnamed IMO) can be caused by un-even watering where the plant gets huge amts of nutrients one day and virtually none for a period thereafter, then huge amts avaiable again.
Yours does look like a fungal attack tho.