Cuke beetles everywhere! Help
I went out to the garden to harvest my string beans when I noticed loads of these pest all over them and wholes in the leaves and brown spot on the beans. I have used Pyola in attempts to keep everything away but all 20 plants had at least 6 bugs on them. What else can I do?
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
I just wrote this for someone else with the same problem:
A lot of the things to control cucumber beetles are more preventative than when you have a big infestation but some you could still do. Their biggest predators are parasitic wasps and nematodes and bats (one of the for the future things would be put up a bat house! ).
"The Insect Parasitic Nematode Web site, https://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/nematodes/, developed and maintained by the department of entomology at The Ohio State University, contains information on the biology and ecology of nematodes and how to use them for pest control in different crops (Grewal, 2007). It features an extensive list of commercial suppliers of parasitic nematodes." https://www.attra.org/attra-pub/cucumberbeetle.html#traps
In the spring, floating row covers can keep bugs off your plants, but they
are normally removed once the plants are flowering.
One thing you can do given that you've got them all over is just vacuum them off your plants. (They make hand held bug catcher vacuums)
Otherwise Neem oil or organic insecticides. My recipe for the latter is
chop up onion & garlic, leaves of tomato plant, add to blender with cayenne pepper, black pepper, any strong aromatic herbs you have around (mint, basil, tansy, tarragon, etc). Blend it up with water, a little salad oil to help it stick, and a few drops of liquid soap (not detergent) and let sit over night. Strain well and spray.
A lot of the things to control cucumber beetles are more preventative than when you have a big infestation but some you could still do. Their biggest predators are parasitic wasps and nematodes and bats (one of the for the future things would be put up a bat house! ).
"The Insect Parasitic Nematode Web site, https://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/nematodes/, developed and maintained by the department of entomology at The Ohio State University, contains information on the biology and ecology of nematodes and how to use them for pest control in different crops (Grewal, 2007). It features an extensive list of commercial suppliers of parasitic nematodes." https://www.attra.org/attra-pub/cucumberbeetle.html#traps
In the spring, floating row covers can keep bugs off your plants, but they
are normally removed once the plants are flowering.
One thing you can do given that you've got them all over is just vacuum them off your plants. (They make hand held bug catcher vacuums)
Otherwise Neem oil or organic insecticides. My recipe for the latter is
chop up onion & garlic, leaves of tomato plant, add to blender with cayenne pepper, black pepper, any strong aromatic herbs you have around (mint, basil, tansy, tarragon, etc). Blend it up with water, a little salad oil to help it stick, and a few drops of liquid soap (not detergent) and let sit over night. Strain well and spray.
To prevent such specific information from appearing in two contemporaneous threads, I will lock this one and refer readers to
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16491&highlight=
where the other discussion appears. Please spare RainbowGardener from writing the information twice...!
Cynthia H.
Mod hat on
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16491&highlight=
where the other discussion appears. Please spare RainbowGardener from writing the information twice...!
Cynthia H.
Mod hat on