Organic-approved insecticides have not always been found to be effective see below , so cultural controls may be the best option for many organic farmers. Cultural controls include crop rotation, the use of transplants rather than direct seeding, row covers, trap cropping, mulching for predator conservation, the use of reflective plastic mulches, choosing resistant varieties, and intercropping:. However, the beetles are highly mobile and so crop rotation alone is unlikely to entirely control cucumber beetles.
Seedlings and small plants are most susceptible to cucumber beetle feeding damage and to bacterial wilt Yao et al. Using transplants avoids exposure to cucumber beetle feeding during the most susceptible plant stages. This also reduces the total time that cucurbit plants are in the field each season, providing less time for cucumber beetle densities to build and for disease symptoms to develop.
Floating row covers provide the most reliable defense against cucumber beetles, when left in place until flowering begins row covers must eventually be removed to allow bees and other pollinators to visit the flowers. Downsides of row covers include their high cost and the fact that they block access to the crop for weeding. Plastic or other mulches may be combined with floating row covers to reduce these weed problems, provided that the plastic mulch is removed from the field at the end of the growing season.
With good crop rotation practices, adult cucumber beetles will always be moving into a crop from somewhere else. In perimeter cropping the main cucurbit crop is ringed by plantings of a different, highly attractive cucurbit variety. Cucumber beetles generally aggregate at field edges regardless Luna and Xue, , and attractive trap crops may further accentuate this tendency.
Recent research indicates that the Blue Hubbard and buttercup varieties of Cucurbita maxima , and zucchini C. Then, approved insecticides can be applied to the trap crop only, reducing total insecticide use Cavanagh et al. Lists of highly attractive cucurbits are presented in this ATTRA publication on Cucumber Beetles fee may apply , and a research project funded by the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program generated detailed recommendations for using this strategy in cucurbits.
Straw mulch can help reduce cucumber beetle problems in at least 3 different ways. First, mulch might directly slow beetle movement from one plant to another Cranshaw, ; Olkowski, Second, the mulch provides refuge for wolf spiders and other predators from hot and dry conditions, helping predator conservation Snyder and Wise, ; Williams and Wise, Third, the straw mulch is food for springtails and other insects that eat decaying plant material; these decomposers are important non-pest prey for spiders, helping to further build spider numbers Halaj and Wise, It is important that straw mulch does not contain weed seeds and to make certain that it does not contain herbicide residues which can take years to fully break down.
Results of a study in Virginia Caldwell and Clark, suggest that metallic-colored plastic mulches repel cucumber beetles, reducing beetle feeding damage and the transmission of bacterial wilt.
Cucumber plants grown in richly-mulched soils harbor fewer cucumber beetles than do those in soils with less organic content Yardim et al. Cucumber beetles are attracted to host plants by a chemical called cucurbitacin, which gives cucurbits their bitterness and likely is used as a defense against less-specialized herbivores Deheer and Tallamy, The beetles absorb cucurbitacin into their bodies and use it to defend themselves against predators and pathogens Gould and Massey, ; Tallamy et al.
So, cucurbit varieties or species with lower cucurbitacin levels may be less attractive to cucumber beetles. Of course, market forces largely determine which cucurbits are planted, so variety selection will not be possible in many situations.
Cucurbits are listed by their attractiveness to cucumber beetles in Cucumber Beetles: Organic and Biorational Integrated Pest Management. A field-plot trial found that intercropping cucumbers with corn and broccoli reduced striped cucumber beetles substantially, compared to plots planted in a monoculture of cucumber Bach, In this study intercropping also reduced the incidence of bacterial wilt disease.
A recent study suggests that intercropping watermelons or musk melons with radish, nasturtium, tansy, buckwheat, cowpea or sweet clover has a similar benefit Cline et al. Field trials have reported somewhat inconsistent success using organic-approved insecticides to control cucumber beetles. To entirely block wilt transmission, insecticides would have to be applied repeatedly as new beetle colonists arrive, which could grow expensive. Treatment of plants just before they are transplanted into the field could help get the plants past the vulnerable early stages Yao et al.
While cucumber beetle larvae feed on cucurbit roots, adult feeding is more damaging to the crop. Adults feed on leaves and can stunt plant growth.
Look for holes and yellowing and wilting leaves. Feeding on flowers can reduce fruit production, and direct feeding on fruits causes unattractive scars and pock marks on the fruit, too. Often, the cucumber beetles alone will not kill the plants or cause major damage, but the spread of disease will.
Feeding by adult cucumber beetles can spread bacterial wilt disease among cucurbit plants, even when population density of the insect is low. Adult cucumber beetles overwinter in weeds, garden debris, and woody areas. The diseases they carry can also overwinter internally, and can be passed onto plants the next spring through fecal matter.
Spotted cucumber beetle. Credit: Shenandoah National Park. There are possibly beneficial nematodes available.. With all respect I read the article to the end and you never pin point the solution to this problem all you said does not work.
Cannot harm any crops? Also will that help deter most things? Newly transplanted cucumbers fall over dead. On digging down, I find a very hard orange worm burrowed into the stem, underground. What is this pest and how todo I control? Is there something I can drench the soil with?
I have some spotted cucumber beetles and some squash bugs. Lately, I have noticed eggs on my cucumbers that a small bright red and grainy. Are these due to the beetles, or something else.
I don't think they are squash bug eggs, because those are tan colored. But I also have some kind of gray long and skinny bugs and grasshoppers. Are the spotted ones sort of fuzzy too? I just found one crawling across the kitchen glass door and immediately trapped it under transparent tape so that I could take a closer look at what it was and whether or not it might be a harmful bug to my pug.
Cucumber beetles have been destroying our Chinese lanterns. After using both diatomaceous earth and spraying with Raid Mosquito and Fly spray, they have disappeared. Wouldn't use it on vegetable plants, though. Is this possible? I do not have a vegetable garden. Striped cucumber beetles typically stick only to cucumbers, squash, and related vegetables, but spotted cucumber beetles are known to be much less picky. Rebecca I have a ton of them all over my mexican sunflowers.
They have eaten tiny holes in the petals and also the petals of my cosmos. I have found that killing the beetles by hand at night works. I have sprayed them with water to prevent them from flying. Then kill them by hand. Also neem oil seems to help.
My latest discover is to use a bright flashlight at night, usually around , against my garden box wall The beetles flock to it like moths and are easy to squash by hand or spray with neem oil. I think I might try the alcohol spray on them against the box since I wouldn't be spraying the plants. An added note of interest They really are out at night!!! This is our first garden. We have planted the Bonnie Cucumber Burpless plants. The plants have done well growing but now that it is time for the cucumbers to start growing they are growing in odd shapes.
They look more like gourds. Weirdly shaped, like curly q's. Need advice on what we are doing wrong. A number of online reviews of the Bonnie Burpless Hybrid claim to have had similar issues with misshapen fruits, so these weird cukes could be a result of the variety—not your care! Since the tomatillos self-sow in my garden I just wait until the hundreds of seedlings show some larval damage and then pull and destroy them. This reduces the numbers.
But the ones I let grow will continue to attract the beetles all summer long. July 12 at am. I second the part about the tomatillos! We grow tomatillos for picking, as we love tomatillo salsa. Our cucumber rows this year are right beside our tomatillos, and have absolutely no damage from cucumber beetles so far I'm a little bummed about the tomatillos, but really glad about protecting the cucumbers. The tomatillos grow like weeds, and we've already harvested a ton of fruit off of them.
Maybe I'll just let them keep working to defend the cukes. They've been really easy to grab while they're mating. This is our first year at a new house, and I've never had to battle these guys before, so this is all new to me. Neem cake. October 6 at pm. At first, once Neem cake is consumed by an insect, Neem cake then alters the shape and structure of hormones present in the insect and that are vital to the lives of insect not to mention, including many invertebrates and even some microbes.
August 26 at pm. August 11 at am. I am leery of anything that kills all the bugs I want to keep the good guys.
I have subscribed to Organic Gardening for more than 30 years and remember reading more than once, but not recently, about a method of bug control that involves collecting a bunch of the bugs, running them through a blender - with some water, I guess - then using the filtered liquid as a spray on the infected plants.
I don't have the stomach to do this; however, I have discovered that simply squishing some aphids right on the plant causes them to all disappear within a day or two In a panic the first time I found cucumber beetles on my veggies, I reacted by frantically squashing a number of blossoms to kill the beetles.
Funny thing, they were all gone a couple days later. I can't promise it will always work - I have a few beetles now even though I squashed a couple several weeks ago, but I sacrificed a blossom or two this evening and hope to give the ton of baby cucumbers hanging on the vines a better chance to keep growing.
Kelly Beatty. July 10 at am. I have only a few squash and cucumber plants, so I vowed to be vigilant this year after watching them get chewed up, wither, and die last year.
I find that early morning is best, when the blossoms open and the beetles go inside to feed. Pest Control. June 2 at am. Thiis web site really has all the information I wanted concerning this subject and didn't know who to ask. Carpet Cleaning. May 19 at pm. I've been reading your website for a llong time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and ive you a sshout out from Porter Tx!
Just wanted to mntion keep up the good job! Elisa Cannino Soto. September 30 at pm. First timer and new to any kind of gardening, or growing anything. Its been a long time since I've even tried. I killed many a poor house plant with my lack of green thumb. My mother in law, who is old school and plants seem to love her, lol.. Had me spraying my cucumber leaves with coffee. It did seem to slow down the consumption of the leaves. So many great suggestions out there. Lucky for me, we have a few bats local.
Definately thinking of building them a home. Like Tara said. Also the Pryganic that Robert Charland has tried I'm looking into myself. Oh well, I'm learning growing my own foods isn't so easy, but with people like you all, I'm finding what works for me. Just want to say "Thank you, to everyone of you who put it out there. God bless. Cucumbers OptimysticGardener. August 23 at am. This way, next growing season I might be able to lure the insect to a patch of hubbard squash.
With fields and forest just beyond my garden, these beetles have lots of places to winter-over. August 6 at am. July 27 at am. I have been battling these lil pest since the beginning of planting my cucs. This is my first year planting. They have terrorized my melons as well. I was wondering how to get rid of the eggs on the underside of the leaves. If I picked all the leaves that had eggs on them, I would have no plants at all!!!
I have gotten good at catching the adults but they seem to be laying faster than I can kill them. Another question is before I plant my winter squash and pumpkins should I rip up my cucs and melon plants to ensure that no bugs are around? I till every time I remove a veggie plant as well. Getting a bit frustrated. I've used a bunch of the organic ideas, traps, sprays, ect March 21 at am.
The easiest way to get rid of the eggs under the leaves is to brush them off with your fingers. They are very soft, and easy to remove. No need to remove the whole leaf. Of course, this is impractical if you have large tracts of cucumbers, but for the home garden it should work well. You can crush the eggs with your fingers, but I don't worry about it. Once they fall to the ground they will dry up, or - if they hatch - there will be nothing there for them to eat on hatching.
June 23 at pm. Another great way to get rid of eggs is to use duct tape! Just cut a few inches of it, wrap around your fingers with sticky side out, and touch the eggs. They stick to it and then just throw the tape away. July 3 at pm. Laurie Balmer. July 14 at pm.
Cucumber beetles do not like catnip sprinkle the leaves around your plants. July 2 at am. This is my first time growing much of anything this year. I live in an apartment, so all of my pants are in containers. I have self-diagnosed that my cucumber plant is being eaten by the cucumber beetle.
However, I have not seen anything! Is that normal? I will applying some sticky traps around it in order to catch it. I guess I'm just confused because I've never seen one of these beetles and I have been intensely looking at the plant for days. June 29 at am. After battling cucumber beetles in previous years, last year I applied beneficial nematodes at the start of the season, and found very few cuc beetles.
I still had problems with squash bugs, so the nematodes didn't help with those. This year I did not spray the beneficial nematodes, but still have not seen any cuc beetles or squash bugs so far it is still early. I also have mulched this year with " of woodchip mulch.
I also was able to locate some Surround WP online it is not sold in CO , and applied it for the first time yesterday. I've also read that they don't like mint or lemon balm, so I'm growing these elsewhere they can be invasive and using the leaves as mulch around my cucurbits.
I've also planted trailing nasturtiums among the cucurbits. With so many variables, I know I won't know what's working, but I'm throwing everything at them this year and so far am successful. Perhaps in a month I'll remember to leave a comment about my results. Robert Charland. June 28 at am. I found my first ever striped cucumber beetle on a squash flower this morning.
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