Cucumber beetle
In Nettle tea for insect repellant Allan Balliet wrote: My current problem - - one for the whole county - - is massive attacks of cucumber beetles. Any suggestions, aside from peppering? ATTRA has a new publication under final layout on cuke beetles, which will be soon be available in print and on the web. Contact the author -- Barabara Bellows [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- for details. How many acres or row feet of cuke crops? How much $ is the cuke crop worth at 120% yield, 100% yield, 75% yield, 50% yield? What cultural strategies are you looking at? What botanical insecticides are you looking at? How many applications will it take? What is the cost per application of botanicals? A promising tactic is the use of cucurbatacin feeding attractants (e.g., raising certain cuke crops as a trap crop), accompanied with botanicals. Just get the ATTRA pub. It's all there. Steve Diver http://www.attra.ncat.org
Re: Cucumber beetle
A promising tactic is the use of cucurbatacin feeding attractants (e.g., raising certain cuke crops as a trap crop), accompanied with botanicals. Yes, Steve, now that you mention it, I shall not forget the week, a few years back, when I weeded the amaranth because it was infested with cucumber beetles
Re: Cucumber beetle
Allan, Last year Chris stopped mulching the cucs, and increased cultivations. The cuc beetles were burrowing into the mulch. We had almost 100% loss to them. And now that we are not mulching and increasing cultivations, we still have a few, but it has decresased to a tolerable level. Christy
Re: Cucumber beetle
I have 5 speedling trays of DIVA and MARKETMORE just emerging in the shadehouse. The cucumber beetles appeared to hit those trays this morning. Not only were there beetles all over the leaves (which are just the dicots right now), we found beetles in the soil of the trays, also. It's pretty disgusting. This brings up anoher issue for me, however. I noticed emerging radish that are being shredded by flea beetles and now these cukes being attacked by cucumber beetles. Both of these incidents are occuring to plants that have yet to even start their first true leaves. in my knowledge of plant physiology, these plants, so far, are developing from nutrients that were stored in the seed and not nutrients from the soil. If that's the case, accepting that sick plants attract insects, am I defeated at the seed level? In other words, is there something wrong with my seed that's causing the seedlings to attract pests or is this really my own soil problem(s)? Seeking solutions and not blame -Allan Allan, Last year Chris stopped mulching the cucs, and increased cultivations. The cuc beetles were burrowing into the mulch. We had almost 100% loss to them. And now that we are not mulching and increasing cultivations, we still have a few, but it has decresased to a tolerable level. Christy
