cucumber beetles

[happenin]

I'm an organic gardener who had some Burpless cucumbers die
last year because of the cucumber beetle. I tried hand
picking and pyrethrin soaps, neither was of much use.

My neighbor (who uses Sevin) has his group of cukes not very
far away (maybe 20 feet from the start of my plot) and has
powdered his plants continuously and picked a large quantity
of Straight 8's.

Problem is his season is near its end and even with the
Sevin (same as last year) they are dying off. I planted
later using Burpless and two new mosaic resistant
cuke and gerkin varieties, which are now becoming the target
of these *%#$@! beetles. I also have some watermelons
growing nearby.

Within the last few days I've seen a large number of striped
and a few spotted cucumber beetles. The striped ones have
even had the "nerve" to mate in front of me. This year I
have sprayed with the soap again, but the very next day the
beetles are back. I'm afraid this problem is going to get
out of hand again very shortly and could use some advice for
another organic solution.

I've seen some web pages on pepper/garlic sprays but have
read from a few Cooperative Extension sites that there is
little supportive findings to prove these actually are
beneficial to eliminating the problem.

Any and (reasonable) help is appreciated!

Life is a differential equation - for which there is no solution. (unknown)

[A. M. Montano III]

I am a first-year organic vegetable gardener. Also plagued by massive
amounts of striped cucumber beetles. I started by hand-picking them and
squashing the eggs and nymphs. Then tried epsom salt (I Tbsp) in 1 gallon of
water. (I read it in a book.) It didn't help. Now they've spread to all the
cucumbers (I only have 7 plants), gourds, and even on tomatoes.

I just used Bonide (from Gardens Alive), two days ago. We'll see what
happens. so far the vines still look like they are dying, limp with old
fruits not ripening. But it is still blooming, so I will leave the vines
there for now.

Good luck!

happenin wrote in message <6qb85e$1ps...@news.father.com>...

[mary]

I garden in zone 5 (borderline 6) and last year my cucumbers were
planted after July 1 and I had my first good crop in years. I won't put
poison sprays on our food. This year I repeated the late planting but
so far the plants are not looking as healthy. You might want to try
planting later than recommended and you might avoid the height of the
infestation of the *@#beetle. Good luck.