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If yourvining vegetablesare crawling with striped or spotted beetles , luck are that they are n’t ladybugs but the yellow - bellied , er , yellow - backed villains of the insect macrocosm — cucumber beetles . Their pretty seedy greenish - yellow-bellied chromaticity hint at how ill they can make your plants .
When consider how to get rid of Cucumis sativus beetles , keep in judgement that they generally do the most scathe in late spring and former summer when seedlings are untried and sore . Mature plants tolerate pests more easily . Although this article concentrates on the mallet ’ effect oncucumber polish , the root suggested should work for other vegetables too .
Photo: istockphoto.com
How to Identify Cucumber Beetles
you’re able to easily utilize beetle stripes or spots to identify which case ofpest problemyou have , though cucumber beetle control really is like for both kind .
Striped Cucumber Beetle
The striped cucumber vine mallet ( Acalymma vittatum ) deviate in length from 3/16 to 1/4 inch . Yellow in color , it has three erect black stripes run down its back , as well as a dim head , antenna , and abdomen . It spend the winter beneath leaf bedding material and emerges in late spring or early summer to lay bantam orange tree or yellow cucumber vine mallet eggs in the soil around the bases of your plant .
After hatching in a couple weeks or so , the white larvae with black heads feed on the plants ’ roots before pupate in late summer . Although this minuscule beetle prefers cucurbits — vining crop such as cucumbers , melon , squash , andpumpkins — it often can be obtain on other vegetables and ornamental plants too .
Spotted Cucumber Beetle
Mostly similar in sizing and show to the striped mallet , the spy cucumber bug ( Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi ) comes in a green - yellow shade embellish with a dozen disastrous slur instead of stripe . Because it ca n’t hold up frigid wintertime , it migrate northward in late June to early July , so it generally does n’t cause as much cucumber carnage there as the striped version does .
However , the discern eccentric does run on a wider stove of plant than its striped “ brother ” and can inflict pile of damage in the South , where more than one coevals of beetles will be “ think up ” over the course of action of a longer grow time of year .
Plant Damage
Cucumber beetle scathe can be extensive since a heavy population of the insect may massacre sprout seedlings by consuming the new leaves and girdling ( chewing all the way around ) the stems . The beetle also intervene with pollenation and fruit gear up by chowing down on the plants ’ blooms .
However , the worm cause even more damage by channel the incurable bacterial wilt disease , which literally will cause plants to curl up and go . The cucurbits most involve by bacterial wilting are cucumbers and muskmelons . Although squashes are more tolerant to the malady and have their ownsquash bugswith which they must postulate , they can suffer from squash mosaic computer virus carried by cucumber beetles — which causes mottled leave of absence and distorted yield .
How to Get Rid of Cucumber Beetles
Now that you know the desolation theseinsect pestscan allow behind in your garden , how do you get rid of them ? That is n’t easy since they are a bit too tight to make hired man - picking of them effective . But there are a few tone you could take to reduce their populations .
Working Time : 1 hourTotal Time : 1 to 2 weeksSkill Level : BeginnerEstimated Cost : $ 20 to $ 100
Tools & Materials
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STEP 1: Sow your cucumbers late outdoors or start them early indoors.
In the north , cucumber mallet come out in later May or early June once soil temperature have risen to 55 degrees Fahrenheit . Therefore , it ’s a good idea to just delay your planting of cucumbers until mid - June when most of those beetle should have moved on .
Alternatively , because young plants lean to be the most drastically affect , you may want to start up your cucumbers in a glasshouse or under grow sparkle andwait to transplant theminto the garden until they already have at least three true folio . ( True folio are the leaf that appear after the initial two seedling leaves . )
STEP 2: Place beetle traps or trap crops around your plot’s edges.
Meanwhile , 2 weeks before you intend to sow in your cucumber or set them out , place beetle trapsbaited with pheromones or mallet ambuscade crop around the edge of your patch . Blue Hubbard squashis one of the most good trap crops , though other eccentric of winter squash or zucchini also will ferment .
When consider how to pour down cucumber vine beetle that have been lured to those crops , keep in intellect that you should spray them in the eve , because the beetles are more active at that time of twenty-four hours and because most good insect should have flown by home by then .
STEP 3: Apply beneficial nematodes or purchase plants that attract beneficial insects.
Considerspraying beneficial nematodesinto the soil around your seedlings as that can kill the mallet in their larval microscope stage and reduce the population of those that emerge in late summertime . The Rodale Institute suggests that you also include “ insectary strips ” of plants that attract beneficial insects in yourpest control plans . Ornamentals and herb such as alyssum , calendula , and lemon balm lure ladybeetle , lacewings , and tachinid fly , which will prey on the beetles and/or their larvae .
STEP 4: Mulch young cucumber plants with silver reflective mulch or straw.
Reflective silver mulchreportedly repels insects such as cucumber beetles by bedevil them — making them as unreasoning as beetle , perhaps ! Gardeners who use the mulch might require to wear sunglasses to protect their own vision from the brilliance . Once that mulch is mostly covered by plant , its effectuality against insect wanes . Although straw will not repel cucumber beetles , it does make bollock laying more difficult for them . In fact , almost any mulchwill work for that purpose .
STEP 5: Cover cucumber plants with row cover until they begin blooming.
you’re able to keep the beetle off your plants for a time by whole swaddle the young plant life withrow cover , pinned down at the sides to prevent the insects ’ entry , but still admit light . For this to be effective , you will want to give the row cover immediately after you sow or transfer your cucumbers — rather into a patch where cucurbit did n’t uprise the previous year . However , you will require to remove the cover once the plants begin to blossom to allow bee to pollinate them , unless you design on plow the pollinating duties yourself .
Ways to Prevent a Cucumber Beetle Infestation
deliberate taking the following steps to facilitate counter future infestations of cuke beetles .
Our Best Advice for Beginner Gardeners
We ’ll help you arrange up your first garden — whether that ’s a few pots on your terrace , a evoke bed , or an in - primer coat plot out back — and select the right plants for your grease and region .
Photo: istockphoto.com
Photo: istockphoto.com
Photo: istockphoto.com
Photo: istockphoto.com
