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imtoobusy

cucumber beetles and wilting zucchini

imtoobusy
18 years ago

I am having a devil of a time with striped cucumber beetles this year. They have swarmed and killed off a whole bed of melons (about 40 plants) and are now concentrating on a zucchini bed (about 20 plants). I am only using organic methods so I have to be careful about what I am using. (I have 2 neighbors who both used Sevin this week and both of them burnt up their entire vegetable gardens-- Hot weather, no rain in 3 weeks and a pesticide was just too much for their gardens to handle. I feel so bad for them!)

I have used sticky traps,Pyola and Liquid Rotenone/Pyrethrin. All seem to work, somewhat. It knocks down some but there are always a few back within days.

Right now, I am having a problem with the zucchini that they are wilting during the day and coming back at night. Could this just be an issue with the very hot weather and this variety (costata romanesco)? Some of my other summer squashes are doing fine all day long and still others are having this same problem. I ahve read that cuc beetles can spread a few different kinds of wilt diseases and am wondering if that is what is happening and what should I do about it? Are there any products that I can use to help these plants? I will be spraying again with rotenone/pyrethrin for the bugs but I am wondering if the plants can be saved??

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