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pshawn2

Cucumber Beetles

pshawn
13 years ago

Anybody have any remedies for cucumber beetles (the green, lady-bug looking things)? They're eating my actinia fruit!

Comments (8)

  • taz6122
    13 years ago

    Plant some cucumbers? I think sevin will work on any beetle.

  • eristal
    13 years ago

    Seriously, I would like the same thing answered. But anything that works on all beetles would not make me happy. Almost every Passiflora in my yard has ladybugs on them AND those annoying green ones. Unfortunately, they seem to live peacefully together. They decimated my potatoes this year, and now are working on eating holes in my Passiflora leaves and flower buds. No fruits so far, thankfully! I would be really upset to lose my new hybrid potential.

    The only thing we have been doing is to visually inspect the plants daily and kill them by hand. If anyone has tips on how else to eliminate them that does not require poison, I would be thankful. For instance, how does their life cycle work? Can we get them in a younger stage? Where do they sleep generally?

    Thanks,
    Eric

  • pshawn
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks for the additional questions Eric! I concur. I seem to be finding their larval stages (green caterpillar like guys) in my fruit. And, yes, they are destroying some of the hybrid fruits I've been so happy to see fruiting! Please help us!
    -shawn

  • pshawn
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    OK, now I'm really mad. I just found a fallen fruit from one of the sidifolia hybrids I was really looking forward to growing. Before I lose my whole crop, does anyone know how to treat these little fruit-burrowing bugs???

  • taz6122
    13 years ago

    BT should take care of the larvae.

  • pshawn
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks Taz. What is BT?

  • taz6122
    13 years ago

    Bacillus thuringiensis is a natural bacteria genetically engineered to kill grubs and caterpillars that doesn't hurt any other living things. You can get it at lowes or HD.

  • pshawn
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks taz. My local HD didn't have any BT. I'll keep looking.

    I waged war on those wily caterpillars today. Funny little things--they were hiding in the shriveled flower and feeding sporadically on the unripe fruit. So, I took all the shriveled flowers off the remaining fruit. Hopefully that will keep them away from the few fruit I have left. They seemed to like actinia and sidifolia, but left all my other passis alone.

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