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Post by kazedwards on Jul 29, 2014 0:45:10 GMT -5
Well from that link it not bacterial wilt.
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Post by littleminnie on Jul 30, 2014 6:47:47 GMT -5
Aha!
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Post by glenn10 on Jul 11, 2015 22:02:12 GMT -5
I am having a really bad cuke beetle year here. How about you guys? I tried using a clove oil trap after reading about it on the net.....not one beetle went for it. I have my usual trap crops set up of jack-o-lantern pumpkins and some different squash varieties which get brutally attacked and sprayed with permethrine every few days or after a rain and they are still going after my melons. I am going out in the morning, afternoon and after dark with a flashlight and a mug with a little gasoline in it. I place the mug under the leaves with the beetles and when I give the leaves a slight touch the beetles turtle and fall right into the mug of gas. I was at first trying to pick them of with my fingers but missed most of them when they let themselves fall hence the mug with gasoline. I even have a pet baby turkey I have trained to eat these foul tasting bugs. It took a few days of coaxing but the bird finally acquired a taste for them and now eats them LOL! How do you folks deal with these bugs? Glenn
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Post by ferdzy on Jul 12, 2015 6:12:18 GMT -5
So far, knock wood, the cuke beetles and squash bugs have not been so bad for us this year. They were moderately bad last year, and the two years before that they were a pillaging scourge, an army of vengence, a plague of biblical proportions. Kinda bad, is what I'm saying. Fortunately we haven't had vine-borers yet, but no doubt they are on the way.
A wise old farmer once told me these troubles go in cycles, and to some degree the cure is to wait them out.
Meanwhile...
I don't have an answer to cucumber beetles. Someone once said, kill one cucumber beetle and 50 come to the funeral. Picking them has indeed been an exercise in futility. We have planted our cucurbits late the last two years, and I think that has helped in reducing their numbers, but who knows for sure. Maybe we have a lot less this year just because they do indeed go in cycles. Still, next year you might try planting late in a new spot, and keeping them covered in row cover as long as you can. By which I think I mean until they are about to flower.
As for squash bugs (which have not been mentioned on this thread so far but which are one of the 3 worst cucurbit pests, here in North America anyway) they can be controlled with hand picking if you keep on top of them from the start. Water the plants thoroughly - THOROUGHLY - or you can go out after a big rain. Wait 10 minutes, then come around with a jar of soapy water. They will climb up to the top of the leaves to dry, and you can pick 'em off by the dozen, hopefully not by the hundred. A couple of days of doing this and you should see greatly diminished numbers. They are about 20 times the size of a cucumber beetle.
We have not had vine borers, as I said, but we do have cutworms so all cucurbit stems are wrapped in 2" of aluminum foil at the base when we plant them out. They are most vulnerable when they first go out. Once the plants have grown a bit the stems are tougher and safer.
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Post by glenn10 on Jul 12, 2015 20:58:04 GMT -5
I sure hope they go in cycles cause my fingers are probably permanently stained from squishing so many over the past few days. I do have a new virgin field that I plowed and prepped last year which is about 250-300 yards away from our old gardens in a grove surrounded by trees. It was supposed to be my main breeding patch starting this year but the effen crows and effen foxes ripped out 99% of my 100 yard row of test plants and never touched a single trap squash or pumpkin(which to my amazement are being bombarded with the little yellow buggers).On a lighter note we do not have squash bugs in my area! I did however find a new pest which I have never seen before but I hope it will not be much of a threat in the future. I noticed one melon leaf had a bunch of spots on it....stared at it for a few seconds and out came this very quick lime green looking cuke beetle. I caught it and very gently and humanely ended its life(as to not damage it for ID LOL) then mr.googled the little guy. It appears to be a 4 lined plant bug. We do have cut worms here too but I have not really had much problems with them and my melons or any other plants for that matter. As far as I can tell over the years here I have lost a couple of bean plants and that's it..knock on wood. Glenn
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Post by glenn10 on Jul 16, 2015 19:44:07 GMT -5
I have tons of "wild" cucumbers growing around the property and the bugs are even eating those!
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Post by kazedwards on Jul 27, 2015 20:58:11 GMT -5
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Post by philagardener on Jul 28, 2015 5:58:17 GMT -5
Some folks carefully slice the stem along its length with a razor blade, or poke a thin wire up the stem hollow from the damaged entry point (where you see that light brown frass), to destroy the larva. After surgery, bury the stem so the damage will heal and new roots will form at the nodes. It can help to bury nodes further up the stem above the damage site to generate a distributed root system (this also can be a helpful preventive measure, and if the stem is covered with soil the moth can't lay eggs on it).
I have a lot of trouble with SVBs and as a consequence grow mostly C. moschata, which are more resistant to damage because they have solid stems.
Good luck!
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Post by kazedwards on Jul 28, 2015 12:25:40 GMT -5
Thank you philagardner!
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Post by kazedwards on Jul 28, 2015 12:26:19 GMT -5
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