me against the cucumber beetles!!
 

Any ideas on which cucumbers have the most resistance to bacterial wilt from those @#$%^ cucumber beetles? I was going to try county fair and diva this year but thought maybe someone has a better idea for me..those beetles have wreaked havoc here the last 2 years and I suspect they are lurking under the snow regrouping for this year!

Marilyn

Marilyn:

The only cuke I know that claims to have any resistence to BW is County Fair. I tried it last year and got few cukes from the two plants I had. Replacing it with Diva this year.

Is BT effective against the babies?

Every website I Googled about this subject suggested row cover and then trap crops.

I read somewhere that cucumber "bacterial wilt" stays in the soil, so you my need to solarize that area.

Has anyone else heard this?

Dean

[quote=DeanRIowa;87180]I read somewhere that cucumber "bacterial wilt" stays in the soil, so you my need to solarize that area.

Has anyone else heard this?

Dean[/quote]

No, but I did hear that row covers from the day you put the seeds in will keep the little suckers off the plants. And I also read that if you plant cukes with beans that the beans repel the cucumber pests and the cukes repel the Mexican bean beetle.

No clue how well that works, but probably going to try both of those.

There may be some truth to that, Granny. In previous years, I've had quite a lot of spotted cucumber beetles but last year I grew my cucumbers and pole beans side by side and I hardly saw any, and when I did, they were in the potatoes! :?

[quote=shelleybean;87188]There may be some truth to that, Granny. In previous years, I've had quite a lot of spotted cucumber beetles but last year I grew my cucumbers and pole beans side by side and I hardly saw any, and when I did, they were in the potatoes! :?[/quote]

It is still too early to start anything here (though there were 11 pair of Mallard ducks on the river on Saturday when we went out for lunch!) so I am up to my eyeballs trying to figure out what goes where next to who in how much space and how many of what I need to start. Surrounded by books & catalogs, every one of which conflicts with the next. ARgggghhhhhh!

I've lost all my cucumbers two years in a row. Last year I planted County Fair and Eureka right next to my pole beans. Nada - not one lousy cucumber, and I always thought cukes were one of those no-brainer crops that ANYBODY could grow.:no:

From what I have read, the bacteria overwinter in the beetle's digestive system, not in the soil. So this year we're bringing out the entire arsenal of row covers and pyrethrin spray before the seeds even poke their little heads up and lots of finger crossing...I hate BUYING pickles at the grocery store - or even worse, having to BUY cucumbers for my salad. /puke

[quote=felpec;87208]I've lost all my cucumbers two years in a row. Last year I planted County Fair and Eureka right next to my pole beans. Nada - not one lousy cucumber, and I always thought cukes were one of those no-brainer crops that ANYBODY could grow.:no:

From what I have read, the bacteria overwinter in the beetle's digestive system, not in the soil. So this year we're bringing out the entire arsenal of row covers and pyrethrin spray before the seeds even poke their little heads up and lots of finger crossing...I hate BUYING pickles at the grocery store - or even worse, having to BUY cucumbers for my salad. /puke[/quote]

My neighbors up the road a piece at High Mowing have several varieties of cukes on their website that are supposed to be resistant to a variety of diseases. Have a peek here -
[url]http://www.highmowingseeds.com/home.php?cat=11[/url]

My cukes last longer and longer each year. The only thing I have changed is, that I work harder in getting them to grow up and I have a bird house ON top of the trellis. I also added more and more birdhouses each year to the yard. I think they are helping me.:yes::yes:

If you aren't doing it already, and if your garden plans allow it, you could also try succession planting in the hopes that the cukes will be "de-synchronized" with the pest's life cycle.

thanks for all the ideas! How long do you leave the row covers over the plants? We tried staggered plantings last year and still lost quite a few plants...this year we will be armed and ready for the little critters!!

[quote=misschanterelle;87439]thanks for all the ideas! How long do you leave the row covers over the plants? We tried staggered plantings last year and still lost quite a few plants...this year we will be armed and ready for the little critters!![/quote]


The books I'm reading re the row covers say to leave them on until the plants flower - if you don't take them off then you get no cukes.

I'm also looking at a bacterial control - [url]http://www.tomatogrowers.com/supplies.htm[/url]

Knock on wood, I haven't had one cucumber beetle in my garden the 5 years of gardening here.

They were the hardest insect to control when I farmed. I learned quickly that the extra early fancy hybrids were the most susceptible, with vines dying right as the cukes matured.

It is true the burpless varieties have the best resistance to the beetles. My best producing variety with a loss of maybe one out of 10-15 was Marketmore 80.

I also had good success with Marketmore 76, mainly because, like 80, it was very viney, and put down roots every couple feet along the ground. That was a natural barrier to the wilt, slowing it's spread dramatically.

Cucumbers need a lot of water and warmth, and with it can literally outgrow the bacterial wilt. However, on my farm I relied on mother nature for rain.

During droughts all the cukes suffered beetle damage, and I would resort to sprays. For years I used a pyrethrum/rotenone spray I think was called Red Devil which I couldn't get anymore at some point.

Then I switched to Sevin, which works great when timed right. The very best time to spray when possible is after a good rain around dusk, like after a thunderstorm. Next best, also at dusk, is after a very hot and sunny 90+ day.

thanks Barkeater..I'll try the Marketmores. We tried trapping the little critters last year..used yellow plastic cups with a little sevin in the bottom and cotton balls soaked in clove oil for bait, got quite a few but they still spread the wilt. You mentioned the vines rooting along the ground..we grow our cukes on a trellis..do you think it's better to let them sprawl?