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Old March 2, 2014   #1
kevn357
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Default County Fair Cuke or cuke beetle control to stop bacterial wilt??

I've tried to grow pickle cukes for the last two years in this region and the cuke beetle is apparently king here. Bacterial wilt kills everything in early August at the latest. They are just everywhere. I've tried different sprays like neem oil and then sevin, which did nothing but kill some friendly pollinators that are becoming very rare around here. I didn't see one honey bee all year and relied on boring bees to get the job done.

So I'm giving up on other cucurbits this year and really want to focus on a decent harvest of pickle cukes. Is County Fair a legit variety against bacterial wilt or am I doing some terribly wrong to need such a variety and giving up on cucurbits because of these darn swarms of yellow beetles?

Thanks for any replies!
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Old March 3, 2014   #2
Mark0820
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Sevin is the only product that works for me. Sevin allows me to grow both cucumbers and cantaloupe successfully. I use the powder when the plants are small and then switch to the spray as the vines get longer. The key is to spray in the evening after the bees have left for the day. The other key is to start early in the season applying the product.

From your post, I can't tell if you used Sevin for an entire season or if you used neem oil first, then switched to Sevin. If you tried neem oil first, it is possible the plants were already infected before you even started using the Sevin.
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Old March 3, 2014   #3
Riceloft
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kevn357 View Post
I've tried to grow pickle cukes for the last two years in this region and the cuke beetle is apparently king here. Bacterial wilt kills everything in early August at the latest. They are just everywhere. I've tried different sprays like neem oil and then sevin, which did nothing but kill some friendly pollinators that are becoming very rare around here. I didn't see one honey bee all year and relied on boring bees to get the job done.

So I'm giving up on other cucurbits this year and really want to focus on a decent harvest of pickle cukes. Is County Fair a legit variety against bacterial wilt or am I doing some terribly wrong to need such a variety and giving up on cucurbits because of these darn swarms of yellow beetles?

Thanks for any replies!
I also live in Parma. I did not grow cukes last year, but I did grow melons, and the only year I've had problems with Cucumber beetles was 2 seasons ago. Early on this past season I sprayed my melon plants 2x/ week with Ecosmart organic garden insect killer. This was done pre-emptively and I never saw a single cuke beetle. I tried to use neem to control them 2 seasons ago and was unsuccessful.

I'm hoping the extreme cold thinned out their numbers as I do plan to grow cukes again this year.

To add on, honey bees have indeed become VERY rare around here. The only place I see them in my yard is early in the season around a bush that I don't know the name of. The boring (carpenter) bees and some smaller pollinators are all we seem to have doing the work.

Last edited by Riceloft; March 3, 2014 at 06:50 AM.
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Old March 3, 2014   #4
tjg911
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yes county fair is THE cuke to grow.

like you my plants would die in the 2nd or 3rd week of august. i tried different varieties but when i found out what was causing the (BW) i grew county fair for several seasons and i now get TONS of cukes all summer. this past season my plants were producing into the final week of september which is very late. by the 2nd week in september the plants typically are dying. i suspect this is due to a weak sun and shorter shorter days.

i'm stubbornly organic and would never use sevin and there's no reason to, grow county fair and you'll be in pickle heaven. i use them as a slicer and they are great tho the skins are a bit tough and slightly bitter so i peel them. i don't like to peel them but it beats not having any to peel!

county fair is not easy to find, parks has them and i think a couple of other places but it is not found just anywhere unfortunately. there is another pickle i never tried that is supposed to be BW resistant that shumway sells. if you need more info let me know.

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Old March 3, 2014   #5
kevn357
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Originally Posted by Riceloft View Post
I also live in Parma. I did not grow cukes last year, but I did grow melons, and the only year I've had problems with Cucumber beetles was 2 seasons ago. Early on this past season I sprayed my melon plants 2x/ week with Ecosmart organic garden insect killer. This was done pre-emptively and I never saw a single cuke beetle. I tried to use neem to control them 2 seasons ago and was unsuccessful.

I'm hoping the extreme cold thinned out their numbers as I do plan to grow cukes again this year.

To add on, honey bees have indeed become VERY rare around here. The only place I see them in my yard is early in the season around a bush that I don't know the name of. The boring (carpenter) bees and some smaller pollinators are all we seem to have doing the work.
Hello neighbor! Thanks for the advice. I too am hoping this horrible weather will help thin them out. They were just everywhere last year. When I would spray my plants with anything they would swarm up off of the plants and they were everywhere. Now add in all of the mosquitoes that were living in there from the wet weather and clay soil combination and spraying became a nightmare of yellow swarms and blood suckers eating my face!

The carpenter bees which are annoying to say the least, constantly eating my deck and shed are my best friends in this ecosystem of my garden.
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Old March 3, 2014   #6
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Parks had free shipping today but I could not find County Fair there. Someone on another thread here said his seed source for County Fair did not have the correct seed. His source was not Parks. I ordered Diva instead at Parks, but maybe I should keep looking for County Fair if the bugs don't like it.
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Old March 4, 2014   #7
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Hello neighbor! Thanks for the advice. I too am hoping this horrible weather will help thin them out. They were just everywhere last year. When I would spray my plants with anything they would swarm up off of the plants and they were everywhere. Now add in all of the mosquitoes that were living in there from the wet weather and clay soil combination and spraying became a nightmare of yellow swarms and blood suckers eating my face!

The carpenter bees which are annoying to say the least, constantly eating my deck and shed are my best friends in this ecosystem of my garden.
Carpenter bees hate a fresh coat of stain or sealer. I've got some wood panels serving as a ceiling above my porch that they were chewing up. A coat of stain and they haven't touched it in 2 years. I'll probably need to toss another coat up this year, though.
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Old March 7, 2014   #8
kevn357
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Thanks for all of the replies! Does anyone know a good source for county fair? Actually does anyone know of a bad source! I heard some people were questioning if they had the right seeds in the past. Gourmetseed sells them pretty cheap but shipping is like $6 for a packet! And they don't have anything else I want.
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Old March 7, 2014   #9
tjg911
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park seeds

tom
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Old March 7, 2014   #10
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I grew County Fair cukes several years ago. Sent a bunch of my remaining seeds to a fellow TV member when I decided to grow only Diva and Sweet Success.

Reimers lists County Fair here:

http://www.reimerseeds.com/county-fair-cucumbers.aspx

Jung Seed also carries them:

http://www.jungseed.com/dp.asp?pID=02015&c=95

Raybo

Last edited by rnewste; March 7, 2014 at 11:19 PM.
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Old March 8, 2014   #11
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Earlier this week I found County Fair seeds at the local Walmart for $.89. Seed are from Home Farmer New seed company founded in 2012.
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Old March 8, 2014   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rnewste View Post
I grew County Fair cukes several years ago. Sent a bunch of my remaining seeds to a fellow TV member when I decided to grow only Diva and Sweet Success.

Reimers lists County Fair here:

http://www.reimerseeds.com/county-fair-cucumbers.aspx

Jung Seed also carries them:

http://www.jungseed.com/dp.asp?pID=02015&c=95

Raybo
and i'll bet that he is still using them!

tom
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Old March 14, 2014   #13
kevn357
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RayR View Post
Earlier this week I found County Fair seeds at the local Walmart for $.89. Seed are from Home Farmer New seed company founded in 2012.
Nice find. I just ran up to walmart and they had them. I'm kind of confused though. These seeds are listed as organic but the label says "early producing county fair hybrid variety". County fair is a hybrid variety and this one doesn't say anything about being resistant to bacterial wilt and the picture differs from a search on google images. I guess I should contact this company to further inquire about these seeds. If they are legit it would sure save me a lot of money compared to buying online and paying $9 for 90 seeds + $6 shipping!

tjg911, if you are still checking this thread, does the picture from RayR's link look like the ones you grow?

Thanks guys!
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