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Hardwick, NJ

Severe damage to plants here in northern NJ due to cucumber beetles. After two days of damage to the plants- when I wasn't watching - I sprayed young plants with seven insecticide. It seems to have slowed down but not eradicated the beetles. How often can I spray the seven? How much damage can the plant sustain before its time to cull and start anew? I have seen these beetles in past yrs but never in numbers like this....

5/31/2015 10:07:28 AM

Bethlehem CT

Sorry to hear about your plants. The plants can take lots of damage before they are done for, the problem is that the beetles can spread bacterial wilt readily to the young plants. So you want to try and keep them under control. (it might not be a bad idea to throw in a few back ups just in case.) As far as how often to apply, follow the label. I would use something other than sevin that is easier on the plant and has a longer residual to keep the bugs away. Cucumber beetles are voracious and I have been caught by them too. Make a mental note and next year, you will be ready.

5/31/2015 10:29:25 AM

Glen Echo, MD

I had an absolutely insane attack of striped cucumber beetles this year. I came out one morning and there were so many beetles on one plant it was hard to see the leaves. I sprayed Sevin every other day and was able to eradicate them. There are literally piles of dead beetles beneath the plants. The Sevin burned the leaves but applying every other day was the only way to control them. The strange thing is they suddenly stopped appearing and I stopped spraying. Now gearing up for SVB...

6/1/2015 6:14:44 PM

East Jordan, MI

It's important to clean up at the end of the year. Cucumber beetles over winter (hibernate) in wooded, bushy areas, crawling under litter. Breaking the life cycle is important or you will have more and more year after year. Below is an extract from this article:

http://www.americangourdsociety.org/FAQ/cucumber_beetle.html

Life Cycle and Habits of cucumber beetles.

Adult beetles overwinter and leave Their hibernating quarters in the spring when temperatures reach 65 degrees F or more. When cultivated cucurbit plants begin to emerge through the soil surface, large numbers of beetles may suddenly appear and feed on the seedlings or crawl into soil cracks in reach of sprouting seed. Beetles soon mate and continue feeding throughout the season. Eggs are laid 8-25 days after mating. Females deposit 225-800 in small clusters or singly into soil cracks at the base of cucurbit plants.

Eggs hatch 5-8 days later, with larvae spending about 15 days feeding on the roots and stems of fruit that is in contact with the soil. The pupal period is 6-7 days. The time from egg to adult for The first generation of beetles requires about 1 month and slightly longer for succeeding generations.

After cucurbit plants mature and cool autumn weather approaches, beetles migrate to wooded, bushy areas, crawling under litter to overwinter. Some may overwinter a mile from the hatching site. In Ohio, only 1 generation occurs while 2 or more generations may be produced in the Gulf states.

6/1/2015 7:46:13 PM

Hardwick, NJ

Huge thank you for info

6/1/2015 9:02:28 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

This is very strange, we have not seen a single cucumber beetle here in eastern PA so far this year. But apparently they have our fort surrounded lol. Time to break out the Merit and Bifenthrin I suppose.

6/2/2015 1:25:35 PM

South Hero, VT

After I switched from Sevin over to Merit and Talstar, I had no cuke beetle problems.

Sevin doesn't do the job it used to. I'm not even sure if it has a place in a rotation of insecticides.

6/2/2015 1:46:57 PM

Vermont

I was using seven at the start of the season and it really doesn't work to well on cucumber beetles, I contacted a few great guys on this site (steve & john) and got some great advice about merit and talstar, I applied it last week for the first time, the beetles are all gone! Thanks guys!!!

6/8/2015 12:40:57 PM

Glen Echo, MD

What dilution ratio are you using for Merit and how often do you apply? I'm using Merit 75 WP 1/4 tsp per gallon but it had no effect on cuke beetles

How often do you apply talstar?

6/14/2015 12:38:17 PM