Cucumber beetle
February 25th, 2008 by Brianna
A spotted cucumber beetle enjoyed an apple blossom breakfast in the garden this morning:
According to some things I’ve found online about cucumber beetles, they can be very destructive, eating both ornamentals and edibles, and spreading nasty things such as bacterial wilt. Does anyone have suggestions for how to discourage them from dining in our garden? I’m looking for environmentally friendly solutions–maybe some kind of soap spray?
Or maybe now’s the time to get those chickens we keep talking about. I imagine that cucumber beetle larvae make tasty snacks for chickens.
Posted in insects
February 25th, 2008 at 5:06 pm CST
We have TONS of these in the summer here! I HATE ‘em! No words of advice, sorry!
Yarg, ok. Good luck with your own beetles, then.
-Brianna
February 25th, 2008 at 7:34 pm CST
I had them last year too. They seemed to really like my zinnias. I just catch and squish them or drop them in soapy water like I do the Japanese beetles.
Squishing is both low-tech and environmentally friendly, I suppose.
Thanks for the comment.
-Brianna
February 26th, 2008 at 1:37 am CST
I’ve had infestations before. I heard that beneficial nematodes will help get rid of them over the long-term. But I’ve done nothing, and nothing too bad ever happens. The lazy approach!
Good to know! Thanks for commenting.
-Brianna
February 26th, 2008 at 12:04 pm CST
The part that jumped out at me was “apple blossom”… you’re growing apples in Austin? Very interesting, Brianna!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
It was a surprise to us, too. Both the apple tree and the Clementine tree were planted by a previous owner of this property. I don’t have a clue about how to take care of either one. So far that hasn’t stopped the clementine. We’ll see how the apple does.
-Brianna
February 28th, 2008 at 8:45 pm CST
Sometimes the leftovers of previous owners turn out to be great surprises in our gardens! That’s a great shot of the beetle - it’s almost like he was posing there! Taunting you, most likely. I have no advice…maybe just water spray? The only thing I am really diligent about it the BT on my mountain laurels because they get destroyed if I don’t exercise a little control. I leave them alone on most of my other plants, Good luck!
I’ll admit that I thought the beetle was kind of cute when I shot this photo. I didn’t realize he was a pest until I got inside and ID-ed him with the help of the web web. If I had known, I might’ve composed the shot a little differently. Like I could’ve popped a macro tube on the camera and shot him super close, filling the frame, with nothing else for scale, so that he looked more like the menace he is. (Hyperbole, anyone?)
-Brianna