So there's been some problems with the cucumbers already this year. To a gardener, this isn't normally a surprise - cucumbers have a lot of issues, and it's usually pest related. What you're probably noticing at first is a nice big healthy cucumber, and maybe you're even noticing the immature one still developing, right? But do you see the two sinful acts going on?
Zooming in a bit more you can get hints of one of them happening...
Here - check it out (or avert your eyes if you're offended by X-rated blog postings!)
That poor floor is the bed of love for a couple cucumber beetles going at it. And see all the holes in the petals? Yup, the beetles did that too! AND they suck the life-juices of out the veins of the cucumber. These little critters are often infected with a virus that is then transferred over to the cucumber plant. No, it doesn't cause any risk for you, but what it CAN do is kill a cucumber plant in just a few days. What I SHOULD have taken a picture of was the whole cucumber trellis, including the two vines that had every leaf on them wilted. They were dead or dying, and it happened fast...so I yanked 'em out. I've tucked more cucumber seeds in the soil all around the bed, so hopefully we'll have staggered production of cukes, and maybe they'll outlast the breeding cycle of the beetles. Cross your fingers!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Ack! No! Not the evil striped cucumber beetle! Bastards. Good job catching them in the act. They should be ashamed.
They're KILLING my cukes!! How'm I supposed to be "organic" when picking them off individually is physically impossible, and the organic stuff I've done so far just has them parading around humming "Singing in the rain", splashing in the stinky stuff without it doing any harm!?
Post a Comment