How to Get Rid of Cucumber Beetles
Are cucumber beetles destroying your squash and cucumber plants? You’re not alone. This year, the striped cucumber beetles are having their way with my cucurbits and I’ve had enough. Today I’m going to show you how to get rid of cucumber beetles once and for all!
Check out how I took care of my Cucumber Beetle problem on YouTube!
Identifying Cucumber Beetles
Cucumber beetles are particularly troublesome pests that thrive on plants in the cucurbit family including squash, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, and watermelons.
There are several types of cucumber beetles but the most common culprits are the spotted and striped cucumber beetles. They are easily identifiable by their yellow color and black spots or stripes.
Cucumber beetles have a lifespan of about 8 weeks and are especially active in the springtime when the stems and leaves of the plants are young and tender.
They also love to congregate in the orange-yellow blossoms of cucurbits. Check out all the beetles in this one blossom!
How to Get Rid of Cucumber Beetles
There are several steps you can take to get rid of cucumber beetles. These are the methods I’ve tried and how well they’ve worked for me.
Method 1- Manual Extraction
The first you can do is manually pick every beetle off your plants and squash them like the bug that they are.
The problem with this method is you will undoubtedly miss some beetles because of how tiny they are, not to mention that more will just fly in as soon as you turn your back.
Method 2- Neem Oil
The second way to help improve your cucumber beetle problem is to use an insecticide such as neem oil extract. Neem oil is a naturally occurring pesticide found in the seeds of the neem tree.
It’s extracted and diluted into a foliar spray and used as a natural insecticide/ fungicide in organic gardening. It repels insects with its bitter taste and garlicky smell.
(Absolutely no judgement if you want to use a synthetic insecticide, I just can’t give you a good recommendation for it.)
After treating my squash and cucumbers with neem oil, I’ve definitely noticed a decrease in the amount of beetles in my plants. I will say though that it hasn’t completely taken care of the problem.
Other Uses For Neem Oil
I also use neem oil as an anthracnose treatment for my cucurbits. To learn more about how to treat anthracnose, check out THIS ARTICLE!
Method 3- Cucumber Beetle Trap
The most effective means of getting rid of cucumber beetles is to set up a cucumber beetle trap with a lure. There are plenty of DIY tutorials on how to make your own traps and most of them call for yellow solo cups and some sort of adhesive.
Bou can honestly buy a pre-made trap for the same price and a fraction the work, which is what I did.
This trap was super easy to set up. It’s yellow to mimic the color of squash and cucumber blossoms and comes with a sweet smelling lure to draw them in.
All you need to do is peel the piece of yellow plastic apart and flip it inside out to reveal the sticky surface.
Next, you place the sweet smelling lure in the middle, and hang it near your garden.
After 1 Hour of Hanging the Trap:
After only one hour of hanging the cucumber beetle trap, there were already a few beetles stuck to it!
After 24 Hours of Hanging the Trap:
After only one day of setting up my cucumber beetle trap, there were already 25 beetles stuck to it. This thing really works!
Conclusion
After testing out this cucumber beetle trap, I can honestly say it’s by far the most effective method to get rid of cucumber beetles in the garden. As you can see, it’s both highly effective at catching beetles and it’s super easy to set up.
I would recommend buying one online or at your local garden center if you can find one, but if you decide to make your own I’d love to see what you come up with!
For any questions of comments about pest control in your garden, make sure to reach out below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Happy Gardening,
Cody
Thistle Downs Farm