When I first plant my cucumbers in the Spring, I plant them in hills consisting of four to five cucumber seeds in a one foot circle. I also plant three to five radish seeds in the middle of the circle. Since the radishes will appear first it will help to control the cucumber beetle.
When I transplant my cucumber plants to the garden in early May, I use walls of water to protect the cucumber plants from the cold temperatures and the cucumber beetle.
By the second week in June, my cucumber plants have grown over the top of the walls of water and the danger of frost has gone by.
As I remove the walls of water, I replace them with a tomato wire hoop to support the cucumber plant upright. I then apply a foot of leaves around the plant for additional support as well as a mixture of hard wood ashes and horticultural lime.
This mixture consists of 50% hard wood ashes and 50% horticultural lime. The hard wood ashes have been filtered through a screen so all that remains is the fine dust.
This fine dust from the wood ashes is mixed together with the horticultural lime. I then apply a light dusting of this mixture on and around the cucumber plants with a hand pump.
I do this hand dusting in the early morning while the dew is still on the plants. This way the dust sticks to the leaves of the plants. You’ll want to apply this dust mixture again after it rains as well as to the new plants when the leaves first come up through the soil.
Additionally, I’ll put grass clippings close and around the cucumber plants. This will stop or limit the cucumber beetle from laying its eggs in the soil, at the base of each plant.
If the cucumber beetle has a chance to lay its eggs, these eggs will hatch and the larva or worm will eat the roots of the cucumber plant. This is enough to stop the growth or kill the cucumber plant at the beginning of the growing season.
You may consider planting your cucumber plants at different times of the growing season and in different locations. This will confuse the cucumber beetle and it will allow you to have a lot of cucumbers. I’ve used this approach when planting cucumbers and it has worked very well.
By following these methods of mulching, planting in different locations and at different times of the growing season along with using walls of water and a mixture of hard wood ashes and horticultural lime; you’ll be able to effectively reduce the damage to your cucumber plants from the cucumber beetle and you’ll have more cucumbers.
