Greetings fellow steemers,
What a fantastic summer we are having up here in New England. For the most part, the garden is doing fantastic. However, my cucurbits are under attack! Stripped cucumber beetles have invaded my squash, cucumbers, and cantaloupes, and have begun feasting.
I sprayed the plants with neem oil, and that has seemed to help a lot, however the beetles still love to gather in the flowers of the plants no matter how much neem I spray. I am not too concerned with the eating damage as the plants are large and healthy and can handle some defoliage. However, I am very concerned about bacterial wilt, which is transmitted by these little buggers. Does anyone have any advice as to how to keep the beetles out of the flowers? Also, are there any early signs of bacterial wilt I should look out for?
On a different note, I have also noticed a few squash bugs starting to appear. Will the neem work against these guys too? If not, what can I do as protection against them?
Comments and advice are greatly appreciated!
Im dealing with a similar issue. Im growing asparagus and have asparagus bettles. I just ordered 150 live lady bugs through amazon. Well see how they work!
I can't help with the cucumber beetles, but on the asparagus beetles, I've had a lot of luck hand picking the beetles and spraying the larvae with insecticidal soap. They were really bad last year. Caught them early this year and they haven't really been an issue.
My local garden store has some lady bugs and I thought about purchasing some, although there seems to be no shortage of lady bugs around here come fall time when they are all on my ceiling!
Also, I thought about growing asparagus but do not know the first thing about it. Is it an easy crop? Is it suitable for New England weather or does it need somewhere more hot/cold?
I'm in Wisconsin and it grows well here, so I would assume you'd be fine! You only plant once and the crows grow for years. The only issue is you have to wait a year or two before harvesting.
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