Cucumber beetles are the nemesis of many gardeners. These flying beetles come in masses, take over cucumber plants, and without proper management, they will stop you from getting any harvests at all!
What are Cucumber Beetles?
There are two different types of cucumber beetles; the spotted cucumber beetle and the striped cucumber beetle. Here in Canada the most common is the striped cucumber beetle. These beetles are attracted to cucurbits, and eat the leaves, stems and flowers of plants.
How to Identify Cucumber Beetles & Their Damage
The most common cucumber beetle you will see is the striped beetle which is a yellow beetle with black stripes. The other type is the spotted beetle which is a yellow beetle with black spots. They are small, around 5mm in size, and fly which makes them hard to catch.
Cucumber beetles eat the leaves and stems, creating holes in the leaves. They also feed on the roots and can transmit bacterial wilt. The biggest damage that they do is eating the flowers of the plants, as it blocks any chances of pollination, leaving you with no fruit on your plant.
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Commonly Affected Plants
Cucumber beetles are attracted to cucurbits such as zucchini, squash and cucumbers. However, they are most attracted to cucumbers and do the most damage to these plants.
Life Cycle of Cucumber Beetles
Cucumber beetles life cycle is 8 weeks, and adults come in two cycles each year. The female beetles lay eggs in the soil near the cucurbit plants, and these larvae feed on the roots of the plant. The first set of adult beetles emerge in June, where they will eat young cucurbit plants. They then lay eggs, and a second generation emerges in September.
How to Control Cucumber Beetles
Cucumber beetles are a difficult pest to control because they lay their eggs in the soil, and adults can also hide in the soil, if needed. Often times, the easiest way to manage pests is by removing the eggs from the plant, however you can’t do that with cucumber beetles.
Remove Cucumber Beetles from the Plant
The main way to deal with cucumber beetles is to remove them from the plant. You can either pinch them on the plant and crush them, or you can pick them off and drop them into a bowl of soapy water.
Because cucumber beetles fly, and quickly, you have to be fast with picking them off the plant. The two ways we’ve found success is by putting the soap bowl under the leaf and smacking the leaf so the beetle falls off of it into the bowl. The second is by using Vaseline and a stick and catching the beetles on the jelly (shown in the photo above). This method is good for beetles that are on flowers and are harder to reach.
When checking for beetles, make sure to look inside closed flowers as they often are found inside of the flowers.
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Plant Later
Since the first generation of cucumber beetles emerge in June, you can attempt to avoid the largest populations by planting your cucumbers later in the spring. Planting seedlings in mid-June may help with the fight against these pests.
Other Methods
There are a few other methods you can try in order to reduce the pressure. The first is putting insect netting over your cucumber plants from the time of planting until the first blooms open. You will have to remove it once the flowers open to allow for pollination, however it gives your plants a chance to grow and gain strength.
The second is Kaolin clay. This is a recent method that is being tested. Kaolin clay is used often for cosmetic purposes, however you can try and add it to water and spray it on the leaves. You want it to be at a consistency where the leaves look like they are covered in the clay. Be mindful that when it rains, or if you water the leaves, that the clay will wash off.
The third option is to use a small, hand-held vacuum to suck them up and drop them in soapy water away from your plants. If you choose to do this option, be very careful that you are only targeting cucumber beetles and not accidently sucking up any pollinators.
Finally, you can attempt to make cucumber beetle traps, however we don’t recommend doing this. Some websites suggest using something yellow, like a bowl, and covering it in vaseline or another sticky substances, however you will catch bees and other pollinators at the same time. So if this was something you thought about trying, we recommend trying one of the other options above instead.
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How to Prevent Cucumber Beetles in the Future
A great question is: “how do I get rid of cucumber beetles?”, but the reality is: you can’t. Unfortunately they are a major pest in agriculture, are native to the area and are very good at what they do. So the best you can do is mitigate the damage.
Since adults lay eggs in the soil where the cucurbits are planted, you can plant in a new spot each season. However, the larvae do minimal damage in comparison to the adults, and since the adults can fly they will be able to locate your cucumbers since most home gardens are quite small.
We recommend planting later in the season and covering your plants with insect netting to help lower the populations, and reduce the damage. And after that, prepare to give some time and energy into picking the beetles off your plants.
