What products are available in Canada that kill cucumber beetles at their larval stage?
I’d like to kill them before they emerge from the ground.
Thank you!!
We do not recommend insecticides, so suggest you focus on defeating the adults.
You can order Cucumber Beetles lures and traps, which attract the adults so that you can then dispose of them. You can also use the “pick and squish” method, early in the evening, which although messy, is most effective. If there are large numbers, you can swoop them up with a portable vacuum. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs recommends that method most strongly.
Next year, you might also consider planting your cucumbers later in the season. The first generation of adult beetles (generally the most damaging) emerge in mid-June to early July. If you seed your cucumbers indoors and transplant them into the garden in mid- or late July, you may avoid the problem.
Consider also, using floating row covers over the young seedlings, which must be removed when the plants flower
The beetles’ lethal damage to cucumbers is primarily through the transmission of bacterial wilt disease (Erwinia tracheiphila).
Management practices to deter cucumber beetles and prevent the spread of bacterial wilt include disposing of infected plant material in the garbage and not your garden compost. Rotate cucumber plants to a new area of the garden each season – try to leave 3-4 years between the use of the same space if possible. There are good compact, container-friendly cucumber varieties available if you feel you want to give the garden soil a break and grow in pots for a season or two.
June 5, 2022