After a cold wet early spring followed by a cold dry late spring and cold wet early summer, we finally got some seasonally warm temps. As soon as thermometer hit 80 degrees, the darned cucumber beetles came out in droves!
Yesterday I got the new Rodale book that shows how to encourage beneficials, deal with pests, treat for diseases etc. It recommends a spray of canola oil, liquid soap and water. I'll let you know how it works.
striped cucumber beetles
Well, it DID work, well, too! I haven't had a cucumber beetle problem all summer. I kept a peanutbutter jar full of the soap and oil mixture, and a spray bottle full of it too next to the cukes and squash plants. For about two weeks I sprayed and hand picked and I haven't seen one since mid-july! Yipee for organics!
Thanks for the tip! ;)
I've seen Canola oil in quite a few remedies lately.
This message was edited Oct 26, 2004 7:03 AM
thanks leisurlee, i will use this info next year. The cucumber beetles are all over on the wild gourds right now too. So maybew tomorrow I will try this.
My grandma used to sprinkle them with plain old flour...gummed them up and they couldn't get clean. She didn't know anything about Organic....just didn't have much access to chemicals.
I understand the purpose of water and soap, but what is the purpose of canola oil? Is there something special about canola oil or will any cooking oil work?
I'm not sure what the purpose of the Canola oil is. I think it may just be to get the stuff to stick to the plants better. I bet any kind of vegetable oil would work. What I like about Canola Oil is that it's cheap and doesn't have much of an odor.
Oil sprays are not new. The oil coats the insect with a film of oil which smothers it. As long as 50 years ago Volk oil was used as a dormant spray on all fruit trees and is still used today. The problem with this oil was that if used after the trees leafed out it would burn the foilage. In recent years lighter thinner oils have been developed and are quite normally used in organic spray programs. The use of vegatable oils offers the same principle but are not quite as effective as a good fine or summer oil. Any oil should not be sprayed on a plant during temps above 85 degrees.
George
leisurlee, could you please post the amount of each ingredient - I would like to try this next year, as cucumber beetles are a constant problem here all summer.
Thanks! Alice S.
leisurlee - thanks - what is the name of that book?
Boy, I can tell it's winter! I don't look at this site often enough.
AlicemayS, here's the recipe: 1 cup vgetable oil, 1 tablespoon liquid soap (I used liquid dish soap. the book says not to use detergent). Mix them well and store in a glass container. When you are ready to use, mix 1 tbsp of the mixture with a quart of water. I also added some garlic juice to the mix because I've always had good luck with it. Hope it works for you.
Roxroe, the book is called Insect, Disease and Weed ID Guide. Jill Jesiolowski Cebenko and Deborah L Martin, Editors. It's published by Rodale.
Happy winter to you all. Here's to the coming spring.
thanks
The herb, tansy, is said to repel cucumber beetles and squash bugs. I've ordered some seeds to try this year. Tansy has long been planted near kitchen doors to keep ants away.
Yuska, How cool! Great information. I'll plant and transplant some this spring. Thanks for the tip.
LL
I grew Tansy for 2 seasons and it didn't repel anything for me. When it blooms it stinks like dog poop too! I was working in my bed wondering where that smell was coming from since we don't have a dog.