Bacterial wilt in cucumbers

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pepperhead212
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Bacterial wilt in cucumbers

#1

Post: # 12312Unread post pepperhead212
Sat Feb 29, 2020 12:44 am

I have had problems with this forever - eventually, every non-resistant variety would succumb, which meant that one or more of the varieties of cucumber beetles was present. The only resistant variety that I've had success with is County Fair; Little Leaf is another that is supposed to be resistant, but it did not produce well for me in two trials.

This year, I am trying another that I saw listed in a few sites about controlling bacterial wilt - Wisconsin SMR 58 - not because it is resistant to the wilt, but that it is supposedly resistant to the cucumber beetles! Maybe not as attractive to them in one aspect or another? Does anyone else have experience with this? I am going to plant them scattered around, in SIPs, to see if they do well.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

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brownrexx
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Re: Bacterial wilt in cucumbers

#2

Post: # 12334Unread post brownrexx
Sat Feb 29, 2020 8:51 am

It will be interesting to hear how SMR58 performs for you. As you know, I also grow County Fair because I go the idea from you! Before I grew County Fair, I could barely get my cukes to produce a handful of cucumbers before they died. Now, I still get cucumber beetles but the plants survive long enough to give me more than enough cucumbers before they eventually die.

friedgreen51
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Re: Bacterial wilt in cucumbers

#3

Post: # 19561Unread post friedgreen51
Sun May 10, 2020 8:12 am

I grow Wisconsin SMR58 every year. I like to make pickles and it is a great pickling cucumber. It is Monoecious so a good one to plant with all the Gynoecious hybrids. For me it is a vigorous heavy yielding plant with large leaves. As far as the cucumber beetle I have observed that it seems to stand up better to the beetles, thus less bacterial wilt. I do sprinkle Diatomaceous earth around all my plants and on the leaves. Heavy mulching with wheat straw helps protect plants as it is harder for the female beetle to lay eggs near a plant this is heavily mulched.

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Labradors
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Re: Bacterial wilt in cucumbers

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Post: # 19565Unread post Labradors
Sun May 10, 2020 8:53 am

I used to be able to grow wonderful cucumbers - until the cuke beetles found us. I grow Green Fingers which was so heavily infested in 2018 that I was surprised that the plants didn't wilt. The problem was that they caused so much damage by nibbling the plants and the cukes that the cukes were unusable and the plants stopped producing.

I keep looking for answers because growing under cover (as I did last year) is SUCH a pain and takes all the fun out of growing them. I read that they should be planted out later i.e. June 15 so that the beetles will cruise around and figure that there are no cukes around, so will go somewhere else to dine! I have used D.E. around the roots in previous years and I think it helped because a neighbor had beetle problems when I didn't - or maybe it was just luck. I'll be growing nasturtiums with my cukes this year because I have read that they can be a deterrent.

I will try the mulching too Friedgreen ;).

Linda

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pepperhead212
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Re: Bacterial wilt in cucumbers

#5

Post: # 19579Unread post pepperhead212
Sun May 10, 2020 10:18 am

Linda,

Something that you might want to try to keep a lot of those beetles off the cukes is Surround. It works much better than DE, as it sticks, even in light rain, though it has to be sprayed frequently, due to new growth, and you have to be sure to spray the undersides of the leaves.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

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Labradors
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Re: Bacterial wilt in cucumbers

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Post: # 19590Unread post Labradors
Sun May 10, 2020 11:21 am

I would love to try "Surround" if I could find it here in Canada. At least the DE might help with any beetles hatching out of the ground.....

Linda

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MissS
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Re: Bacterial wilt in cucumbers

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Post: # 19620Unread post MissS
Sun May 10, 2020 3:46 pm

Thanks so much for the information on Wisconsin SMR58. I just picked up some seeds for it yesterday and was not sure that I was going to grow it this year or not. This is my first year growing at a community garden so I do expect that I will be plagued with some disease issues over there. In fact it has been a worry for me. I think that I will grow both Wisconsin SMR58 and County Fair and see how they do over there.
~ Patti ~

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