The Great Cucumber Beetle War

    In a recent interview with Amy Dacyczyn I read that she is currently recommending 3 activities for Tightwads today. They are:

1) Trash picking
2) Wearing 2nd hand clothes
3) Serious gardening

    Well, I am seriously trying to garden. We have a plot in a community garden. I ordered seed online and grew them by hand in my kitchen window. I took my sweet little unsuspecting plants out into the garden only to be eaten to the ground in one day by my enemy and great nemesis -

            the Stripped Cucumber Beetle. 


    I lost 9 plants in 4 days. Sad. This is a merciless pest that travels in groups. 20- 30 will descend on a small 4 inch plant and eat it down into the roots in a day. Horrible. Here is how the war went.


Day 1- I pulled out the cursed plants and captured a few beetles in an old water bottle. I went to a local Garden Center and asked for advice. I told them that I had only been an organic gardener and have had less and less success each year. I wanted to kill this bug any way known to man. I took the beetle attack personally. You don't grow plants from seed and take it lightly when they are demolished. They recommended Malathion. I followed their directions.

Day 2- More dead plants. The beetles cared not one whit about Malathion. They had continued to munch away all night. I thought that maybe Malathion needed more time. I was concerned that the plants would all be dead by then. I read in several sources that these beetles do not like oregano and lemon balm. I filled my home with meniacal laughter and made my children worry. They said things like, "Your really excited about this aren't you?". Oh yes I was. I have a backyard filled with crazy run away plants of both oregano and lemon balm. I could be a herb farmer with all that I have growing. I dug up two flats worth of these plants- hardly even making a dent in my supply- and planted them out at the community garden. I planted them here there and everywhere. I wanted to make that beetle feel as unwelcome as possible.

Day 3- Despite all of my meniacal laughter it was the beetles who were laughing today. I think that companion planting wasn't close enough to drive away the pests. It seemed to work almost as a road map for the beetles. Perhaps I should have actually made a spray and sprayed the plants or even just lay cut stems around the plant. I don't know if it matters but I did notice a shift from the stripped beetle to the spotted beetle. Anyway my friend was there with Sevin spray and sprayed my plants for me.

Day 4- Discouraged I went to the Hardware store to buy Okra. I thought that this horrible beetle must be one of the reasons squash isn't popular in the south. At least I know Okra will grow here. Of course no one at my house knows how to eat or cook it or really likes it or wants to like it. I didn't care any more I just wanted something to grow. Believe it or not all of the Okra plants were sold out!? The watermelons and cantaloupes taunted me and I bought some more. I went out to the garden and low and behold I discovered that I had won the war!!Yippee! No more dead plants! I even found a few dead beetles and danced upon their grave. My children were again concerned. These beetles really bring out the worse in me. We will see if there are any more battles. They are a formable foe. What finally killed them? Was it the Sevin? Was it all of the above? I don't know but it just rained so the sprays have probably washed off. Let the games begin!

Am I really saving money doing this? Time will only tell.