How to Get Rid of Cucumber Beetles

• Inspect newly planted cucurbit plants for the presence of this beetle; be watchful when plants are seedlings.
• Use yellow sticky traps to catch cucumber beetles.
• Knock beetles to the ground and catch them with a piece of cardboard placed under the plant. Or, use a handheld vacuum to suck up the beetles. They are very hard to hand pick, but it is easier to hand pick them with yellow gloves coated in petroleum jelly.
• Cover seedlings with row covers, though you must remove during blossoming time several hours each day to allow for pollination.
• Few insecticides can be used on cucurbit plants because they are very sensitive. They would need to be used when plants are just beginning to emerge through the soil. Please contact your local cooperative extension for a list of approved insecticides for your area.
• Folk advice from The 1963 Old Farmer’s Almanac states that nasturtiums and wood ashes are effective against cucumber beetles.

Spotted cucumber beetle. Credit: Shenandoah National Park.

How to Prevent Cucumber Beetles

• If you till your garden in the late fall, you will expose cucumber beetles hiding there to harsh winter conditions and reduce their populations next year. Remove all debris after fall harvest to reduce overwintering habitat.
• Rotate crops so cucurbit crops are not planted directly into soils containing overwintering populations.
• Transplanting young plants rather than direct seeding can protect vulnerable seedlings from damage.
• Planting trap crops (cucurbit varieties highly attractive to cucumber beetles) at the perimeter of the harvested crop can keep cucumber beetles from migrating into the harvested crop.
• Where cucumber beetles are a problem, let the beetles come out of hiding and plant late. They have a knack for finding vulnerable seedlings. When yours are up and growing, the cucumber beetles will be gone, fooled into thinking you don’t have any cucumbers in your garden.
• Natural predators include beneficial insects like braconid wasps, some nematodes, and soldier beetles.
• Companion planting can be helpful to keep pests away. Plant tansy to repel cucumber beetles.
• Once bacterial disease has entered the plant, there’s very little that you can do. If it’s bacterial wilt, you’ll see the leaves dry up and the plant will quickly wilt and die. Take prevention for next year, as described above.