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Vegetable Gardening

My nemesis has returned

14 years ago

Last week I spotted and squashed only a few cucumber beetles, but this week there has been a veritable explosion. I would guess I squashed about 40 or so in just a 15 minute patrol. The melons have been growing nicely under cover, but the first flowers started and I had to remove the cover. BAM! It's like I put out a harvest table full of chicken wings at a tailgate party! And unfortunately they aren't slow and docile like the Colorado Potato beetles. The only time to get them easily is when they are busy breeding.

To add further frustration, the first signs of squash bugs have appeared as well.

Wow, I think this will be the year of the bug!

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Comment (1)

opal52
14 years ago
We had a really mild winter. Pickleworms showed up on our cucumbers before the end of May. We had them once before but not until August. So I just gave up and decided to buy cucumbers at our local farmers market rather than fight the bugs this year. Strange pests are showing up on our basil (not aphids or white flies). Haven't seen them in the past and have no idea what they are. Today, I saw ants attempting to start farming aphids on our Tarragon. Tarragon is supposed to be fairly pest free so the ants must be getting desperate. Probably from competition with all the other bugs showing up early out there. Things are getting a little weird.
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