This is the effect of bacterial wilt on cucumber. It is a disease spread by biting insects like cucumber beetles. In addition to cucumbers, summer squash and melons are highly susceptible. The only effective way to deal with this problem is a continuous replant. The idea is to be replanting a fresh crop every two to three weeks. That's a lot of extra work. Sadly, organic methods to control the cucumber beetles (and therefore the diseases they spread) are largely non-effective - especially in the numbers that are present on this farm. 'Surround' kaolin clay will work when the plants are young - but it can't be used once the plants begin to flower. And sticky traps don't work. I've seen the cucumber beetles 'swim' right out of them. Bacterial wilt is a huge problem for organic growers in the midwest.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Bacterial Wilt
This is the effect of bacterial wilt on cucumber. It is a disease spread by biting insects like cucumber beetles. In addition to cucumbers, summer squash and melons are highly susceptible. The only effective way to deal with this problem is a continuous replant. The idea is to be replanting a fresh crop every two to three weeks. That's a lot of extra work. Sadly, organic methods to control the cucumber beetles (and therefore the diseases they spread) are largely non-effective - especially in the numbers that are present on this farm. 'Surround' kaolin clay will work when the plants are young - but it can't be used once the plants begin to flower. And sticky traps don't work. I've seen the cucumber beetles 'swim' right out of them. Bacterial wilt is a huge problem for organic growers in the midwest.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment