Cucumber problems and much more

[Crazy Plant Man]

Hello everyone, I’ve been growing a garden for five years in a row now. I’ve started growing many new plants that I didn’t grow originally, and with those new plants comes many problems. My first problem is with my cucumbers. I found a new insect I’ve never seen before that seems to be a pest and I don’t know what it does. Also, some of my cucumber vines are splitting open and I don’t know why. Here are some pictures:

My next problem is with a golden bell pepper plant. It hasn’t grown as much as my other bell pepper plants and it’s leaves look weird. I want to know what is wrong with it so I prevent this from happening next year.

The next problem is with my Ichiban Japanese Eggplants. Flea Beetles have always been annoying little critters in my garden, but they never have done very much damage to my tomatos, peppers, and potatoes. However, they seem to absolutely love eggplants more than anything else. I’ve tried using a spray of 5 cups water, 2 cups rubbing alcohol, and a tablespoon of liquid soap, but it only repels them for about 20 minutes and then they are back on the plant. If anyone knows any other ways of getting rid of them, it would be greatly appreciated.

My next problem is with Japanese Beetles on my green beans. I would like a suggestion on how to kill them or get rid of them with a spray. I planted too many pole green bean plants because I have never planted them before, and it has made it harder to find the beetles.

My final problem is with my brandywine tomato plant. It has a disease and I’m not sure what kind it is. I have had problems with aphids for all my years of gardening, and this year is no different. I think that the aphids gave my plant a disease, because I made sure to give all my tomatoes good airflow and I put mulch down right after I planted them. It is incredibly frustrating having tomatoes that get diseases and aphids every year, even when I planted them 20 feet away the previous year.

 

[Chuck]

Hello everyone, I’ve been growing a garden for five years in a row now. I’ve started growing many new plants that I didn’t grow originally, and with those new plants comes many problems. My first problem is with my cucumbers. I found a new insect I’ve never seen before that seems to be a pest and I don’t know what it does. Also, some of my cucumber vines are splitting open and I don’t know why. Here are some pictures: View attachment 42254View attachment 42255 View attachment 42256 My next problem is with a golden bell pepper plant. It hasn’t grown as much as my other bell pepper plants and it’s leaves look weird. I want to know what is wrong with it so I prevent this from happening next year.View attachment 42257View attachment 42258 The next problem is with my Ichiban Japanese Eggplants. Flea Beetles have always been annoying little critters in my garden, but they never have done very much damage to my tomatos, peppers, and potatoes. However, they seem to absolutely love eggplants more than anything else. I’ve tried using a spray of 5 cups water, 2 cups rubbing alcohol, and a tablespoon of liquid soap, but it only repels them for about 20 minutes and then they are back on the plant. If anyone knows any other ways of getting rid of them, it would be greatly appreciated. View attachment 42259My next problem is with Japanese Beetles on my green beans. I would like a suggestion on how to kill them or get rid of them with a spray. I planted too many pole green bean plants because I have never planted them before, and it has made it harder to find the beetles.View attachment 42260View attachment 42261 My final problem is with my brandywine tomato plant. It has a disease and I’m not sure what kind it is. I have had problems with aphids for all my years of gardening, and this year is no different. I think that the aphids gave my plant a disease, because I made sure to give all my tomatoes good airflow and I put mulch down right after I planted them. It is incredibly frustrating having tomatoes that get diseases and aphids every year, even when I planted them 20 feet away the previous year.View attachment 42262

First & 2nd picture: Those are newly hatched stink bugs which will soon grow into real stink bugs which will ruin your fruit.
Third pic: Those little round balls are the eggs of more stink bugs.
Fourth pic: Looks weather related such as big changes in humidity or temperature.
Sixth - eighth picture: Beetle damag
Stink bugs when grown are extremely hard to get rid of but, when young like your's they are fairly easy. You still have some unhatched eggs, probably many many more than you realize. Use neem on the eggs. Use spinosad directly on the young. Spray about every 4 days with both for 3 weeks and that will fix the stink bugs.
Beetles are even harder to kill than stink bugs. I normally use spinosad for beetles but in your case you look to be about overrun with them so I recommend pyrethrin, not a pyrethroid. Pyrethrin is organic, believe it or not, and is VERY deadly on insects of ALL kinds if sprayed directly on them. It also has a slight residual effect that lasts a couple of days. Only use pyrethrin LATE in the day when your pollinators have left for the day or at night when the bad bugs really come out.
The last picture is early blight. If you start early in the season you can control it through harvest. The best you can do now is to remove all of the infected limbs and burn them. I know of no cure for this fungal disease, only preventative measures such as thick mulch and keeping the plant dry as possible. You can spray fungicides but I have not had any luck with that. I start early in the season by cutting off the lower limbs that droop down close to the soil and I keep a dusting of horticultural cornmeal around the base and on the plant itself. If I don't get a harvest it isn't because of early blight.

 

[Crazy Plant Man]

Thanks for all the info, I’m definitely going to buy pyrethrin

 

[Crazy Plant Man]

I have a question; will pyrethrin make my eggplants and green beans unsafe to eat?

 

[DirtMechanic]

I have a question; will pyrethrin make my eggplants and green beans unsafe to eat?

Bifenthrin is the man made version, more likely to be easy to come by, and the Alabama Extension Office has a publication that I have in front of me indicating 7 days wait on eggplant and 3 days on beans.

Although pyrethrin is listed, they do not indicate usage on eggplant or beans for aphid, colorado potato beetle, flea beetle, lacebug, spider mite, white fly,(all eggplant) or for mexican bean beetle, bean leaf beetle, corn earworm cowpea curculia or stink bug (beans and peas).

Whatever path you choose, the advice @Chuck gave is spot on about frequency of 4 days. You will lose the battle with the infected bite that shows no symptom for 2 weeks.

 

[Chuck]

I have a question; will pyrethrin make my eggplants and green beans unsafe to eat?

No it wont. pyrethrin breaks down quickly in sunlight and is safe for humans when applied to vegetables.

 

[Chuck]

Bifenthrin is the man made version, more likely to be easy to come by, and the Alabama Extension Office has a publication that I have in front of me indicating 7 days wait on eggplant and 3 days on beans.

Regular organic pyrethrin is safe, it is the man made chemical versions or pyrethroids that are not safe and Bifenthrin is one of the many pyrethroids.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I agree with @Chuck that they are poison. It is the hardest thing to find organic solutions and if you do, please share. Interestingly they list spinosad fir a number of beetle issues.

 

[Crazy Plant Man]

Ok, I’ll say if I find any

 

[Chuck]

Ok, I’ll say if I find any

It's on Amazon.

I agree with @Chuck that they are poison. It is the hardest thing to find organic solutions and if you do, please share. Interestingly they list spinosad fir a number of beetle issues.

I normally use spinosad for everything and it works great but CPM has a rather advanced beetle problem and needs immediate knockdown. I rarely ever recommend pyrethrin and only when circumstances demand it. The last time I used it was at least 10 years ago when I had a tremendous flea problem under and around my house.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

 

[DirtMechanic]

View attachment 42353

Esther I am shocked! And still laughing!