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This year we have a moderate stripped and spotted cucumber beetle
infestation. They are voracious, and devestate small plants, especially
beans. I've used insecticidal soap, but it only kills the ones it comes in
contact with. I tried some canola based spray, but it likewise only kills
the ones it comes in contact with. I pinch them when I see them, but they
are everywhere. I used Bug-B-Gone, which coats the leaves with poison, and
that worked good but you have to wonder where the poison residues are
going. Also, with the warm weather we have been having, my garden has
exploded into a jungle, and it's just not feasible to use any kind of
toxic spray on all of the things I have that they like to eat. They eat
sunflowers, beans, squash, okra, cucumbers, they especially love young
pumpkin plants, and tomatillos, and I have a lot of all of those. How else
can these be safely controlled on such a large scale?


I'm not sure if cucumber beetles are tougher gangsters than Japanese
beetles, but last year, I got rid of the latter using garlic & cayenne
spray, home made. One day, the Japanese beetles were decimating my grape
vines. The next day, they were gone. Never saw them again. I did not
research their life cycle, so I can't say whether they would've been gone
without my spraying. Just reporting what I saw.