"mleblanca" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jul 15, 9:35 am, JP wrote:
It was cucumber beetles that made me stop using insecticides in my
garden. I had cucumber beetles so bad they were eating the silk on my
corn. I waited until close to sundown so that I wouldn't spray any bees
and covered the whole garden in Sevin. The next morning all the cucumber
beetles were dead, along with lady bugs and just about anything else
that got caught in my fumigation.

After vowing never to do that again, I stumbled across a way to get
cucumbers without the beetles. It isn't something that you can try right
away though. My ex-wife's grandparents lived three doors away from us.
They also had a garden, and I would go down and help them out every few
days. I noticed one day that while I had cucumber beetles on my plants,
they had none. I don't know what the difference was, but over a space of
maybe 100 yards, there were no beetles to be found on their cucumbers.
So I quit growing them in my garden and grew extra in theirs.

Check with your neighbors. Maybe someone is growing cucumbers without
beetles. If so, see what they have problems growing. Maybe you can grow
a bit extra of what they can't in trade for them growing extra cucumbers
for you. At the very least, you will have made a new friend who has
something in common with you...gardening.


What a great post. Someone who learned from his/her mistake and
came up with a terrific solution that benefits all, including the
insects! Thanks for letting us know of your experience, JP.
( you made my day)
Emilie


I agree, it's a great idea. I need to find some neighbors that like
tomatillos, I still have a hundred or so growing here and there...