What is eating my cucumber plants at night?

Cucumber beetles are nasty little pests that attack cucumbers and related plants (squash, melons, pumpkins) throughout the growing season. The beetles look like 1/4-inch-long insects that are yellow-green in color with a series of black stripes or spots.

What animal is eating my cucumber plants at night?

Rabbits, Voles, Woodchucks, Deer, Chipmunks, Squirrels. All eat leaves or fruits of plants in vegetable gardens.

What eats the leaves off of cucumber plants?

Identifying Cucumber Beetle Damage

Adults feed on leaves and can stunt plant growth. Look for holes and yellowing and wilting leaves. Feeding on flowers can reduce fruit production, and direct feeding on fruits causes unattractive scars and pock marks on the fruit, too.

What is destroying my cucumber plants?

Cucumber Beetle Damage

While there is some damage from this to the plants, the real reason that cucumber beetle control is important to a garden is because cucumber beetles are carriers of cucumber bacterial wilt and cucumber mosaic, which affects squash, melons, and cucumbers. They affect cucumbers the most.

Why do my cucumber plants have holes in the leaves?

The most common cause of holes in cucumber leaves is the striped and the spotted cucumber beetle. The adult beetles mainly feed on the leaves, leaving irregularly shaped holes. Other causes of holes in cucumber leaves are anthracnose, angular leaf spot disease, and scab.

Who’s Been Eating my Seedlings?

What kills cucumber beetles naturally?

Diatomaceous earth works so well to keep cucumber beetles out of our garden! Diatomaceous earth is a non-toxic powder that makes an excellent pest control for your garden. Diatomaceous earth is a fine powder that is made from ground up fossils of diatoms a type of algae with a hard shell.

What does cucumber beetle look like?

Adult spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi) Similar in size, shape and color. Instead of stripes, this beetle has 12 black spots on its wing covers.

What type of bugs eat cucumber plants?

What can I spray on cucumber beetles?

A combination of pyrethrin insecticides and neem can effectively manage cucumber beetle, though you will likely need to apply more than once. Pyrethrins are contact insecticides that will kill most insects, including beneficials, so take care to apply either early or later in the day.

What is eating my seedlings at night?

There are several possibilities for the damage you see, most likely either snails, slugs, earwigs or birds. Soil and plant moisture levels from all the rain we've had right now favor the likelihood of snail, slug or earwig. These pests are night feeders.

Do slugs eat cucumber plants?

Once a squash or cucumber plant is several inches tall and has developed their first few true leaves, it is less susceptible to snail and slug predation. Try to remove as many hiding places as possible. They like to shelter under pots, boards, logs, and inside ice plant and other ground covers.

Will squirrels eat cucumber plants?

Missing or damaged crops in the garden is also a key sign of squirrels. Often, squirrels will steal ripening fruits and vegetables to snack on, especially soft and juicy produce such as squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and melons. Frustratingly, they often don't even eat the entire thing!

What is cutting my plants at night?

The larvae are called cutworms because they cut down young plants as they feed on stems at or below the soil surface. Cutworms feed mainly at night, and they coil up to rest during the day in the soil. Some gardeners will go out at night with flashlights to check for cutworms working above ground.

What's eating my plants at night?

Wildlife that feed at night include rabbits, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, voles, woodchucks, groundhogs, and skunks. They do a lot of damage. But so do insects. Nighttime feeding insects include caterpillars, Mexican bean beetles, flea beetles, Japanese beetles, the tarnished plant bug, and slugs.

What eats holes in cucumbers?

Pickleworms. Lastly, pickleworms may be the cause of cucumbers with holes. Pickleworms attack most cucurbits — cucumbers, cantaloupes, summer squash, and pumpkins may all be severely damaged by the pickleworms' voracious appetite.

Will Sevin work on cucumber beetles?

Sevin Insect Killer Concentrate provides a simple, economical way to provide large-scale coverage of vining cucurbits or other cucumber beetle targets. Use with a pump-style sprayer, and spray plant surfaces thoroughly to kill listed pests by contact and protect against cucumber beetles for up to three months.

Can I use Sevin spray on cucumbers?

Answer: Sevin Concentrate is not labeled to control aphids on cucumbers. Instead we would recommend using a systemic product like the Monterey Fruit Tree and Vegetable Systemic Soil Drench for future protection and the Fertilome Triple Action for active aphids. 2 of 4 people found this answer helpful.

What deters cucumber beetle?

Interplant susceptible crops with fragrant tansy, catnip or marigolds, said to deter adult beetles. Mulch newly planted seedlings with a loose material, like straw, as soon as they are planted- creating a barrier to females needing to come in contact with the soil to lay their eggs.

Will garlic spray deter cucumber beetles?

Apply Garlic and Pepper Spray

The smell and taste of garlic and hot peppers can serve as a deterrent to the cucumber beetle.

Should I cut off yellow cucumber leaves?

Pruning cucumbers helps maintain the balance between vine growth and fruit production. Prune outside branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit as needed throughout the growing season. Begin trimming cucumber vines by removing any dead or damaged portions.

What does a cucumber worm look like?

Cucumber worms, the larvae of the cucumber beetle, are yellowish-white in color with a brown head and rear, and three pairs of legs. Cucumber worms can grow up to 3/4 inches long. They attack cucumber plants by eating the roots and burrowing in young plant stems, which causes the plant to wilt and die.