Well the cuke beetles have arrived here in southern CT, both spotted and striped have made their unwelcome appearance. My cucumbers are flowering and fruiting already, though, so they are stronger than if the beetles had gotten here earlier, as they did the year before last and ruined my whole crop. Last year, not one single cuke beetle did I spy. This year they are on the cucumbers and also the tomatillos. I have made the sticky traps with clove oil and sprayed with Neem, hoping for the best deterrent from the combination approach, although I more or less expect to see the cuke plants bite the dust from the virus that has surely been transmitted to them. They look GREAT right now, but I can only imagine what 3 weeks time will demonstrate. A second late planting might help me, but really it is almost too late for that in my zone.

The greenhouse melons are hand-watered as needed (I check every day) and once a week are watered with a dilute liquid fert., approx. 5-10-10. The cucumbers are on a drip system, watered along with all the other vegetables every 3 days. The soil was prepared ahead of planting with a low dose of 15-15-15 and at each plant spot some complete organic fertilizer mix was dug in. I'm using the same fertilizing routine with other outside melons, squash and tomatoes and none of them are showing the symptoms displayed by the cucumbers. The picture does not show it but there are other cucumber plants nearby in the same bed which are slowly being trellis trained (the pictured ones are bush-form Spacemaster) and they do not seem to show this problem--yet.

drscott- i am in spotsylvania, virginia - zone 7... my weather is likely very similar to yours... if you're on the eastern shore yours is milder, if out around frederick a little more harsh... jamesandfely- it is covered with plastic... i have developed a profound dislike for floating row cover material...

Kristin, If you want to put a row cover on your plants, you can but I am not sure it will help since they (or their eggs) are likely to be all over the plants, and even underneath the plants. Check the backs of leaves for eggs and remove them and destroy them and that will go a long way to cut down on the population, especially with regards to squash bugs. I don't worry about cucumber beetles although, technically, they can carry and spread disease, although in my garden they generally don't. It could be that I have a healthy population of beneficial insects that keep their numbers low for me. I'd be more concerned about squash bugs, and especially about stink bugs if they show up too. One way to get the squash bugs is to go outside with a small hand-held vaccum and vacuum them up off the plants. It works like a charm, especially when they are young and small and don't have the sense to run away when they see you coming. Another way is to lay a board or shingle down on the ground right beside the squash plants. The squash bugs will seek shelter under that board during the heat of the day and then all you have to do is lift the board and step on them and squish them. Simple as pie If you put a small container of water in your garden (something like the saucer to a flower pot or an aluminum pie tin), it will help attract toads, frogs, lizards and other beneficial creatures that like to eat bugs. I have a bird feeder and bird bath in my garden too, and the birds that come to visit them often sit on the garden fence or on the scarecrow (who apparently does not scare them) or on the tomato cages and eat bugs throughout the day. Some people sprinkle garlic (chopped and minced by their own hand, or purchased garlic powder) on the ground around their squash and cucumber plants, and feel it helps repel the squash vine borers, squash bugs and cucumber beetles. You might give that a try. Don't worry about monoplizing the board. You are using it exactly as it is meant to be used and it gives us more to talk about on hot days when we may choose to spend less time out in the garden and more time inside in the air conditioning! Dawn