Cuke beetles are my number 1 garden nemesis. I started using surround last year. I use super light insect barriers when I set my cuke and melon seedlings out. They grow extremely well with this and no problem with the beetles or any bugs for that matter. Last year when they started flowering in July, I took the row covers off and kept them well sprayed, flowers and all, with surround. Everything looked good for a few weeks but come august all of my plants had the wilt and were starting to yellow, then brown then die off. The cuke plants seem to hold out the longest while the watermelon go fairly quickly. In short the surround didn't keep the beetles from feeding. I would go out twice a day with yellow kitchen gloves on and hand pick the beetles (they fly right to you with the yellow gloves on instead of away from you). Every year I have been trying to find a way to deal with these beetles and get a good crop. I thought last year would be it as the plants were so large and healthy and it definitely was a great year for the cukes (i think the combo of row covers and surround helped) but the melons just need too long to ripen and usually the plants succumb to wilt before they fully ripen. I'd maybe get 1 or 2 good watermelons if I was lucky. I do get a lot of cukes in mid summer with this method but wish I could keep the plants alive until first frost so that I could continue getting fresh cukes. This year I have decided to use the row covers all season. I take them off for like a day here and there in the morning so they get pollinated, all the while checking for any cuke beetles and then I cover the plants again in the evening before the sun goes down. So far so good. I've only found 2 beetles on the cucumbers during this time and killed them and everything seems to be getting pollinated. So that's my plan this year, periodically uncovering them for pollination, and maybe a spray of surround to offer what little protection it does while uncovered, and then keeping them covered so the fruits can mature. We'll see how it goes. It's a lot of work, covering and uncovering, searching for beetles spraying, but I guess this is what I have to do if I want a successful cucumber and watermelon harvest. I gave up on cantaloupe this year. I'd get nice looking and smelling fruits, but they never had much flavor no matter what I did. The beetles seemed to really like the cantaloupe flowers as much as the cukes so not having them this year may also help.

Thanks to All of you who took the time to answer my panic question. This afternoon, I sent DH to the only nursery in our area which carries these sorts of things year round and he came home with an insecticidal soap spray. We then thoroughly sprayed them outside and left them sopping with spray for 1/2 hour and then I throughly rinsed them and they are now air drying in the garage for a few days before I plant them. They will all be in the same pot. Even though I thought I had washed them all off with water, there were still more critters running around, visible to the naked eye. Unfortunately these varmints have now spread to several of my other 2 to 3 year old seedlings and these will all have to be sprayed tomorrow. Luckily I think the others are so newly infected that there hasn't been time for the bugs to migrate below the soil line. And luckily again, I don't have all that many of them, and they are all very small.. about 15 or so that were canoodeling with two other infected seedlings (from the same seller!!) that I wasn't aware of until now...always something isn't it... Needless to say, this is the last time I will buy from him...in fact I may just stick to seeds!! I also purchased about 4 months ago two other plants, one quite large and the other a seedling from a different seller and both with mealy bugs which I luckily caught immediately. They are secluded outside in the shade and I I have given them a good sprinkle of systemic insecticide containing imidacloprid and so far it seems to be working..I will give them another treatment in a few weeks. These will be my test cases and since they were already planted when I discovered the bugs and I didn't get a chance to treat the roots. I plan to give the rest of my exposed seedlings a dose of the granular insecticide and hope for the best.. Again, thanks for your input and luckily none of these have been in any near proximity to any of my hippies.. Donna

He just had another Pet Scan today. As of the last one, his cancer (non hodgkin's lymphoma) was under remission, but the Dr. gives him one treatment (Rituxan) about a week after the scan. It does not make him sick, etc, but does lower his immune system for about a week or so. I wish you the best. The pet scan is easier that the CT as it is radio active and does not damage the liver etc as too many CT scans seem to, but they are expensive. Thank goodness for insurance.

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