tntiger
Junior Member
Posts: 33
Joined: July 2011
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Post by tntiger on Aug 11, 2014 16:12:55 GMT -5
I think I've lost all of my cucumbers to pickle worms - not the plants (necessarily) but all of the cucumbers down to the smallest ones. I noticed the first evidence of these little devils on Saturday - saw a couple of cucumbers with the drilled out goo below the cucumber and holes in the cuke. I got rid of those and sprayed everything with BT.
Yesterday it rained too much to do anything and today every cucumber I checked was full of holes. It was like a pickle worm population explosion. I'm going to spray BT again along with Neem Oil (not sure I can mix them so I'm checking into that). Hopefully the plants will rebound and make more cukes!
The squash got also got annihilated but there were only a few squashes on the plants.
Any suggestions other than BT and Neem oil?
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 12, 2014 12:34:08 GMT -5
IFAS recommends either Spinosad, BT, carbaryl (Sevin), or pyrethroid pesticides for pickleworm. IFAS doesn't recommend neem for pickle worms. As always, please be careful not to harm your pollinators with your spraying.
You will probably have to spray regularly for the rest of the season to prevent re-infestation. There are probably 2-4 overlapping generations of pickle worms in your area each year. Also, once the worms have burrowed into the fruit, future sprays can't reach them effectively. You need the spray to either kill the eggs or to be on the surface of the fruits and stems so the worms eat it when they start burrowing.
Pick off and destroy (in a plastic bag in the garbage) any damaged fruits to prevent the worms from completing their life cycle. If you toss the fruits in the compost pile, unless the pile is maintained very hot, there is a chance that the worms can finish their development and pupate.
If you are growing any squash or pumpkins, you may want to spray them, too - at least check the blooms for holes to see if they are being attacked. Pickle worms are very fond of summer squash and will infest some winter squash and pumpkins as well. They can infest cantaloupe, but usually won't if more desirable plants are available nearby.
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As for non-chemical controls, try growing your cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins as early in the season as possible - you might be able to get your crops in before they show up. Also, big, nearly mature winter squash and pumpkin fruits are less susceptible to the pickle worms than tender young fruits.
Pickle worm moths are evening and night flyers. It's a pain, but you can try covering susceptible crops with row covers every evening and taking the cover off every morning so the bees can reach the flowers.
Or you could grow parthenocarpic cucumbers under insect barrier fabric and leave the cover on all the time, except to harvest. (Pepperhead was trying this with parthenocarpic zucchini this year, but he was doing it to beat the squash vine borers.)
In South Florida, where pickelworms are active year-round, I know of some gardeners who grow parthenocarpic zucchini and cucumbers in pots, inside their pool screens.
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tntiger
Junior Member
Posts: 33
Joined: July 2011
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Post by tntiger on Aug 13, 2014 14:24:23 GMT -5
Thanks Laura!
I saw Neem listed somewhere for pickle worms - maybe it kills one of the stages. Who knows - regardless, my garden is slowly getting devoured. I pinched a nerve in my back and haven't managed to respray with BT yet . . . maybe today. The good news is that there is no rain in the forecast for a few days so if I can spray this evening I should have good results. The squash is kaput - they wiped it out in the first day and a half - plants and baby squash.
As soon as I regain mobility I will gather up all the garbage into plastic bags.
On a side note - this is the first time I've had any sort of back problem and I'm not loving it!
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elliemater
Pro Member
Posts: 226
Joined: June 2014
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Post by elliemater on Aug 13, 2014 21:49:37 GMT -5
In my area we move from dry to soaking monsoon very suddenly so I also get these pickleworm explosions...and they also burrow into my plant stems (these are in addition to the vine borers in the squash). They really attack my cukes, squash, and pumpkins, but when populous will also go for tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and my okra. (Well I say this, but perhaps I have pickleworms and other worm types present at the same time).
I won't use Sevin, but at times I have been driven to spray with Spinosad, which isn't good for the honeybees but does seem to last quite some time, even with the rain. I grow parthenocarpics because I like them, but I am unable to keep a row-cover in place when the rains hit because of the heat/humidity...the fruits all mold and then rot. If I had a screened enclosure it would be successful to grow the parthenocarpics in pots. But the hurricanes take screen enclosures (not porches) down and I wouldn't have money for a re-do. A screened in porch would be lovely. Maybe one day...
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tntiger
Junior Member
Posts: 33
Joined: July 2011
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Post by tntiger on Aug 13, 2014 22:16:14 GMT -5
I sprayed with BT this evening and I was also able to get up most of the cucumbers and dead squash plants. It's trash day so they're headed off to the landfill.
I didn't pull the cucumber plants - I'm hoping they'll rebound especially with the nice weather we're having for the next several days. If I can keep BT on the garden maybe I can get past this little blip.
I've got something eating my tomatoes so I was especially motivated to get the BT out . . . I can't find any worms but the damaged spots look like worm damage - tomatoes that are high on the plant, smooth holes that don't look like teeth marks or beak pecks. I looked high and low but if there are horn worms they are hidden too well for me . . . wouldn't be the first time. No leaf damage either . . . another garden mystery (until I find dead horn worms!)
As a side note . . . pollinators are mostly safe from me. I rarely spray anytime other than early morning or late evening. Partly because that's all my schedule will allow but also to protect my beneficial insects. I haven't used any insecticides other than BT and Neem in my garden in years and I only use those when needed. I really like the balance I'm seeing (for the most part - I have limits with worms and whiteflies!).
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elliemater
Pro Member
Posts: 226
Joined: June 2014
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Post by elliemater on Aug 14, 2014 9:45:48 GMT -5
Climbing cutworms do as much damage to my tomatoes as the tomato hornworm (in our case, tobacco hornworm) does. They are hard to see if you are looking for a green worm.
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