Help! Afraid I may not get any cucumbers

HollerinRat · July 14, 2011

I can not figure out what is attacking my cucumbers. None of my books mention anything like this. They are tiny worms that look like half centimeter (or small) light brown threads. They (or something I'm not seeing) are eating the stamens and pistols out of my cucumber blossoms. Grrrr I've been using Neem Oil but that doesn't seem to deter them or the earwigs infesting the plants. Could they be earwig larvae? I've been trying to hand pollinate but not finding much to use. I usually find 2-3 of these teeny guys inside each blossom. The seems to love pollen. They don't usually munch on the girls until I've pollinated them with a rare unchewed male blossom. They they run to them. So frustrating.

b54red · July 14, 2011

Try hitting them with a double whammy of pyrethrem and sevin. Mix each in the solution together and add some soap so it penetrates the blooms well and spray late in the day. This will give you a stomach poison and a contact poison. I had to use this mix on a small boring worm which was getting into my stems and fruit on my tomatoes that was undeterred by BT two years ago and it worked like a charm.

HollerinRat · July 15, 2011

Thank you! Applying tonight.

July 14, 2011	#1
HollerinRat Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Utah Posts: 12	Help! Afraid I may not get any cucumbers I can not figure out what is attacking my cucumbers. None of my books mention anything like this. They are tiny worms that look like half centimeter (or small) light brown threads. They (or something I'm not seeing) are eating the stamens and pistols out of my cucumber blossoms. Grrrr I've been using Neem Oil but that doesn't seem to deter them or the earwigs infesting the plants. Could they be earwig larvae? I've been trying to hand pollinate but not finding much to use. I usually find 2-3 of these teeny guys inside each blossom. The seems to love pollen. They don't usually munch on the girls until I've pollinated them with a rare unchewed male blossom. They they run to them. So frustrating.

July 14, 2011	#2
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Try hitting them with a double whammy of pyrethrem and sevin. Mix each in the solution together and add some soap so it penetrates the blooms well and spray late in the day. This will give you a stomach poison and a contact poison. I had to use this mix on a small boring worm which was getting into my stems and fruit on my tomatoes that was undeterred by BT two years ago and it worked like a charm.

July 15, 2011	#3
HollerinRat Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Utah Posts: 12	Thank you! Applying tonight.