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syracuse, ny

i was reading a recent post about 'genetics again'---
and i wanted to point out to everyone that i STARTED out
doing what i thought was a good job of COVERING my male and
female flowers, with the standard little brown paper lunch bags we might have seen in some videos and in discussion on the topic of controlled crosses....to my dismay, a couple of striped cucumber beetles came a-crawlin' out upon removal of the first bag of the season of 2001 for me!
never again will i use just a bag for this purpose---
you HAVE to tie up the flowers! male and female! beetles in general both fly and crawl...right up the stems and into the flowers!!!
i do also believe they do their best work at night...right after we point out the best flowers with paper bags...
i will be using the Boily method of a chip-clip this year...
quick, convenient, and EFFECTIVE. thanks fer lissnin'--'pal

3/7/2003 2:31:43 AM

[email protected]

A little Capture, Warrior T, or Furadan might help there Pal.
I wonder if Cuke Beetles can transfer pollen? Did they cause any damage to the male flowers?

Either way, that's a great point & I will also use that method!

3/7/2003 5:31:10 AM

Western Pa.

If cuke beetles can carry bacteria wilt around on their feet, I'm sure they can carry pollen! I use cheesecloth to cover my blossoms. Just wrap it around the closed flower a few times, the blossom will spring open when unwrapped in the morning.

3/7/2003 8:58:45 AM

Webster, NY

Cuke beetles are great polinators.

3/7/2003 10:48:45 AM

syracuse, ny

thanks for your feedback, folks---i have often wondered how i could isolate the flowers, but allow them to open, as damage to the corolla (petals) does often occur with my method...and they need a little help opening up after being prevented from doing so....this could give a new slant to the term GETTING ALL THE BUGS OUT! on a weirder yet still- effective note, womens' nylon stocking could also be a viable option for the material used, especially for the female blossoms, as they are a little stockier and can take the stress of a little extra bug-away handling, securing the open end of it with a wire-in-paper garbage bag
tie...it would be exactly like a Blow-Pop sucker wrapper!
and just last night i saw a package of CHEESECLOTH at the grocery store.........hmmm, what could i use THAT for!??

3/8/2003 12:10:39 AM