Most Common Cucumber Pests & Diseases
You want to get rid of cucumber pests and diseases in your garden or on your balcony?
Stick with me since I will show you how to control cucumber diseases and pests in the following chapters.
Cucumber Pests
| Pest | How to control it |
|---|---|
| Cucumber Beetle | Cucumber beetles are quite common insects. You can get rid of them by spraying neem oil or chemical pesticides onto cucumber leaves. |
| Flea beetles | Flea beetles can slow down the growth of cucumber plants. Hence, make sure to get rid of them by using insecticidal soap or other pesticides. |
| Aphids | Aphids are rather common on cucumber plants. Thus, make sure to get some information on how to control aphids. |
| Thrips | Thrips can do lots of damage to cucumber plants. Hence, make sure to inform yourself about how to control thrips in your garden. |
| Slugs | Slugs and snails may also try to feed on cucumber plants. Thus, make sure to get tips and tricks on how to deter slugs and snails from your garden plants. |
| Whiteflies | Whiteflies can also adversely affect the growth of cucumber plants. Hence, make sure to get some information on how to get rid of whiteflies as well. |
| Cutworms | Cutworms can do great damage to cucumber plants. Thus, make sure to also get tips and tricks on how to control cutworms. |
| Loopers | Loopers may also try to feed on cucumber plants. Hence, make sure to inform yourself on how to control loopers in your garden. |
| Caterpillars | Similar to loopers, caterpillars may also do damage to cucumber plants. Thus, make sure to get some information on how to get rid of caterpillars as well. |
| Spider Mites | Spider mites are pretty common pests when growing cucumbers. Hence, make sure to get some tips on how to get rid of spider mites. |
Cucumber Diseases
| Disease | How to control it |
|---|---|
| Wilt | Wilt is a quite common problem when growing cucumbers. You can prevent wilt by providing optimal growing conditions to your plants. However, once wilt is present, there is no countermeasure and you should rather remove infested cucumber plants from your garden to prevent the spread of wilt in your garden. |
| Mold | Mold is another common problem with cucumber plants. Make sure to inform yourself on how to get rid of mold. |
| Rust | Plant rust may also occur on cucumbers. Fortunately, it is pretty easy to get rid of plant rust if you know what you are doing. |
| Leaf Spot | Although rather rare, leaf spot may also become a problem when growing cucumbers. Hence, also make sure to get some information on how to control leaf spot in your garden. |
| Root Rot | You can prevent root rot by watering your plants less often and by making sure that excess water will be able to run off properly so that waterlogging will not become an issue. |
| Downy Mildew | Downy mildew can do great damage to cucumber plants. You can get rid of this fungal disease by spraying vinegar or chemical fungicides onto the leaves of your plants. |
| Powdery Mildew | Similar to downy mildew, you should also make sure to treat powdery mildew properly. Hence, make sure to get some additional information on how to control powdery mildew on garden plants. |
| Damping-off | Damping-off happens whenever you don’t provide optimal germination conditions. Thus, make sure to use high-quality soil for raising seedlings and also that you maintain a healthy watering schedule. |
| Anthracnose | Anthracnose is caused by a fungus. Hence, you can get rid of anthracnose by using chemical fungicides from the garden center. |
| Mosaic Virus | Mosaic virus is pretty hard to cure. Once it is present, you should get rid of infested plants as soon as possible to prevent the spread of this virus in your garden. |
| Belly Rot | Belly rot happens if you don’t provide good soil conditions. Hence, make sure to adjust the soil pH and to alter your watering schedule to get rid of belly rot. |
Cucumber Pests & Diseases – Summary List
| Pests | Diseases |
|---|---|
| Whiteflies | Mold |
| Aphids | Wilt |
| Cutworms | Rust |
| Caterpillars | Mosaic virus |
| Loopers | Leaf spot |
| Thrips | Powdery mildew |
| Cucumber beetles | Downy mildew |
| Flea beetles | Anthracnose |
| Spider mites | Belly rot |
| Slugs | Damping-off |
| Root rot |
How to deal with Cucumber Pests & Diseases?
Now that you got easy ways how to get rid of cucumber pests and plant diseases, you may also want to have a look at my cucumber grower’s guide and my growing cucumber FAQ section.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucumber
Own experience.
