Tips on controlling Japanese beetles, please.

[msomnipotent]

I found out the other day that I made a major mistake last summer because I used those scented beetle traps. From what I was told, the ones that got away more than likely laid eggs near the trap and they will emerge this coming summer. If that is true, I am in for one heck of an infestation. I had to clean the trap out twice a day. I would estimate I trapped about 300 or so every day. I was also told that the only good solution is to basically hose down my fruit trees and garden with Sevin, which I am extremely hesitant to do. I am trying to go organic.

Any advice or experience?

[bacpacker]

We've used borax before as a dusting on our corn. The beetles were eating the silks and into the cob. It worked pretty well. I'm not sure how that would work in fruit trees.
I have always heard that the beetle traps should be placed well away from your crops.

[work in progress]

Spray them off with water and throw them in a bucket of water with dish soap. It makes almost all garden pests drown.
I heard you can use ducks - they eat the larvae and the adult bugs - but they can trample or eat plants too.

Milky Spore can be purchased - I just read an article about this on Yahoo somewhere - but it is a beneficial bacteria and only works for larvae. It lasts for ten years - but you are using germ warfare in your garden. That's scary.

[The Stig]

http://lh6.ggpht.com/-MorPSbCON64/S8oV4HC3T4I/AAAAAAACoOU/zHNzp_yPOKI/051116-N-7241L-001.jpg

[eagle326]

NAPALM :rolleyes:

[Grumpy Old Man]

Nuke 'em from orbit! It's the only way to be sure!

[Sniper-T]

NAPALM :rolleyes:

^
X2

Not much that a little napalm wont cure

I've also heard that ducks can do an amazing job with those beetles

[bacpacker]

Stig, Eagle, I hope you guys are accurate with the CWIS and Napalm. My house is toast if not! :)

[Twitchy]

right now is about the time that i wish i had a big underground bunker with The Stig and eagle getting ahold of said weapons :/

[piranha2]

Call in the Enola Gay.

[Twitchy]

Call in the Enola Gay.

If it can be moved out of the hangar its in with Columbia and an sr-71 :P

[Evolver]

Pyrethrin, It's organic neurotoxin that attack the nervous systems of all leaf eating insects and is my main go to for leaf eaters. Pyrethrin is the main ingredient in many different organic insecticide and I use Monetary Take Down Garden Spray and it works very well. I spray just before dark so I don't harm the beneficial insects.

[bacpacker]

How long lived is Pyrethrin? I use BT for cabbage worms, but I know it is broken down within 7 days.

[piranha2]

My understanding, from a buddy with a license for chemicals, it lasts for about 6 months. It also can eventually wind up where you don't want it. But, it does the trick. Evolvers theory is that it lasts overnight. YMMV

[piranha2]

If it can be moved out of the hangar its in with Columbia and an sr-71 :P

bet she would still fly.

[Evolver]

Same as Bt. It's the UV rays that breaks it down. But Pyrethrin also controls aphids and stink bugs. I should have mentioned it kills certain dirty rotten sap suckers too. :)

[Evolver]

Pyrethrin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethrin)


History and biosynthesis

The pyrethrins occur in the seed cases of the perennial plant pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium), which has long been grown commercially to supply the insecticide.

Well after their use as insecticides, their chemical structure were determined by Hermann Staudinger and Lavoslav Ružička in 1924.[1]Pyrethrin I and pyrethrin II are structurally related esters with a cyclopropane core. Pyrethrin I is a derivative of (+)-trans-chrysanthemic acid.[2][3] Pyrethrin II is closely related but one methyl group is oxidized to a carboxymethyl group, the resulting core being called pyrethric acid. Knowledge of their structures opened the way for the production of synthetic analogues, which are called pyrethroids. In terms of their biosynthesis, pyrethrins are classified as terpenoids, being derived from dimethylallyl pyrophosphate, which combine by the action of the enzyme chrysanthemyl diphosphate synthase.[4]

[eagle326]

Stig, Eagle, I hope you guys are accurate with the CWIS and Napalm. My house is toast if not! :)


Backpacker brother where's you're sense of adventure? Stig and old Eagle will take care of you. We're gonna kill em' all and let God sort them out. We want to do it right the 1st. time so we don't waste gas coming back to mop up.


Trust Us. :)

P.S.
roast duck for everyone

[eagle326]

right now is about the time that i wish i had a big underground bunker with The Stig and eagle getting ahold of said weapons :/

No problem Verstang86. Stig and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. ;)

Will you be there for the roast duck?

[Evolver]

Backpacker brother where's you're sense of adventure? Stig and old Eagle will take care of you. We're gonna kill em' all and let God sort them out. We want to do it right the 1st. time so we don't waste gas coming back to mop up.


Trust Us. :)

LOL I'm telling you there has been many of times that I would have welcomed the NAPALM blast in our garden... I can't even tell you how bad I just wanted to blow all these fucken bugs to hell... Just as I found a good control for the bugs I had I get the MOTHER OF ALL BUGS... NEMATODES!!!!! GRRRRRRRRR!!!!! )*%^%#$ On second thought... Bring on the Napalm. :mad:

[The Stig]

Stig, Eagle, I hope you guys are accurate with the CWIS and Napalm. My house is toast if not! :)

In every war there is collateral damage.

[ladyhk13]

This has been our problem for the past 2 years in our apple orchard. We have 1000 trees and the Jap beetles have been killing us. Our neighbor has spread chicken manure which they love to lay their eggs so of course when they hatch they search for food.....our apples. Nothing has killed them for any length of time. It sucks.

[bacpacker]

Roast duck = OK, Roast BP = not OK :)

[eagle326]

Roast duck = OK, Roast BP = not OK :)

We love ya' brother! We got your 6.

[Grumpy Old Man]

LOL I'm telling you there has been many of times that I would have welcomed the NAPALM blast in our garden... I can't even tell you how bad I just wanted to blow all these fucken bugs to hell... Just as I found a good control for the bugs I had I get the MOTHER OF ALL BUGS... NEMATODES!!!!! GRRRRRRRRR!!!!! )*%^%#$ On second thought... Bring on the Napalm. :mad:
I'm tellin ya, Nuke 'em from orbit! It's the only way to be sure! After all it worked on the face-hugger bugs.;)

[eagle326]

Relax guys and gals. Stig and I have it under control. We like to think amount needed in Tons because we like that word.
We go on the Big Bang theory. It'll be a controlled burn without all the fancy gadgets of today's world.
Stig and I believe in doing it the old fashioned way.

A wet finger in the air to determine wind direction and we're good to light up the day. So everyone can rest easy ; sleep secure in the knowledge that we got ya'll covered.


AIRBORNE!!! :cool:

[ladyhk13]

Ok guys, a really serious question was asked here...can we get back to a serious answer? I know firsthand the damage these things do and would love to have help with destroying them. I READ in Mother Earth recently that if you kill the first ones you see (they are the scouts) others won't come but I have a thousand trees and it is impossible to do that. Sevin works until it rains and we get pretty good rain here. I'm at a loss.

[eagle326]

Sorry Ladyhk13 ; got carried away. In all seriousness I've been over ran with them for 2 years and still haven't found anything to rid myself of them.
I thought maybe my chicken coop wood shavings and poop compost pile might be the culprit but I'm not sure. I would love to find a way to take care of them. My computer research isn't the best but maybe I'll try again and hope for some luck.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Here are several methods of control. I find it slightly ironic (especially for Evolver) that one method uses nematodes.

Milky Spore Powder for Japanese Beetle Grub Control in Lawns & Gardens at Home Harvest Garden Supply (http://homeharvest.com/milkyspore.htm?gclid=COH56uz8160CFYUZQgod3xGInw)

Nematodes Mixture H. bacteriophora, S. carpocapsae mix 1 mi (http://gardeningzone.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25_75_76&products_id=147)

Controlling Adult Japanese Beetles in the Garden (http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/a/Japanese_Beetle.htm)

Japanese Beetles in the Urban Landscape | University of Kentucky Entomology (http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef451.asp)

Dealing with Japanese Beetles - Backyard Gardening. (http://www.backyardgardening.net/article/japanese-beetles/)

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/pub_phjbeetle04.pdf

One thing that each of these points out is that you can't get rid of them completely! It is an ongoing war (kind of like pocket gophers! Did I mention that I hate them?). So, these sites present a variety of control methods, but once you have them your going to be controlling them the rest of your gardening days. Apparently they are a bigger problem in the East than they are out here.

I'll go stand in the corner for 10 minutes now Lady. * hangs head in shame while walking to the corner*

[ladyhk13]

Thank you Grumpy...please don't forget the pointy hat :)

[eagle326]

Thank you Grumpy...please don't forget the pointy hat :)

Remind me to never make Ladyhk13 mad. Thanks for keeping us on point.
Now I'll go join Grumpy and put on the pointy hat.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Remind me to never make Ladyhk13 mad. Thanks for keeping us on point.
Now I'll go join Grumpy and put on the pointy hat.
As we used to say where I grew up Missouri loves company. Welcome to the corner.

[ladyhk13]

Well I knew the milky spore would be expensive for us to use but we're talking a min of $2400. ouch. Might have to bite the bullet but it takes a long time to clear them out. My neighbor who is a cattle rancher enhances his pastures with chicken manure. Great for fertilizer but the beetles LOVE to lay their eggs in it.

[ladyhk13]

Mad??? Who's mad? Now continue on.....

[eagle326]

Well I knew the milky spore would be expensive for us to use but we're talking a min of $2400. ouch. Might have to bite the bullet but it takes a long time to clear them out. My neighbor who is a cattle rancher enhances his pastures with chicken manure. Great for fertilizer but the beetles LOVE to lay their eggs in it.

Guess I'll have to find a way to dispose of my chicken waste.

[ladyhk13]

I don't know if the problem is the same eveywhere since I never had the problem in Fl or even in NE TN. It wasn't until we moved to the southern part of TN where there are a lot of cattle and chicken that a problem started.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Lady, if you look at the USDA Publication it has a map of the infested areas, but I believe that it shows that NE TN is infested also.

[Evolver]

Here are several methods of control. I find it slightly ironic (especially for Evolver) that one method uses nematodes.

Milky Spore Powder for Japanese Beetle Grub Control in Lawns & Gardens at Home Harvest Garden Supply (http://homeharvest.com/milkyspore.htm?gclid=COH56uz8160CFYUZQgod3xGInw)

Nematodes Mixture H. bacteriophora, S. carpocapsae mix 1 mi (http://gardeningzone.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25_75_76&products_id=147)

Controlling Adult Japanese Beetles in the Garden (http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/a/Japanese_Beetle.htm)

Japanese Beetles in the Urban Landscape | University of Kentucky Entomology (http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef451.asp)

Dealing with Japanese Beetles - Backyard Gardening. (http://www.backyardgardening.net/article/japanese-beetles/)

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/pub_phjbeetle04.pdf

One thing that each of these points out is that you can't get rid of them completely! It is an ongoing war (kind of like pocket gophers! Did I mention that I hate them?). So, these sites present a variety of control methods, but once you have them your going to be controlling them the rest of your gardening days. Apparently they are a bigger problem in the East than they are out here.

I'll go stand in the corner for 10 minutes now Lady. * hangs head in shame while walking to the corner*

Yeah what I'm battling is a diffident type than the beneficial nematodes that are in the link that you posted. Mine or Root Knot Nematodes that feed on the plants from the inside of the root system this is also where they lay their eggs. They completely cut off the water and nutrients going to the plant.

[Stormfeather]

if I remember correctly, couldnt you use a pie tin and fill it with beer? I remember doing this as a kid in our garden, and I think it was for japanese beetles. . . .am I wrong here?

[msomnipotent]

if I remember correctly, couldnt you use a pie tin and fill it with beer? I remember doing this as a kid in our garden, and I think it was for japanese beetles. . . .am I wrong here?



I think that is for snails. These beetles are pretty strong fliers.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will be looking into them all.
Except the napalm. I don't think I could afford something like that and it isn't organic as far as I know.

[Stormfeather]

I think that is for snails. These beetles are pretty strong fliers.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will be looking into them all.
Except the napalm. I don't think I could afford something like that and it isn't organic as far as I know.

hmm. . . that may be the case, as ive stated before, I am anything but a gardening guru. I remember gardening as a kid with my grandparents, but alot of that knowledge has unfortunately been lost over the years.

[Grumpy Old Man]

I think that is for snails. These beetles are pretty strong fliers.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will be looking into them all.
Except the napalm. I don't think I could afford something like that and it isn't organic as far as I know.

Of course napalm is organic! Its made up of long chain carbon hydrogen molecules just like gasoline. Any compound made up of carbon and hydrogen molecules is, by chemical definition (the original definition), organic.;)

[msomnipotent]

hmm. . . that may be the case, as ive stated before, I am anything but a gardening guru. I remember gardening as a kid with my grandparents, but alot of that knowledge has unfortunately been lost over the years.



Me too. I remember gardening with my father when I was a little kid, but both of us have forgot almost everything.

[msomnipotent]

Of course napalm is organic! Its made up of long chain carbon hydrogen molecules just like gasoline. Any compound made up of carbon and hydrogen molecules is, by chemical definition (the original definition), organic.;)



Ok, you got me there! Napalm it is, then!

[Optimist]

Praying mantis likes them beetles....

[Katrina]

Storm,
My grandpa would put the beer out for slugs and those little things that roll up, we used to call them potato bugs. Also caterpillars would get into it as well.if I remember he would also get aphids in the dishes of beer cause he put it out around hs roses. He had some gorgeous rose bushes in back yard. As for the Japanese beetles, tee hee a couple of my neighbors put those traps out away from my house around their properties last year and I don't think I saw but three or four beetles around my house but ya should a heard my neighbor cussing up a storm. Sorry I shouldn't laugh but it was funny his wife kept yelling at him in Chinese every time she went out to the vegetable garden, it was infested big time.

[bacpacker]

If you put traps out, put them a long ways away from your growing area. You are just putting out a dinner call otherwise.

[ladyhk13]

Milky Spore is the best thing to treat your own yard but if your neighbors don't treat then they will continue to come. The one good thing about milky spore is that if they lay their eggs in your yard they will not hatch and you will not have any grubs. Also, no grubs means no moles because you have just taken away their food supply. It's expensive but you only have to treat once since it lasts 10-15 years.