Japanese-beetle mania
This year, the intern got to write the Japanese beetle story—which just goes to prove that there is a God.
Not that I need convincing on the divinity thing. I come from a family uber-intellectuals who have all read Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. I’ve read them too, but my theology is more simplistic: There are snap peas, therefore there is God. I think the Latin translation would be: Pisum sativum sum, ergo Deus.
But I digress. The last time I wrote a story about Japanese beetles, I received shrieking phone calls and e-mails, and was denounced on a radio call-in show.
I was only trying to explain that battling beetles was complicated.
-Yes, Japanese beetle traps work, but they attract more beetles than they kill. University research has repeatedly shown this.
-Yes, pesticides work, but are you prepared to spray your whole yard? Keep in mind that pesticides also kill beneficial insects, especially bees.
-Grub killer applied to the grass early in the spring will work in yards and gardens with no vegetables.
Here’s how I deal with Japanese beetles: Sacrificial plants.
More than six years ago, UW-Extension Horticulture Educator Mike Maddox gave me some “Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate” (Polygonum orientale) seeds. The flowers grow seven feet tall and have hot pink flowers. They also reseed. Check 'em out.
Japanese beetles love them. I let them collect on the leaves, then scoop them off and toss them into soapy water. It doesn’t matter if I don’t get all the beetles, because these plants are just for them.
Mind you, I do try collect as many beetles as I can. Japanese beetles attract other Japanese beetles. It’s like tapping the keg at a frat house. Suddenly you’ve surrounded by a swarm of people, and some of them are campus police officers.
My friend Ann Marie uses zinnias as her sacrificial plants.
Sacrificial planting means little—or no—pesticide use.
What have you been doing to battle the beetles?
Jun 26, 2012 at 3:44 p.m.
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Man o man, I shouldn`t have made that last post. I JUST saw my first Jap beetle on the inside of my screen door. Curses!
Jun 26, 2012 at 10:55 a.m.
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stubby- found the blue and rasp on the label of fruit citrus bayer.
Once a year and 7 days after you can harvest.
Jun 26, 2012 at 10:52 a.m.
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Meanwhile, I haven`t seen a single Jap beetle yet. I live in Beloit Township. I wonder if the drought has held them back.
Jun 26, 2012 at 10:24 a.m.
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Could you tell me the specifics about the blueberries please.
I couldn't find fine print on the Bayer for blueberries.
Rasp - also use now cannot remember the powder. make of same stuff that you put in bird cage to shapren their beaks. ah got it DE. Diateniuos Earth (sp lol) It is like little shards of glass on the tards feet and they leave and die I think beciase cannot fly.
Phyliss said Rasp ar okay for Bayer. Just rich DE off before eating. It isn't toxic to us but I don't want to eat pwdr berries.
Jun 26, 2012 at 9:23 a.m.
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Frogger - I stand corrected. It is a new product of which I was unaware. I checked the label online and it does advertise to control Japanese Beetles for Blueberries, but does not claim to do so for Raspberries. It also has between 7 and 45 days (depending on crop) after application during which you cannot harvest. So as a gardener, one must decide if they think this is really safe or not. I'll stick with my current practices for now, but will research this some more.
Jun 25, 2012 at 2:25 p.m.
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You are actually using "trap cropping" for control!
http://web.pppmb.cals.cornell.edu/resour...
Jun 25, 2012 at 11:25 a.m.
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stubby- do your research. Thisis not true. They reformulated it for fruits. Also bayer doesn't go into the flowers or fruit only the leaves.
Asian beetles are not the same as japanese beetles.
Asian ones are Orange but thanks for an Asian tip.
Jun 24, 2012 at 12:26 p.m.
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Rick, you're talking about the Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) which is very similar to the North American ladybug (its cousin Coccinella septempunctata). The Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), however, is a garden pest from an entirely different beetle family. While the Asian lady beetle -- unlike the ladybugs we all grew up with -- does have a tendency to seek out narrow, cool, shaded openings during the summer months, which can bring them inside the home, the Japanese beetle does not have this behavior.
Jun 23, 2012 at 9:35 p.m.
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Can't use Bayer on fruit crops (like blueberries or raspberries) because it is systemic - so the pesticide gets into the fruit. Not safe at all. I have to cover my berries with cheesecloth or other fine mesh to keep the critters to a minimum. They get the leaves that contact the mesh, but that is about all. Flowers get systemic protection or sprayed. What is so interesting about these critters is that one year they devastated by red leaf barberry - next year didn't touch it, but attacked the asters right next to them. Treating the lawn helps - the lawn - but does not reduce numbers 'cause the neighbors don't treat. The bugs really are a pain.
Jun 23, 2012 at 11:59 a.m.
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birdman- ditch the Miracle Grow for any other plant fert as well.
Jacks at k&w
Petunia feed for petunies- need lots of iron!
blossum booster for the rest
one for veg
one for house plants!!!
IT is more pricey but WAY worth it becuase it REALLY works well. every 7-14 days. I picked in the middle. 10th,20th and 30th of the month. easy to remember.
But the Bayer treatment on your calenday so you dont forget.
Have to do mine today or tomorrow before the bettles get here.
I do grub control Memorial day and labor day. Have for years and I think they are less than before. They loved cannas too. If you have cannas TREAT THEM!
Jun 23, 2012 at 6:03 a.m.
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Thanks everyone for your suggestions...will try the Bayer!
Jun 23, 2012 at 5:27 a.m.
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Farm & Fleet, for those of us who are loyal shoppers there, carries many Bayer products.
Jun 23, 2012 at 5:26 a.m.
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I used to apply Miracle Grow on my roses ‘til the discovery of Bayer products. As Frogger remarks, it is a terrific product. No more bedraggled, lacy leaves. Flowers are robust and make for nice cut flower arrangements!
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Bayer is easy to use. The blue bottle has its own measuring device, too. I use a magic marker on side of container to jot ratio of product-to-water. [But I’m going to type a chart of those details for ALL my lawn products, put in a page protector and store with my lawn chemicals.]
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Very dry soil, I’ve found makes the product run off away from the central root “bundle” . . . so I use the hose and give the plants a decent soaking earlier in the day of application. After that has soaked in the Bayer product goes down nicely - - no waste of product running away on the soil surface and going to waste. A bit more time involved, but the roses prosper from the drink, too.
Jun 22, 2012 at 7:52 p.m.
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I saw my first one today ! Tonight I will put a bag trap in my neighbors yard. Shssh don't say anything.
Jun 22, 2012 at 4:52 p.m.
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I`m pretty sure that it would be cost prohibitive for bluehills to treat acres and acres of berries. It`s $25 for about a half gallon.
Jun 22, 2012 at 4:48 p.m.
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That`s tough bluehills. Sorry man.
Bayer is a bug killer, chem powder, in a large blue jug sold at Menards. Ya mix it up and pour it under plants you want to protect, and the dang beetles don`t bother it. The difference is like night and day.
Jun 22, 2012 at 4:41 p.m.
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bluehills- get the Bayer for your berries ASAP. Good to know they may attack those. I have some blueberries now.
Jun 22, 2012 at 4:40 p.m.
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Bayer products for plants are in a blue bottle. can be found at Menards, K & W etc.
Yes it is by the same people who make Bayer asperin.
My fav new product by Bayer is DUROZONE.
PRE emergient weed killer and prevents weeds. Concentrate is the best deal.
Another Fav is the bayer for roses and flowering plants I spoke about. it is a 3 in 1. disease,bugs and fertilizer. this you mix with water and put at base of plant every 4-6 weeks. I think I used to do 5 weeks for roses. Hybiscuis I think it seems could wait 6 weeks. There will still be beetles on the flowers. The stuff only goes into the greenery. They have a new one too for edible berries like Raspberry too.
Jun 22, 2012 at 4:23 p.m.
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I have come to the conclusion that total exclusion is the only way to prevent damage, but that would be an almost impossible task for 99.9% of us. On my farm blueberries are the favorite and first target for the japanese beetles. A close second choice for fruits are brambles, grape vines, plum trees, cherry trees, and apple trees. (The pear trees were not targeted, ?.) First vegetables are okra, then beans, and sweetcorn, but they can be found on just about all items. They love my linden trees, chinese elm trees, and roses.
I tried the traps for a few years, but no matter how and where I positioned them, they only heightened the intensity of the beetles movements and their orgies.
I collected the bugs with soapy water in a small bucket, two or three times a day. Last year I collected a total of about 15 gallons of them, piling them in a stinky heap in my pasture. I am up to 2 gallons so far this year. I used to have decent apple and plum harvests, but there aren't more than a handful undamaged. Spraying is not an option for me, I just don't trust that any poisons ever disappear from the produce before harvesting. I, too, have to consider any sacrificial plants to be equivalent to traps. I have spread milky spore on my property, but I can't spread it for miles around, so invasions are inevitable.
Bringing me back to my original statement, I will embark upon developing a cost-effective exclusion system for the blueberries. Also, until the japanese beetle magically disappears from the area, I can no longer attempt to grow most fruits and vegetables for sales at local markets. My preliminary figures indicate a capital investment of about $6,000 to $8,000 per acre to install a sturdy exclusion system for my blueberries. Ideally, the berries can bring in $5,000 to $10,000 per acre annually.
So, for what it's worth, that is how I am coping with the japanese beetle invasion!
Jun 22, 2012 at 3:35 p.m.
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frogger...what is Bayer..like in Bayer aspirin? How do you use it?
Jun 22, 2012 at 3:33 p.m.
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I treat 2 birch and 1 mountain ash tree with the Bayer. It works well. Then for everything else except my garden, which they don`t bother btw, I use Raid House & Garden spray (green spray can). It doesn`t harm plants so I can spray it on the beetles while they are on the plants. I have declared this as my summer hobby. I get great pleasure out of killing the little sob`s. I haven`t seen any yet this year however, but I am ready for them.
Jun 22, 2012 at 2 p.m.
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Get the BAYER out and fast!
How is this plant different than a beetle trap??
I do grub in spring and fall. It helps.
I got rid of roses that helped!!
I do have hybiscuis to treat. None on there yet. Knock on roots.
I also treat my birch with Bayer once a year.
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