Japanese beetle defense for green beans

I have been battling against June Bugs and Japanese Beetles for years. June bugs are the worst, they come down the chiney and attack me whilst I watch tv! I have taken to blocking the fireplace with black trash bags and duct tape for a few weeks each year.

A few years back I applied beneficial milky spore all over the rear yard. For my efforts I saw a significant reduction that year and even less last summer. I am going to order some more this week as I cant find locally this year. I am hoping that they will find and destroy the grubs and army worms I uncovered whilst digging last week.

Good luck !

Thanks Kay. I was about to ask why you'd want to treat such a wide area of the yard.

Thanks to you too Tom for the explanation!

Great thread!

Milky spore can be bought at Lowes

Nemattack or nemaseek you need to order online.

Most hardware stores will have a Japanese Beetle trap. These are ok if you have nothing else but dont rely on it to work.

So, the adults are gone around my area, haven't seen one in weeks, today however I found two grubs around my pepper and toms..which may explain why my poor little peppers have been just sitting around not producing anything. Needless to say I'll be grabbing me some milky spore this week!
My question is actually about the effect the milky spore might also have on vine borers that may find their way into my beds. Will the ms work on them as well or do they not feed once they're down there??

As far as I know, milky spore disease effects Japanese beetles only. It also can take a few seasons to be quite effective.
http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/pastpest/200120b.html

Well, mixed results at my garden this year. I did use the milky spore and saw a dramatic reduction in the numbers of JB's this year. I also waited and planted the pole beans late, using seeds I kept from last year. NONE sprouted.

Oh, well, live and learn. Next year, I won't try to use saved seeds, despite Mel's advice. Some of my saved seeds worked for other plants, but many did not.

May not be too late. Buy some seed and plant those pole beans Now.

Kay

Judging from the small number of Japanese beetles in my trap, it didn't work very well. Altho I don't see a lot of beetles in general this year. Much less than last year. I wonder if the chickens eat the grubs, or if the grubs are too deep in the soil...

I did the Milky Spore application a couple of years ago. I have considerably less beetles this year. The ones I do have are enjoying my blueberry bushes, hibiscus, asparagus, trailing geraniums, and one of my clematises. I will add more Milky Spore this fall in hopes of iradicating these hungry things. I also keep a coffee can w/ rubbing alcohol, so when I see them, I put them in there. I wonder if they go in cylces?

Yeppers- it's time for these nasty bugs again and they are everywhere!!!
We have quite the grub problem in our yard and had the front yard treated last year to help us actually grow some grass there. However, I'm sure the back yard was equally infested along with all of our neighbors. So, I'm not confident that investing in milky spore for my yard and garden is going to make enough of a difference to protect the huge damage the June bugs are doing to my garden now and in the future since we are in a subdivision w/ close houses. I know that nematodes are beneficial to kill off other bad soil bugs too, so might try that in the garden where it stays moist enough to keep them working against grubs but what about the adults.

I found an idea about putting a light secured to the top of a bucket w/ soapy water in the bottom. I think that's a semi-decent idea but am looking for additional organic/homemade ways to save my garden from these guys.

Assassin bugs LOVE Japanese beetles, and have just about eliminated them here. They used to tear up my grapes something awful.

In the spring, when I find a new hatch of assassin bugs, I separate them and spread them around the garden, because the first thing the little ones do is eat each other. By spreading them around, they will start their diet on aphids, mites and other small insects, moving on up to caterpillars, flies and Japanese beetles as they mature.

hmmmm, I think one of those beetles is living in the planter of my avocado tree. I was watering it the other day and it crawled out. At first I thought it was a cockroach, but it wasn't. I didn't kill it because I wasn't sure what it was, and I don't want to indiscriminately kill bugs, because I might make the mistake of killing something good. I guess I will smash it next time I see it. Haven't seen any assassin bugs though, unfortunately.

Pollinator, that is a great tip!!! Just in case folks aren't familure with Japanese beetles, here is an informational link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_beetle