Japanese Beetles at bay...

Hi Folks,

This time last year, Japanese Beetles were overrunning everything in my yard, hundreds and hundreds everywhere.This year, I've only seen 8 JBs so far. Seems the Milky Spore works. Long live Milky Spore......

I am a happy camper

Bart

A friend of mine just told me that they have only started to emerge. God, I hope he's wrong. From what I remember, the number seems far fewer than what they were last year at this time.

I'll keep you all posted with the final results of the Milky Spore.

Bart

About ten years ago, I noticed a hatch of assassin bug. There were probably a hundred of them. I knew that the first thing they did was to eat each other, so I wanted to make sure I didn't wind up with only a half dozen. So I spread them out, all over the property. Since then, I've repeated this several times, and we are now practically overrun with assassin bugs. The little ones pretty well take care of aphids, spider mites and other small pests.

At that time, Japanese beetles were decimating my grapes every year. Early in the morning I'd go out and drop as many as possible into a cup of soapy water. But I could not make a dent in the population.

Gradually, over the five years after I spread out the assassin bugs, the Japanese beetles disappeared. For a couple years, I saw only three for four on my crape myrtle tree - and that is for the entire season.  It's been four years now, since I've seen a single Japanese beetle. None. At all.

I lay this to the assassin bugs. I don't think there are many pests that get by their patrol.

Saw my first copulating disgusting Japanese beetles today on my purple pole beans! I hate them! Tomorrow AM, I am putting soap on the plants. When taller, row cover on top, where they prefer to eat the tenderest part of the plant.

Some JBs have returned, but not as many as last year by a long shot. So yes, Milky Spore does help.

Bart

They're here too.  Just started at my house this past weekend.  I squashed one on my corn plant and my wife noticed a few on the roses.  I mixed up the sevin yesterday afternoon and sprayed the rose bushes and weeping cheering out front in the flower bed.  This is only a day or two after the first ones were spotted and the "infestation" was already beginning.  About an hour later wife and I went for a walk and I decided to just check and see if the spray was working, I counted 50+ dead beetles on the sidewalk

The downfall of course is potential bee harm, but at least the roses were in a between cycle of blooming and my wife had clipped most of the dead and dying blooms off this weekend, so hope that helps reduce bee exposure.

Honestly, zmoore, Sevin is the only thing that works. I have nothing but low stuff blooming right now, I might hit just the beans with some; they have not set blooms yet. The soap doesn't really work, it is more of a deterrent than a control, I am going to try the stuff you put onthe yard to control the grubs...Bart was talking about it...milky spore? Need to find out when to apply and see if my yard people do it. I have an acre.

I hate the JBs.

Despite them, I had a bumper crop of Kentucky Wonder beans last year. They were absolutely skeletonized though.

@scorpio
"knock on wood" they haven't been getting in my gardens bad at all, so far.  I've managed to get away with just spraying the roses and cheery at the front of the house.  They LOVE those.  Unfortunately it's kind of like a "bait" thing, they come on my property for the roses for sure and most definitely are attracted to them.  I'm hoping they continue to congregate at the roses at the front of the house and my gardens only get a few "stragglers" in the back yard.

I was curious about the "milky spore" thing too.

I'm also dusting with Diatomaceous Earth, that also seems to help control the JBs.

Bart wrote:I'm also dusting with Diatomaceous Earth, that also seems to help control the JBs.

Really? That's good news. Do you spritz the plants first so it sticks?
CC

Nope, it seemed to stick just fine without the spritzing..... But, now that we just had a thunderstorm pass through, I'll need to go out and spritz again....

Bart

Does DE mess with bees?

My understanding is that DE negatively affects all insects (sowbugs, too, but not earthworms) that come into contact with it (when it's dry.) It messes with the waxy layer on their 'skin' and they dehydrate. DE doesn't discriminate between the bugs eating your vegetables, and the good guys that are there to eat the bugs - ladybugs, spiders, lacewings, etc. Whether it harms bees is a controversial topic. Some say bees avoid blossoms treated with DE and claim the bee's 'fur' protects them, others say bees can't tell it's there until they land on it, and the 'fur' only offers limited protection. If you use it, the best plan is to not apply it to flowers, and not apply to dirt/mud/MM that they like to drink from.

Yeah, that was kinda my recollection. I am gonna take my knocks, do the peppermint soapy thing and just go with it, I think. Thanks, BPSF!

A little short of two weeks and the JBs are relatively few compared to last year. My Roses have hardly been touched. Here's my proclamation: Milky Spore works. Woo Hoo.

Bart

Bart, did you apply your own milky spore? To the lawn?