For the past month or so, something has been eating the leaves of the plants in my garden and pots. I never saw any bugs or critters so it had me stumped. Last weekend, I saw a beetle on a green bean leaf. After some research, talking with coworkers, and checking with my online gardening board, I'm pretty sure it's the Japanese Beetle. You can read more about them HERE and HERE. The little suckers are making lace out of my leaves. Almost every plant I have outside have holes in them!Today, I made up an organic concoction I found online that's supposed to kill and deter the JB. It contains water, dish soap (which kills them instantly), cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. I'll see in the coming weeks whether or not it works. If not, I'll have to resort to chemical insecticides.
12 comments:
Yup, that's a good ol' Japanese beetle. Let me guess, the leaves of your plants have been eaten into a lacy pattern, right?
If the homemade remedy doesn't work, you can try pyrethrin oil spray (pyrethrins are natural oils) or Sevin dust. I wouldn't use the Sevin dust on anything you plan to eat...just as a precaution.
Don't be tempted to get a Japanese beetle trap, though. While they do collect beetles, they actually attract more beetles to the general area. And some of those beetles will never make it into the trap because they're too busy snacking on your plants!
Good luck. They're annoying little buggers!
PS...thanks for the info on the pool cleaning stuff. I'll have to look and see what I can find around here.
Good luck getting rid of the beetle.
Good luck getting rid of the beetles, Meari! I'm having a lot of problems with Japanese Beetles in my Roses this year as well and I had forgotten about that organic remedy... Thanks for posting it! :-)
Yep, that definitely looks like a Japanese beetle. We had the same problem! I discovered "holes" all over the oak leaf hydrangea in front of the house this past weekend, and saw a couple of the little beetles lounging around on some of the leaves.
We made a trip to Menards, and wound up with this (homely!) green and yellow contraption that claimed to have a scent to attract and trap the beetles. Shortly after we put it up, the beetles were swarming around...and it is amazing to watch them zoom towards it and drop in to be trapped. It seems to be working quite well so far. I guess the "scent" lasts about a year, and you are supposed to empty the trap when it starts to smell bad. Yikes! But after two days, there is about an inch deep or so of bugs in there already. Time will tell if it is a long term fix or now, but it seems to be working well for now.
Oh those nasty beggers! I don't have any recipes for them but if you have troubles with other types of bugs, I have a great natural one that is easy to make!
I have that same problem with my hosta.. never get to enjoy them the whole summer. :( Wish you best of luck getting your beetles. :)
~Kim~
We are having a problem with this web worm. Think that's what Dennis called them. The mixture you was talking about sounds like a howard garet thing. If it is then It should work. Thanks for the comment and wish you the best.
I have Japanese Beetles in my roses. Last year I tried this organic spray and it worked great.
Oh, yes, I've seen a couple in my plants, too.
Remember back in the 80's when everyone had those yellow bags hanging in their yards to attract and catch them?
Good luck with getting rid of them! They look nice though, too bad they do damage.
I hope you don't mind but I have tagged you for a 5 things meme on my blog. :)
I always know it is July, because of the nasty critters! One tip!! NEVER buy the bags that "catch" them. THEY ATTRACT them & you end up with MANY MORE!!! We made that mistake one year!!!
At first glance I thought it was a pin or something it was so pretty and shiney. Hard to believe that they can cause so much damage. Hope your homemade deterent works and they leave your plants alone.
Sue
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