Are there any new ideas on japanese beatle bugs.Last year they took over everything hand picking them off seem of wasting alot of time.I dread of having them again.I hope this year I will get a pair of hummingbirds not just migrating through to stay all summer long.


eldon voorhees

Eldon,
There are some plants that japanese beetles are attracted to so I avoid growing those or plant them away from my main plants. They love holly hocks and rose of sharon shrubs and other plants in the malva family such as hibiscus. They also like morning glories. They like coneflowers too. I quit growing holly hocks and I do have one rose of sharon but it is away from all my other plants. I got rid of the hibiscus. The morning glories reseed in my yard but they are growing in my neighbors bushes so I don't worry about them. They also like my bee balm and I can't do without that so I do go out early in the morning and start knocking them in my bucket of soapy water.They don't bother the salvias or the agastchaes very much..just an odd beetle every now and then. The best and safest thing I have found is to keep a bucket of soapy water handy and knock them into the bucket.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

THank you Penny,Do we have to deal with them every year.???


What a Pain Ho,Well,Life goes on like everything else.



eldon voorhees

Yes Eldon we have to deal with them every year until a natural predator of the Japanese beetle comes along to eradicate them for us or we move down south (they don't have them yet.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Eldon, I put down milky spore 12 years ago. It's a naturally occuring bacterium that kills the larvae before they turn into the adult beetle. It's not harmful to h. birds. It did last about 9-10 years, and I do need to place another application this spring. This is the only thing I've found to reduce my population of jap beetles. But then, if you have neighbors close by who have a lot of grubs in their lawn, it may not prove to be worthwhile for you. But I did notice a significant drop in my population over many years once it was down. HTH.

kathy t.
shebly twp., MI
Zone 5/6

You'd have to move pretty far south to avoid the beetles...the Carolinas share your defoliation pain. When I lived in Florida, however, we didn't have them. My uneducated guess would be that they food they like doesn't grow well there. In addition to penny's list, almost anything in the rosacea family, such as apples, pears, cherries, and of course roses are fair game. They seem to enjoy my japanese maples as well. They're pests, but they don't really kill plants, just make them look bad. Soapy water in the morning will keep your perennials looking OK, and the milky spore works for your own property. But they'll always come from somewhere.

Wouldn't it be perfect if hummers adapted to eat japanese beetles?

Zone 7B
North Carolina Piedmont

Eldon, Japanese beatles love my Cannas. This is the only plant that is a problem for me. Like everone says, just knock them into a bucket of soapy water.

birdlegs
zone 5
S.E. Lower MI.