oh man, japanese beetles!

I was wondering when these were going to show up, and today I found them chewing. Crushed all I could find before going off to work, and came home to find another handful here and there to crush.
I know these things are going to mass produce in the next 2 weeks to the point of uncontrollable chaos, so I'm wondering about sevin-dust. On my vegetables, fruit trees, and grape leaves, I've always dosed them with the sevin-dust, and it works well, and I can still consume the product when harvest comes. Can I do this with the hops?
I've read about soapy solutions, and lure bags that draw them away, but I need a fail safe incase they actually decide the hops are better than anything else in my yard.

Suggestions appreciated.

Karb

Sevin will kill em.

Dr Vorlauf said:

Sevin will kill em.

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Which? The beetles or the hops?

Japs are so hard shelled, I am not sure it would be effective. I have worked in the landscape trade for 20 years and have never found anything outside of good old hand picking, or a flamethrower, to handle these buggers. The lures are best placed about 1000 feet away as they tend to promote egg laying by the females.
Sevin kills ALMOST EVERYTHING, good and bad. It is usually a 'last resort' item in the IPM tool kit.

Sevin won't hurt your hops or make them unusable.

I've heard diatomaceous earth works well. You're supposed to be able to mix it with your insecticidal soap, water, or whatever, and spray it on the plants. Doesn't do anything wet, but once it dries it provides some residual protection. I gotta get to a nursery.

DONT GET A LURE BAG!! Unless you put it a block away, every japanese beetle for miles wil be right in your own back yard. I learned the hard way. My garden still hates me for it.

Man, my Fuggle is being destroyed from the top down by these F'ers. I got that garden safe soap stuff that says "kills on contact" and it really doesn't do such a great job. It drove a few of them away but some just ignored my activity and continued chomping.

Go to a yard sale and get a blender. Gather up as many of the beetles as you can. throw them in the crappy blender with a cup of water, and strain out the parts. Put the liquid in a cheap squirt bottle. Spray the bug juice all over your plants. For some reason, the beetles don't like to eat through Uncle Bob. The solution doesn't store very long (maybe if refrigerated or frozen...), and you'll have to reapply after a rain, but the beetles are only around for a couple weeks.

Neem oil will work and is natural won't harm you...I buy the concentrate and spray once a week...Then to step it up a notch...I use Ortho Max garden insect dust once every three weeks again is just fine for fruit and veggies...my hops are happy..

Bighops

Moonshae said:

Go to a yard sale and get a blender. Gather up as many of the beetles as you can. throw them in the crappy blender with a cup of water, and strain out the parts. Put the liquid in a cheap squirt bottle. Spray the bug juice all over your plants. For some reason, the beetles don't like to eat through Uncle Bob. The solution doesn't store very long (maybe if refrigerated or frozen...), and you'll have to reapply after a rain, but the beetles are only around for a couple weeks.

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If that works, it sounds awesome!

I use Neem oil as well.
I haven't had much of a problem with beetles yet. I found one or two on the hops so far but they don't stay around for long.

Neem oil also kill aphids which were eating the heck out of my plants in June.

I have the same problem!! Went on vacation for a week and they moved in. They even chewed on the cones!!!!! The plants will survive, but crap these little boogers can eat!! Not sure what I am going to do about them since my hallertau is about ready to harvest. I normally just flick them off of my tomatoes and into soap water, but 13 feet in the air is a little high to be flicking bugs off.

I had to climb a ladder to shake one off myself last night. First one I've ever seen in five years with this plant. Hopefully it's the last.

Came home last night to find my Hallertau covered in them for the top thrd of the vine. My leaves look like swiss cheese. Knocked em off, but it appears they left the flowers alone.

-Todd

My chickens make quick work of the ones they can get to. They love them.

I went out to the garden after dinner...man, they are all over the grape leaves. Looks like there's more beetles than grapes...lots of finger nail sized ones. I did locate the HUGE mother, I guess that's her...she's like 6 times as large as the rest...should have grabbed her and squashed her on sight...

They haven't made it to the garden that I can see.

My wife mixed up "something" and said go to town on them...they just stayed on the plant like it was raining or something.

I'll have to check in the AM to see if there's any progress...


In an Andy Rooney drawl...Did ya ever notice that Japanese Beetles look a lot like Volkswagons???

Here's a tip for killing the litle buggers. Spray at dusk or shortly thereafter. Apparently then they are less likely to fly away. Last year they were SWARMING all over my cherry tree which had a rough winter so it already was not happy. I found that when I started spraying (hose end tree sprayer - goes to ~30 ft), a bunch would take off before I got to that part of the tree. Then one evening, I sprayed at dusk, and dang if the litle buggers didn't just stay put.

I've just begun this years battle. So far, there are a lot less than last year.

Pjj2ba, What insecticide are you using for your trees?
I've never seen these buggers around here before, but then again, I'm no gardener and probably just never noticed. Over the past week or so, I've found a couple here and there, but no big deal. Compared to the other reports, I was hoping I was going to get lucky. Well, we've definitely got them now; I guess they get really active in warm weather. I came home last night and found about 6 of them chowing on my Saaz, and another couple munching on my Hallertauer - just when both plants have started to produce burrs. I have a tree next to where I planted my hops and it is being swarmed and devoured by the little bastards. I'm hoping the tree keeps them distracted as they seem more interested in that than anything else in the yard. I checked the hops on the way out this morning, and I didn't see any more beetles on them. Of course I'll be keeping an eye on them, and if they start to go after the hops in earnest, I have some Sevin dust I'm going to sprinkle on the plants, unless someone has a better idea. I might also pick up some Neem oil and give it a try.

Chris

I''ve used both Sevin (carbaryl) and Malation. The last spraying of Sevin seems to have worked pretty well. I applied it (at night) right after some rain and it hasn't rained since so I'm seeing very few of the little f@#*$ right now. I've noticed I've had some new growth since I last sprayed and the bugs are starting to find that so I think I'll be spraying again tonight.

alrighty then. Thanks!
I assume that you're using liquid sevin/carbaryl. So you're using it on your trees and your hops? Just wondering. I know it's a relatively safe insecticide.

Chris

Had a bunch more of those little bastards on my Saaz last night. They completely destroyed a couple of leaves. After drowning them in some soapy water and removing the badly damaged leaves, I improvised a puffer out of a dish soap bottle for applying the Sevin dust. Actually didn't work too badly, though I need to work on my technique. I didn't have time to get the ladder out, but the plants are only 7-8 feet tall, so I just kinda blew some dust at the leaves at the tops of the plants. Hopefully it's enough to, at least, make the plants unappetizing for today. Guess we'll see.
BTW, does Carbaryl dust lose effectiveness over time? I've had this stuff in an open bag in the basement for a couple of years.

Chris

I'm using the liquid. I use a hose end sprayer so I can hit the top of my 30 ft cherry tree (hops too). I took a close look last night and was pleased to see a whole bunch of the little suckers on the ground dead.

If it was stored properly (cool and dry, no freezing) it should still be good. Liquids should never be allowed to freeze. Many of the liquid formulation are really emulsions and the freezing can make the components separate.

I think the respray interval is 7-10 days, sooner if there has been a lot of rain.

Ok then. Came home last night and there was only one beetle on one of my plants, so it looks like it worked. It was on the Crystal that is taller than the Saaz and I very well might not have done the best job of dusting. Broke out the ladder and gave them another shot. OF course, it rained last night, so I'm going to have to reapply.

I'm trying to grow grapes in PA. The Jap beetles would kill everything if left alone. Went to sevin. Bought concentrate , mixed in small sprayer , works great. They still have to take a bite ,but only one. Stands up to a few rains.Very cost effective. If you get on the beetles early you can cut down the numbers for next year as they feed, mate, then drop to the ground and lay their eggs on the spot. I wish these state funded universities would come up with something to eradicate these things in a more natural manner.

Pete0 said:

I wish these state funded universities would come up with something to eradicate these things in a more natural manner.

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That would be great if they can incorporate a Beetle resistant strain of each flavor right?

The top of my Fuggles leaves look like muslin cloth. I sprayed the bines with Sevin and it seems to have stopped the raid. I still see a few here and there. I am going to spray again. Funny thing is, across from the Fuggles are Cascade which seem to not have been bothered at all.

I know of one surefire way to rid them from your yard. Spread nematoads. Overtime they kill the grubs in your lawn which turn into hop eating beetles. Bait bags are bad news. They prmote more than they help. Diatonaceous Earth works well to but has to be dusted over several applications and rain washes it out.

Sevin seems to work well when in need and can be used up to one day of harvest (depending on solution).

I am glad to know that we all have these issues and that the beetles didn't just attack my crop. I guess they love hops just as much as I do.

- WW

These Japaneese Beetles are a pain aren't they...My neem oil helps a little but main reason I like to use it is it's natural and harmless to consume..the seven and the ortho max on the other hand is not..I find that I need to use both products to achieve good results, but the thought of that stuff in my beer eats at me..

Today I shot some seven on 'em and some of my fruit trees because they where looking like swiss cheese..Turn your head for one moment and they will chow down...well any way back to my point when I was finished w/ the seven dust my hands burned a little and washed it off real good..then I looked at the bottle and seen all the warnings...

This stuff can't be good for us man...has to be a better "Organic" way of achiving results..

Bighops

More on Nematodes
http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB121674987784474153.html

BigHops said:

the seven dust my hands burned a little

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Use liquid sevin in the hose end sprayer. Kills 'em in about 30 seconds.

I have been using a mix of water, redhot, garlic, and a little dish soap (as a wetting agent). Put it in a spray bottle and go to town. Re-apply after rains. Of course, it won't kill the beetles, but they sure don't seem to like the taste! My leaves looked like swiss cheese...the alpine lace variety with more holes than cheese! Before I started using it, I would take lots of beetles off every day. Since using it, I get maybe one or two beetles off a day. (the few little buggers that found the spots I missed with the spray, I suppose.) Anyway, I am hoping the leaves will heal, as I just started this method last week.

It definitely seems to work!