Japanese beetles War

I got back from a trip to PA this weekend and saw a swarm of bugs around my hop garden and plum tree. At a closer look I come to find that the Japanese beetles have infested my hop plant and plum tree down to almost nothing. Oh Sh**! not my Hops! There were hundreds of beetles eating and mating on my plants. My deck was covered in beetle poo and plant material they didn’t want to eat. It was a disgusting sight!
I ran to the hardware store as fast as I could to purchase some weapons to fight the infestation. Every minute counts. I came home with Seven ( powder insect killer for vegetable gardens) and some off brand sprayer you attach to your garden hose. They both claim to kill bugs in minutes. I wasn’t happy about putting chemicals on my hops, however I had no choice.
Operation Hop freedom was in full force. Up went the ladder and out came the white powder onto the hop plants. Minutes later, phase two. I attached the sprayer to my hose and attacked the plum tree. The Japanese Beetles were surprised. Their counter attack was total chaos! They had no idea what hit them. Within minutes they started falling out of the hop and plum tree by the hundreds. There were Japanese Beetles bodies everywhere. I knew cleanup was going to be a mess but I think the hops will survive. The plum tree got hit badly, but I don’t usually make beer out of plums. Or can I.
After it was all over I had only been hit a few times by kamikaze beetles. Damage was minimal. One did go down my shirt however. The next day the few remaining survivors did attack my basal plants just to piss me off. I powdered them too. I am not sure what to expect when I get home tonight.
Out of all this does anyone know what non chemical product I can put on my hop plants to stop this needless attack?

[email protected] said:

Out of all this does anyone know what non chemical product I can put on my hop plants to stop this needless attack?

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I have no advice to offer, I'm afraid. I just wanted to say how much I'm looking forward to the movie of the book!

I inspect my hops daily and carry a spray bottle of liquid sevin. When I see a beetle, I spray it, but not the whole plant. In your case though, it sounds like you had no choice.

I've read about people putting garlic cloves, hot peppers, onion in a blender with a quart or two of water, letting that steep a night or two, straining it through a coffee filter and spraying it on. not sure what that would do to the flavor of the hops though if used late in the season just before harvest. some people use nicotine in this concoction too (chaw spit possibly?)

The Safer people make an organic pest killer which i believe is insecitcidal soap and pyrethium (sp?) which as i understand it, while a manufactured chemical, is naturally occurring compund in chrysanthemums. It's widely reputed to be harmless to mammals and I've used it with some degree of success, although you'll need to re-apply once a week while the beetles are around.

I've taken to crushing these f-ers between my thumb and forefinger, makes me feel like a big man.

Sevin (also known as carbaryl) is a relatively safe insecticide. It has been used for years indoors on dogs and cats for fleas, and you can actually shake it into your carpet to kill the little devils.

Sevin is a cholinesterase inhibitor, which means it stops the uptake of cholinesterase in the cell structure. It works so quickly that you will often see the ground covered in dead bugs very shortly after you spray.

I'm thinking that the amount of weather you'll get on your plants between now and harvest will pretty much minimize any carryover or residue in your hops.

Try something like this:

http://www.spectracide.com/ProductCategories/OutdoorInsecticide/BagABug/

You can get them pretty much anywhere you get home + garden stuff and I dont think they have to be this brand but something similar.

I know my parents use them out in the country to get rid of theirs all summer. Make sure you put these "bags" a ways away from what you DONT want them to eat because they ATTRACT bug then kill them. SO you're going to get more bugs coming towards them but it will keep them away from your hops if you put them far enough away.

sevin for the "right now" effect.

That was written outstanding. Like a Grandfather enthusiastically telling his grandkids about fighting the krauts or something. I was on the edge of my chair the whole time.
Ok not really the edge. More like reclined with my feet up. BUT GOOD NON THE LESS!! Get them evil bastids!!

Bacillus thuringiensis will kill them as well as many other bugs. It isn't instantaneous. They eat it, then hours later they stop eating and die. The bacteria is packaged in a powdered product that looks like talcum powder.

One brand that I used successfully is called Dipel Dust. Check your lawn and garden stores that stock organic non-chemical pesticides. I doubt you'll find it at HD or Lowes. I use it to kill cutworms on my tomato plants. It can be used right up until harvest and is not dangerous to humans, although I would certainly rinse the hops after harvest regardless.

There are also many plants that the Japanese Beetle doesn't like to eat. You can plant these around your hop plants to discourage the little buggers. See this link:

Pest Control for Japanese Beetle

SOB said:

Make sure you put these "bags" a ways away from what you DONT want them to eat because they ATTRACT bug then kill them. SO you're going to get more bugs coming towards them but it will keep them away from your hops if you put them far enough away.

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Exactly. Baiting always seems like a poor idea to me when you are trying to kill off the bugs in the first place. I understand that the bait and kill works, but there is always a percentage that don't take the bait and stay on your plants. Bring more in with the attractant just ups the percentage of bugs that may or may not be killed by the bait.

It's loose / loose in my mind.

Sevin does a great job with many pests, but can aggravate Spider Mites by killing their natural enemies, while being a very poor miticide. Keep your eyes open for those buggers!

I ended up spraying my hops but the Dipel Dust seems like it could be a winner. I'll try to find time to stop by a store and pick some up, then report back.

I think this thread got Politically Correctisized unfortunately.

All Is quite on the Western Front. I came home last night and the hops are looking good. There were a few beetles on their backs giving a final leg twitch. Thank you for all the information on how to manage these disgusting creatures.

Homercidal said:

Sevin does a great job with many pests, but can aggravate Spider Mites by killing their natural enemies, while being a very poor miticide. Keep your eyes open for those buggers!

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Check out my post on spider mites. After doing some checking (after the fact, unfortunately), I'm sure that my use of sevin dust has caused a spider mite problem on my plants. As stated, sevin doesn't do much for spider mites while killing their natural enemies. Actually, not only does it not kill spider mites, it may actually make them more fertile! Add to this the fact that spider mites like hot, dry, and dusty conditions, and you could be looking at creating a whole new problem while fixing another.
Good luck!

Chris

I applied a moderate amount of neem (non-toxic) at the first sign of japanese beetle damage, and that seems to have limited their interest. I've seen people write that neem can flavor/ruin the hops, but I seriously doubt this is the case unless you use a ton of it... and anyway it's either that or let the beetles defoliate the plants.

You can also handpick into a bucket of soapy water - they are slow and easy to catch, so this is very effective if you do it regularly.

For next year, treat the area with grub killer.
Japanese beetles spend most of their lives underground.

mmb said:

Exactly. Baiting always seems like a poor idea to me when you are trying to kill off the bugs in the first place. I understand that the bait and kill works, but there is always a percentage that don't take the bait and stay on your plants. Bring more in with the attractant just ups the percentage of bugs that may or may not be killed by the bait.

It's loose / loose in my mind.

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I would personally go the liquid sevin route but he was looking for a way to kill them without putting anything on the hops.

The "Bait Bags" work quite well, surprisingly. My 'rents had these beetles eating their trees up. Sprayed the trees with liquid sevin and they died. They also put up these bags that kept them from coming back to the trees. Less then a week later the bag was full of beetles and the trees were clear.

egolla said:

For next year, treat the area with grub killer.
Japanese beetles spend most of their lives underground.

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I did put grub killer down this year because last year they came after my lawn. We have a 20 acre grass field behind our house that belongs to a church. I am sure that’s where they came from. I tried the bag idea about 5 years ago. Not sure if it helped. I keep hearing that you should stay away from the bag.

Not sure I'd use pyrethrin on consumables, excerpt from the wiki entry:
"Pyrethrins are harmful to fish, birds, and mammals, including humans. In humans, pyrethrin irritates the eyes, skin, and respiratory systems, and it may cause other harmful effects. One study suggested a link between maternal pyrethrin use and autism in children.[4] The study indicated that mothers of autistic children were twice as likely to have washed a pet dog with a flea shampoo containing pyrethrin while they were pregnant."

I always try to avoid any non-organic non-natural pesticides. That's why I used Dipel Dust, Neem, oil soap sprays, and the like.

For red spider mites, the best thing to combat them is predator mites. The predator mites are carnivores and won't eat your plants. They eat red spider mites. There's a couple of different common types of red spider mites, and you need a different predator mite for each, so be sure to examine your mites and identify what kind you have before you order your predators.

Jim Karr said:

Sevin (also known as carbaryl) is a relatively safe insecticide.

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Wikipedia says this about Sevin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sevin