Japanese beetle control

[olllllo]

Hit those Beatles up with a good dose of Yoko.



*sigh I do this every year.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=321588&postcount=8

 

[Lucky Dog Brewing]

My wife has been looking into organic everything and the one interesting tidbit she through my way was that you can use white vinegar in a spray bottle as an organic insecticide. Also it deters cats in the plant beds so maybe a dual purpose.

Anyone ever tried it ?

I am going to do some looking and post if I find anything.

 

[JarrodH]

My wife has been looking into organic everything and the one interesting tidbit she through my way was that you can use white vinegar in a spray bottle as an organic insecticide. Also it deters cats in the plant beds so maybe a dual purpose.

Anyone ever tried it ?

I am going to do some looking and post if I find anything.

Have heard it kills weeds, but I am trying it right now on some of mine. (weeds)

 

[conpewter]

Straight distilled vinegar didn't do crap to my weeds grr. I've heard salt is great if you never want something to grow there again.

 

[Lucky Dog Brewing]

Have heard it kills weeds, but I am trying it right now on some of mine. (weeds)

Yes she said that straight should kill weeds, but a diluted solution is meant to keep bugs away. I haven't found where ever she saw this, but I did find that it say putting straight vinegar will repel 4 legged animals rabbits, cats, deer...

 

[hopsoda]

i have used onion spray to get rid of pesky bugs ...

juice a onion and put the juice in a spray bottle with water and spray the leaves of your plants.

i have used that for many plants and it seems to work. (might want to keep it off the cones) and discontinue spraying them before harvest or your hops might smell kinda onion-e.

not sure if it'll work with Asian beetles , i have never seen one , but it helps with mites and aphids and such.

(i read somewhere that tobacco is a natural pesticide but i haven't tried that yet)

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

(i read somewhere that tobacco is a natural pesticide but i haven't tried that yet)

It's actually Nicotine but nothing substantial confirms or denies any potentially plant fatal interaction with hops. I have tried and had success fighting back a mite infestation using a light, home cooked solution. Basically, I dumped cigarette butts into a used milk jug and soaked them in water. I added some of the butt spray to a dish soap solution and sprayed only the affected plants.

the mites went away but, the plants suffered. the infestation was ciught late so it's impossible to say if it was the damage or the nictine that made the plants sick.

I'd use it again but, only as a last resort.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Any verdict from those who've tried the motor oil method yet?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I've got an organic pesticide that I use on all of my vegetables. It kills pretty much everything, including japanese beetles. When I get off work, I'll check the brand name and post it.

 

[menschmaschine]

Any verdict from those who've tried the motor oil method yet?

I just tried the motor oil method... doesn't work. We've got some Jap beetles eating our garden... they particularly like broccoli leaves. I put a little left-over oil from a recent change in an open plastic container under the broccoli. No beetles in it at all after 5 days.

So far (knock wood), the beetles aren't near as bad as they were last year... they were everywhere last year. I'm hoping the milky spore I put down last fall is working. It seems like it is, unless a major emergence is yet to come.

 

[conpewter]

motor oil is not working for me either, put it in a yellow container, hung it up at head height (so the dog couldn't get in it) and nary a beetle has been found in it. I do have a couple on the plants.

 

[babalu87]

Japanese beetle range

LOL

They just all stop at the Maine/New Hampshire border???????

 

[Mutilated1]

treat your yard early in the spring and kill all the Japanese Beetles while they're still grubs and then you won't have to worry about them when they turn to Beetles in the summer

 

[Bobby_M]

While it's good to kill grubs in your yard for your lawn's sake, you'll still have a beetle problem if none of your neighbors care about their lawns. I've just decided that they can have my Fuggle plant. It's now the sacrificial variety and I have no idea why they prefer Fuggle over Cascade and Chinook.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Or Nuggett over Willamette and Tettnang.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I also have a Nugget that they seem to prefer over my cascade and mt. hood

 

[Seabee John]

just discovered them today and so far, they haven't touched my EKG or Fuggles, but they've been munching on the very tops of my nuggets and have made a great mess of my cascades...

One question: I've started to get hop buds everywhere... I've yet to see people discussing weather or not these bastards attack the flowers, or what if any impact on flavor of your beer some of these pesticides you would use have...

I'm a bit depressed, it sounds as if there is no easy answer.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I use garden safe pesticides, so it imparts absolutely no flavor on the plants. I've had to spray it on every other day though, so that bites.

As far as them eating the flowers, I don't think so. Mine have been flowering for about a week now and I have yet to see them eating one. Now, when it turns into a cone that could be a different story.

 

[hopsoda]

I just read that rhubarb leaves are also poisonous and make a natural pesticide...

something is eating the tops off my plants or they are dying? the tops grew over my trellis and hang down 3-4' and the ends are dead and wilted?

but I have baby cones now

 

[Seabee John]

Japanese beetle: 0, Seabee John: 143

I went beetle picking tonight, got a good 30 or so off my hops, but after following the flight of a missed grab, he settled in on my neighbors garden... about a dozen plants covered in the little buggers.... so I grabbed my bucket of soapy water and went picking....

I actually have no idea how many I got.... but it's gotta be in the 100 range.

EDIT: just strained and counted.... 143 of the little buggers

 

[Grizz]

Hey guys the solution is simple! All you gotta do is hire a crew of some extremly small japanese beetle killing ninjas and let em loose, does the job every time!

 

[SOB]

I wouldnt be surprised if the Japanese had created something like it!

 

[jgln]

We have lots but they don't touch my hops, probably because they prefer our grapes. Maybe plant something else they would rather eat?

 

[msheraw]

My concern with the motor oil is that when it rains the water would sink and push out the oil on to the ground.

Has anyone used the white powders you can put on the plants. I worry about doing that for obvious hop contamination reasons.

 

[Seabee John]

Well, not so worried about the japanese beetles after the hail storm that wrecked havoc on the entire property... Much dissappointment in the brewhaus

 

[Grizz]

Well, not so worried about the japanese beetles after the hail storm that wrecked havoc on the entire property... Much dissappointment in the brewhaus

Dude, just had quarter size hail the other day. Only lasted for a few minutes, but I've never seen ice fall from the sky......kinda cool. I bet Glenn the Hopfarmer got hit with some hail too mabey, his farm is only a couple hours away.

 

[SOB]

Has anyone used the white powders you can put on the plants. I worry about doing that for obvious hop contamination reasons.

You mean like Sevin dust? I know my parents use it on some of their 3000 bushes and trees that get eaten up. Works like a charm! Then again, they aren't consuming them either!

 

[Seabee John]

Don't bother with NEEM oil (soap)... put it on one evening... next evening I was still infested

little bastards are eating cones now.... what to do what to do.... I do enjoy picking the beetles by hand and pulling their little heads off... just not enough satisfaction though...

 

[menschmaschine]

Has anyone else noticed a reduction in the amount of Jap beetles in the mid-atlantic states this year? We hardly had any and at first I attributed it to my milky spore application last fall, but I was talking to someone from Chester Co, PA and he said he also noticed a lot less this year and he's never put milky spore down. Was it the wet spring or something? Do these beetles go through cycles?

 

[1stTimer]

Maryland here and we arent really having a big problem. I've only had a few on my hops with minimal damage. Not sure what the deal is this year. They were everywhere 2 years ago and seem to have fallen off last year and this year.