Invasion of Japanese Beetles

[Jitterbugdude]

Although it is impressive to look in a beetle trap bag and see it half full all those bags do is attract beetles for miles around. Beatles that normally would not be on your property are lured there by the bags. You could try mixing up some Diatomaceous Earth with some water and spraying it on the leaf. This mix will coat the leaves and no bugs will eat them. The problem is I'm not sure if you could wash your leaves completely free of the stuff. I use it on green beans and Mexican Bean Beetles are absolutely no problem.

You could also look in to "Neem" extract as well as imidacloprid.

I have read that insecticidal soap kills them but have never tried it. Keep in mind that insecticidal soap is a Potassium based soap while conventional soap is Sodium based, There's also the fact that most of us that use "soap" are actually using detergent which is different from soap. I believe most garden centers sell Insecticidal Soap.

 

[Brown Thumb]

That is why I held off so long on the beetle traps.
I put them in the tree rows about 30 ft away from the patch.
I have used Dia. Earth before but never put it in a sprayer, That is a good idea.
With all the rain I am shure it would wash off.
Thanks, BT

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I have used Dia. Earth before but never put it in a sprayer, That is a good idea.
With all the rain I am shure it would wash off.
Thanks, BT

I clogged the first sprayer I used it on. After that I always ran some soapy water through my sprayer to get all the DE out of it. Can't remember how much to mix into water. Google might have the answer. If not, let me know and I'll dig through my notes. Look at the bright side. Japanese beetles only have a 50-60 day lifespan before they stop feeding and start laying eggs....

 

[Brown Thumb]

. Look at the bright side. Japanese beetles only have a 50-60 day lifespan before they stop feeding and start laying eggs....

By then I will just have stalks left the way they are going to town.
If I could reprogram my wife to pick them off the leaf during the day while I was at work would work.
I tried bribing her with sex that did not work
Maybe a penny a beetle

 

[deluxestogie]

The rare Japanese beetles that occasionally show up on my tobacco just sit there, wondering what went wrong. That's because the popular spots are my blackberries, raspberries, grapes and hazels. A few also give the pie cherry and the apricot a try, but the overwhelming mass of them seem to prefer the popular spots. So, as sacrificial plants, brambles, grapes and hazels would do the trick--IF you didn't want them. My dilemma is that I don't want to sacrifice any of them. Instead, I walk all the plants twice a day, and remove (and kill) every Japanese beetle that I come across. It's kept them fairly well under control (much better than the lure traps sold at the garden centers), but it's tedious.

Bob

 

[Brown Thumb]

I don't mind picking by hand but I work 5 days a week.
I will get some pics of damage tomorrow. I think I would prefer to have a hornworm invasion, chit aphids rock about now.
BT

 

[Knucklehead]

I haven't found any on my tobacco, they seem to be going for my roses and wild plum bushes. I'm using Sevin spray on those plants but wouldn't want to use it on tobacco. It only seems to work if I spray the beetles though, spraying the plant does nothing, next day they are back.

 

[Brown Thumb]

. I'm using Sevin spray on those plants but wouldn't want to use it on tobacco. It only seems to work if I spray the beetles though, spraying the plant does nothing, next day they are back.

That is the reason I haven't sprayed for them. I costs me about 50 bucks to spray the whole patch.
Only to have them come back the next day.
I came home early today and found 3 beetles on my corn, only one bag by the veggy patch and one beetle in the Baccy patch.
They seem to be working and the bags are 1/4 of the way full.
I got my fingers crossed.

 

[Brown Thumb]

The Damage the little jap. Beetles do. They chewed up the whole crop.

 

[deluxestogie]

I have Japanese beetles on many nearby plants and shrubs, which they damage by skeletonizing the leaf. The few Japanese beetles I've found on the tobacco were just sitting there, not feeding. I don't think they caused even one tiny hole in my tobacco.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

I haven't found any Japanese Beetles on my tobacco. That leaf damage doesn't look bad unless it's wrapper leaf. I quit fighting the grass hoppers and just decided to share with them. I doubt they've eaten 4oz out of the whole patch anyway. It just looks bad, but most of my leaf is not wrapper grade anyway. Shred it and smoke it.