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Vegetable Gardening

Green beans and japanese beetles ... are my plants doomed?

12 years ago

Hi all. I am having an awful time with japanese beetles getting my green bean plants. I have searched the forum and saw many use soapy water and just collect the beetles. I have been doing this (you can see a small blue bucket in the lower right). The bucket fills daily but they are ruthless. I cannot keep up with them.

I noticed tody the flowers seem to be weakening. They go from white to an off white and the seem to be dying.

I am trying to avoid chemicals. If the beetles keep it up, will beans still grow? Or are my plants doomed?

I am very temped to get the beetle bags but I have read to avoid ding this.

Anything else I can do?

Thanks,

jen

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Comments (6)

planatus
12 years ago
The good thing about Japanese beetles is that they feed on the leaves rather than the growing tips and flowers, so the plants keep producing. Most veggies including pole beans can tolerate losing one third of their leaves and still produce a good crop. The damage you have there is moderate, so keep up the hand picking. The number of beetles will naturally fall off sharply in another couple of weeks.
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jen1996
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you fr your reply.
do you have any thoughts re the flowers? Is it normal that tgey weaken and discolor?
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sorry i thought the kw were a hybrid, obviously i am wrong. as to the trap crop, i do NOT need a trap crop! the kw brought the jb TO the garden! well it seems that way because i seldom have jb problems in the garden. the 4 beans are all in the same area, it is not the soil. my garden is well established with rich soil. an explaination will help explain the differences in size. the old favorite variety (ofv) i grew for years was planted at the same time next to the kw. the ofv seeds are old (from 2000 or 2001) so germination was way behind the kw seeds which were new seed from johnny's this year. that ofv was just emerging from the soil when the kw had been up for 10-12 days and then the ofv grew slower than the kw. as to the 2 new polish varieties, they were planted 3 1/2 weeks later than those other 2. they came up ok, not slow like the ofv but quick like kw, but they are smaller due to a late start. this is why the kw are so much taller on the trellis, the other 3 are catching up, it is not the soil. and yes alfie, perhaps you are correct. maybe the jb are going to the kw because it is the highest of the 4 pole beans but maybe kw tastes better to them? at any rate, i noticed yesterday the damage is not progressing as fast as it had been. i will still compare how the kw produce and taste. i have lot of kw seeds left and if kw does ok despite this i'll grow it again. thanks for your help, tom
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chas045
12 years ago
We have (or had) plenty of JB. Actually, I would say your damage should be considered to be mimimal rather than moderate. Your plants look fine to me.
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planatus
12 years ago
The flower petals of most plants change color as they age. Not all of the flowers will set beans, but as nights become longer and cooler more of them will progress from blossom to bean. I'm in 6b-VA, and my Japanese beetles have definitely peaked and are on the wane.
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naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
12 years ago
Many (most) bean flowers will not set beans when temperatures are high. When more moderate temps return many more of the flowers will develop into beans.
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defrost49
12 years ago
There are bugs in my garden. Last year was a disaster with striped cucumber beetles and squash bugs. This year I planted more marigolds, borage and nasturtiums in among the veggies. I have some Japanese beetles. I noticed them first on some weeds. We have enough room to have a swath of weeds near the vegetable garden. The pea fences stay up all year and we have birds that love to sit on the fences and watch for insects. I don't know if I'm just lucky this year or the birds and weeds are helping with bug problems.

Check into Milky Spore. It is safe to use and only kills Japanese beetles and grubs and doesn't harm beneficial insects.
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