Can't my Hibiscus get a break? - Japanese Beetles

16 years ago

Last year, my hibiscus was eaten up twice by a very bad case of sawflies. I've never seen it get so bad. Luckily the hibiscus was able to pull through again but it never really bloomed all that much.

After experimenting with lots of various home recipes, I started using sevin spray which is what stopped the sawflies last late summer. I swore I'd keep up to date this summer.

As soon as the hibiscus grew and I saw the first sawfly, I sprayed them all. I wasn't too vigorous. I usually waited till I saw sawflies before I sprayed. Luckily, I seemed to have stopped the problem because I haven't used sevin spray in a long while.
{{gwi:577611}}

I don't know how to explain why the one on the left is approaching six feet tall. It's really baffling but I'm not complaining.

However, what I am complaining about this time around... Today I was bombarded by japanese beetles just walking by the biggest Hibiscus. There's so many of them that they're flying around and clinging to each other (mating?). Should I be concerned about them going after Hibiscus?

I've never had a japanese beetle problem and it's really surprising to deal with them now for the first time. I don't want to take the sevin spray route (but I will if I have to. I'm not going through the disaster I went through last year) so I was wondering if anyone knew the best way to get rid of them?

Comments (6)

aisgecko
16 years ago
Mine got chomped by something. The leaves look like lace. The flower buds still seem ok. So far not too many JBs but I'm sure they'll find us some day!. Always something, right?!
dragonstone
Original Author
16 years ago
aisgecko - Could it be sawflies? They left my leaves all lacy. If you look under the leaves, you'll see tiny ''caterpillars'' under them. The adults are black flying insects with a brown dot on their back.
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Usually, the JBs don't bother my corn silks even though there are many present. This is because there are other things around that draw them first....like wild grape vine leaves, young leaves in the top of plum trees, the new red and yellow raspberries leaves, and hibiscus blooms....!! The silks are pollinatable about 3 days while they are whitish green or in some cases pinkish. It is best to hand shake the tassels early in the cycle to get them pollinated before insects eat the silks. Corn rootworm beetles are the worst silk eaters in the corn belt. When the silks begin to brown, it is too late to pollinate When silks are cut off short, it is serious. Perhaps pulling the end shucks back a bit and shaking the tassel tops over them might help. Still, you don't want to expose the grain area as bugs will move in then. When part of the grains are not pollinated, the grains that are pollinated tend to grow larger and starchier with silks very hard to remove. Prevention of silk damage is greatly to be desired.
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Thank you everyone for your replies. I appreciate them so much. I didn't realize that Sevin came in a concentrated liquid form. I will definitely check it out. I've also never heard of nematodes. So I'm going to look up to see what that exactly is. Here's an update on the situation: I just came in from mowing the lawn, and as I drove by I could see that there are no Japanese Beetles to speak of in my yard; or at least not on any of my plantings. Having said that, my shrubs look like they were involved in a nuclear fallout or perhaps like a volcano erupted nearby. They are are completely covered in the white powder! As for treating the yard for slugs, I know we have TONS of them. When we planted the shrubs this year they were everywhere in the holes we were digging. I wonder though if it would be a futile attempt because I live way out in the country, and I am surrounded, in all directions, by hundreds and hundred of acres of prairie. To illustrate, we have bunnies that live in our yard, and just a moment ago the most adorable groundhog was hanging out by our back porch. This may be a dumb question (if it is, please forgive my ignorance) but do the beetles also attack in cities and in the suburbs or is this more of a rural issue? I am interested in the traps. I forgot about them. I know some people say they attract the beetles so much that it can, in the long run, make the problem worse, but I think I'm already in the midst of "much worse". It's just amazing to me that 3 years ago I never saw one, then last year I saw a good amount, and this year they have evidently taken over my yard. :Thanks again, everyone for your replies. It's nice to find people who know so much about so many things that I care about.
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The blue container line by Bayer works well. Check the ingredient list for imidacloprid. The also have a spray, but I prefer the tree and shrub drench - it is less messy and it last for up to a year. HOWEVER, WARNING - I have not tried it on my basjoo. It only gets a few nibbles occasionally. But I do use it on my hibiscus, crape myrtle and red maple. The old climbing rose and raspberries I leave for the beetles. After several years of using the drench, I find that the beetle population in my yard has dropped greatly. Of course, that could have something to do with the droughts we've had as well.
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spazzycat_1
16 years ago
There are several controls, none of them seem to be ideal, but here they are:

- systemic imidacloprid, something like Bayer's Rose and Flower Care. It will keep the beetles off the leaves, but they will move to the flowers.

- Neem oil. Some people seem to have luck with this.

- Hand pick and drown them in a bucket of soapy water. Works well unless you have a heavy infestation.

- Pyrethrin sprays. These work pretty well and are better than Sevin for the environment because the active ingredient doesn't persist very long.
dragonstone
Original Author
16 years ago
They're gone now. At least, I think they are. I went outside and couldn't find one. I guess they decided to move on to the next place. I don't see any damage. It was really weird how they just showed up and left.

I'll have to check in the mornin tomorrow in case it was the heat that's making them 'disappear'.
deirdre_2007
16 years ago
I have a huge problem with the Japanese Beetles. I just went and bought the Bayer Rose care, but I wasn't aware that they'd move on to my flowers. Yikes, I thought it would get rid of them altogether.

Sigh. Can you tell me where I can get the Pyrethrin sprays? Is it under a name brand? I like the idea that it is "less" toxic . . .

Thank you.
spazzycat_1
16 years ago
Bayer Rose and Flower Care. JPs are smarter than they look. They somehow figure out that eating the leaves of the plant will kill them, so they tend to cluster around the flowers. However, this makes it a bit easier to use some of the other controls, such as knocking them in a bucket of soapy water or using the pyrethrin sprays. I typically only use this product on Roses, crape myrtles, and persicaria (the worst JP offenders in my garden).

Pyrethrin sprays. These are generally packaged as generic insect killers or wasp/hornet killers in an aerosol can. Look at the list of active ingredients to find one. The only drawback is that tender young foliage may take a hit from these sprays, so be conservative with the spray until you know how the foliage will react. Also do not use on mandevilla vine. I used it this winter to treat mealey bugs on a mandevilla vine that I overwinter inside, and it promptly dropped all its leaves. Didn't kill it, but it came close.

Can't my Hibiscus get a break? - Japanese Beetles

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aisgecko

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Can't my Hibiscus get a break? - Japanese Beetles

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aisgecko

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