Dorothy, that's great news! What is the brand of your Japanese Beetle trap and where did you buy it? I don't have any, that I know of, but there's always next year, huh..... I still am having the usual problem with birds pecking one hole in the largest, most perfect looking fruit! You'd think they'd peck at the ones that have worms in them cause then they'd get a "bonus"!

I am busy canning peaches, I am having to pick the peaches while still slightly under-ripe and letting them ripen on the porch, or they fall to the ground and get a big ol' bruise. And then I lose a good part of some of them because I don't want the "bonus", either, LOL. But I've been getting enough for part of a canner load every morning, and I've had tomatoes or tomato juice to round out the load. So far I've got 17 quarts of peaches.

The apples are looking good, as soon as I get all the peaches off the tree the apples will probably be ready to start on. I'm not particularly crazy about the canning process, but I've no room in the freezer at this point. I hope to have enough room made for the apples as I prefer the frozen slices over a canned product.

I cleaned out the freezer yesterday and I found a lot of things I thought I was out of. Last winter, we started buying canned green beans and there was another big bag still in the freezer. Also found a gallon bag of green peppers that we had before DH went out and bought more, so we have 3 gallons of peppers in the freezer even if I never grow any. My container-grown peppers aren't producing very much. I have two containers that keep getting stopped up when it rains and so I have lost those peppers. The others, I can't seem to keep enough water in them. On the day after it has rained cats and dogs, they're dry and starting to wilt. I am having to water them twice a day and I think the water is just running through to the ground. So I am still bell pepper challenged and have some refining to do yet. But hey! I'm no longer onion challenged! I think next year I will line the planters with a brown paper grocery bag. That ought to solve the problem of the hole getting clogged and might help retain some of the water that I put in long enough to soak in to the soil.

Dorothy,

I am glad to hear about your success with the Japanese Beetle traps. This year, they aren't a problem here, but some years they are. I've heard some people complain that the traps "attract" more bugs than they had before, but I am not sure if that is true. It could be the bugs were there all along, but are just more visible because they are coming to the traps.

I'm having an odd bug year.....in a normal year, I'd be battling squash bugs, squash vine borers and cucumber beetles like crazy....and already would have had potato bugs...this year, other than grasshoppers and stinkbugs, really not many bugs. No aphids at all this entire year. No potato bugs. No leaf-footed bugs (yet). No Japanese beetles. No mosquitoes. Only the most minor corn earworm and European corn borer damage. Lots of frogs and toads and birds, so maybe they are controlling the bugs this year? With well over 100 tomato plants, you'd think I'd have hornworms, wouldn't you? I think I've seen four all year. I do have lots of wasps of all kinds, so suspect they are controlling the hornworms.

Did you find your Japanese Beetle traps locally? I don't usually see them in stores here.

Dawn

I don't know the brand. The box said Japanese Beetle Trap and had a picture of the beetle and the trap which is a bag that hangs onto a plastic part that you stick the lure onto. The first bag, which I hung next to the roses and cannas because they were covered with beetles, now has a qt of beetles at least and the second which I put next to a large native primrose for the same reason this morning now has at least a pint. The trap came with two bags and I will replace them probably tomorrow. I don't think they are being brought in from somewhere else because I knew we had lots of them and besides our garden is the only one in probably a square mile, maybe more. Dawn, I guess we got your share of potato beetles. We had the worst infestation in years. There aren't many corn earworms this year though and I haven't seen a hornworm yet.

Man!
This year I have gobs of J. beetles. The damage is minimal however, even though I see them all over everything. Some kind of predator must be getting them, but I wouldn't mind giving Mother Nature a helping hand with those JB traps!
I will look around and see if I can find any.
What's the scoop on the alfalfa pellets? I have alfalfa pellets leftover every day that my persnickety rabbit won't eat. He eats out the good stuff in the mix and leaves the pellets. I usually toss it out to the wild birds and cottontail rabbits to eat. Maybe those would work.
Please explain that method.

Thanks for this post.

~ sweetannie4u

I put the alfalfa pellets in 5 gal buckets and filled them half full of water. A few beetles got in them but not many. But that could be because I hung the traps at the same time no more than 15 ft away and probably the traps were so potent that it eclipsed the effect of the alfalfa. Maybe the pellet trap would have worked better alone. But I am delighted with the traps. We have already filled one bag--at least a half gal of the beetles--and have hung a new bag on one trap. Did I mention that we had a GOB of them this year?

Dorothy,

Did extra lures come with the traps?

Annie,

I was soaking alfalfa pellets in 5 gallon buckets to make alfalfa tea to feed the plants in the garden and I got distracted for a few days. The buckets filled up with Japanese beetles and with moths. It worked great here for that. I don't use them routinely, but will put some out if it is a bad bug year. Today, I noticed the chicken were running around with Japanese beetles in the mouths, so maybe that's why I'm not seeing many.

We don't have gobs and gobs of them here like Dorothy has this year, but we do have lots of grasshoppers. It's always something.

Dawn

Ya, my chickens, although they are still basically babies, are pretty much gobbling up the grasshoppers and beetles...and snakes, thank goodness. They can see and eat the tiniest insects. My geese eat grain and graze on the grass all day long, but they will eat spiders and a few other things. Their appetite for spiders surprised me.
I will try the alfalfa trap. The chickens will love whatever gets trapped, I'm sure. :)

Holy Cow Batman!!! When did we get the dreaded Japanese Beetles? I had heard that a few were spotted in Arkansas a few years back, but when did they reach Oklahoma? I don't have them here. I always said that if they ever arrived in numbers like back east then it might be time to hang up the old trowel and take up Canasta. Cucumber Beetles, Grasshoppers, Spider mites, Thrips, Borers, Bagworms, Tent Catapillars, heavy clay soil, Ice Storms, floods, hail, tornados, winds, heat, humidity and diseases of all stripes are enough to tolerate.

Mary,

I've seen them in southern OK for several years, but not in large numbers like Dorothy has....and some years there are barely any at all. Of course, Dorothy is closed to Ark. than I am so I'm not surprised she's seeing a lot of them.

Just one more reason gardening in Oklahoma is such a challenge!

Dawn

They showed up here in Adair Co either 3 or 4 years ago. I relied on hand picking them at first, but this year there were more than ever before. So far one trap filled completely--about 2 qts worth and the other is half full so far. We don't have chickens, and so far the grasshoppers aren't bad. Dorothy

Dawn; there's a challenge and then there's masochism. I've heard too many tales about what they do to roses let alone other ornamentals. Just really depressing to hear. I am So sorry Dorothy that you have a JB problem.

Mary,

If it wasn't for all the challenges of growing stuff here, we'd just have to wring our hands and worry about "other stuff" like the soaring price of gas and the escalating grocery prices......

You know, I'd like to have "one perfect year" where there were no thrips in the roses, no stinkbugs on the tomatoes, no grub worms in the lawn, etc. etc. etc. But, if that happened, could we cope? Or, would we be more depressed the NEXT year when everything went back to normal? Still, I'd like to have that one perfect year. : )

I do hate hearing the Japanese beetles are here and moving west. All we need is one more pest. At least Dorothy is having good results with the traps. That is good for all of us to know, because they are amazingly destructive little pests. You know, I always try to look for the silver lining in every cloud, but I sure can't find a silver lining in the cloud called "Japanese Beetles".

Dawn

I've always believed in the saying that "God didn't make no junk", but he got close with JB's. For all these years, I've only half paid attention to the info on them on the rose forum since we don't have them here. I know that someone talked about employing a shop vac to suck them up recently (can't imagine the quantities of beetles that would necessitate such a thing-ICK). I know what they DO eat (rose blooms are like filet mignon to them) but do they eat the foliage or flowers of other plants as well?

They made lace out of my almond and plum tree leaves as well as the tips of the canna leaves. They ate almost as many ripe peaches as we got, And for some reason they are very attracted to wild primrose plants--the 6 ft tall one. And the roses, that's where they started. Dorothy

I do think they love roses the most, but it is my understanding that they are known to feast on over 300 kinds of plants, including many trees and even poison ivy.

Dawn

So they eat leaves as well as flowers!?!. Lord love a duck!

I also live in Adair County and also have been "blessed" with GOBS of Japanese Beetles. We bought a trap and have filled one bag FULL and the 2nd one is about half way full. I don't have any roses but they are riddling the wisteria and morning glories! I am just as glad that they chose those plants as they are quite hardy. So far, knock on wood, they aren't bothering the veggie garden. I'll have them up early next year. This year we had, as Dorthy put it, gobs before we got the trap. We looked Japaneese beetles up on the net and it said that we should be fighting them in the larvae/grub stage in the ground about now to cut down on them next year. Were going to try that.
Ellen

So where did you find the traps? I've been seeing them flying in the garden this week. I'd really like to get ahead of the curve here and start catching them before they get out of control. Today I looked at Home Depot, Farmer's Grain in Edmond, Smith Farm & Garden, and TLC and they didn't have them. :(

Actually, they had never heard of them before. Has anyone seen them locally or did you find them online?

Skeeter, I got mine at the Red Barn Feed store in Westville, Ok. I haven't looked anywhere else. I imagine the box is still in the trash can out on the deck. Tomorrow when I can see I will look and see what the name of it is and if they have a web address.
Ellen

I found the box from the Japaneese Beetle trap that I purchased and here is the Information from it:

Brand name is... Safer
Product name is... The Japanese Beetle Trap
Web site is... www.victorpest.com

Maybe they can tell you where it is sold near you. Good Luck. Ellen

not sure if anyone said this, but i have been reading in gardenweb in other sections, and when the beetles get to smell it repels the beetles, and so some have begun dumping the dead smelly ones elsewhere in the yard to repell them. makes good mulch too.

Guess who got the corn that the borers hadn't made it to yet!!

Found about 8 Japanese Beetles munching away on the ears last night.

I've been calling all over OKC trying to locate the Safer traps, the only option (for me anyway) is online. I opted for amazon.com because it was $2.00 a box less than most other places, and the shipping cost was reasonable. Overnight shipping at one place was $116!!!)

I'd noticed some large bugs flying around my Bois de Arc, but couldn't get a good look at them until they discoverd my corn!

There has been a HUGE decrease in Cuccumber beetles and squash bugs this year too! I haven't sprayed anything to try to control, I thought I had just raised a good crop of healthy plants that helped keep them away. I wonder if there's a corrolation between the arrival of the Japanese Beetles and decrease in the other bugs???

Courtney

the information on another website, and now I am more confused.

"-- Japanese beetle traps. The traps have become increasingly popular because they give people a psychological victory. Jane Homeowner finds her trap full of dead beetles and thinks shes making a difference.

But hereÂs the problem:

"TheyÂre only catching a percentage of what theyÂre attracting," Maddox said.

University studies have shown again and again that the traps bring in more beetles than they actually kill. Those extra beetles are mating and laying eggs in your lawn so that next year youÂll have a new crop of beetles and, possibly, new damage to your grass."

Some studies do show that beetle traps attract more beetles to the yard than what you had before, but....how do you know they wouldn't eventually find their way to your yard anyway? Maybe the trap just helps them get to your yard more quickly!

Other studies show that Japanese Beetles are more attracted to plants that already have Japanese Beetles on them than to similar plants that have no beetles on them. What does that mean? It sounds like maybe Japanese Beetles are attracted to Japanese Beetles? Well, duh! It also could mean, for example, that they are attracted to stressed plants or something.

I think you have to try them and see if you are satisfied by their performance, or not. And, if you want to, you can make your own although I have no idea if the homemade ones work. Just google homemade Japanese Beetle traps for instructions.

Even though you are trapping the current ones, you need to break their population cycle to keep from having them next year. The organic way to do that is to put out Milky Spore Powder on your lawn/garden. Milky Spore is a disease that targets them while they are in the white grub stage in your lawn or garden.

I agree with you Dawn. I put 3 of them out. I read that one person ties the bags shut for two hours to kill the trapped beetles, and then dumps them on the ground. i will try that. hey why not even on the lawn? It may repell them from that area too.

Also I got talked into using Grub Out by someone here in town at a store who said that Milky spore didn't work very well. Well, I wish I had not listened to him, because now I fear it could kill my earthworms. I don't wish to use it again. I only put it on our new lawn, not the front lawn with Bermuda. Did you say that you don't have grubs since you use sugar on your lawns?

I've been reading my little heart out about these bugs since I found them Friday... A lot of good information is available from Universities that have had experience with evere infestations for 50 or more years and have worked to conrol the populations versus eradicate them.

My theory on the traps - If I prevent 40 or 50 from laying eggs, that's a few hundred less beetles to deal with next year.

The best information came from the University of Kentucky which has been dealing with the beetles since 1937, they advise an overall management program including traps and grub treatment. Their testing showed that milky spore and nematodes have had an minimal effect on the beetle population, with chemical applications having the best results. They were very specific about which chemicals had the best results and which didn't. I'll find the information again and post the links tonight.

I am curious how the beetles found their way to our yard, with so many new houses being built could it have been brought in with new sod, or could the new nursery that just opened next to our neighborhood have inadvertantly had a delivery of Japanese Beetles? However they got here, I'm sure they will quickly adapt to our ecosystem as they have everywhere else, so my direction is to reduce the population as much as I possibley can to minimize damage.

The University of Ohio (I think) also had a great plant list that Japanese Beetles tend to avoid, and a list that they tend to prefer. Luckily, I have several plants that they tend to avoid, but I think I'll keep the preferred list in mind when I add more plants. I'll try to post that link also.

Courtney

rained some last night, and now my traps don't smell as strong. i think the rain washed some of the chemical out, so now i have very few beetles coming to it. at $5 a piece i wish i had not set all three out. what a waste of money.

"Try interplanting with species that are known to actively repel the adults, white mums, rue, tansy, larkspur, garlic, citronella."

next year i will buy most of these plants. I am going to plant garlic very soon, and I have citronella, but I was told that it doesn't come back the following year. True?
I love rue, and while tansy grows so fast, i am going to get some. i love larkspur too and will get that. mums, i don't know. why white?

Courtney,

I agree with your theory that every one you trap is one less that will be around to produce the next generation.

I grew up in Texas where Texas A&M University and their research was, always and forever, "the last word" on what did or didn't "work" agriculturally and horticulturally. And, of course, it is the large chemical companies that fund the research. And, naturally, the research almost always favors the chemical approach. Big surprise there. So, with research like the Univ. of Kentucky's, I take it with a grain of salt because the universities tend to be biased towards the chemical companies who are giving them millions of dollars annually. And, I don't want to turn this into an argument about the chemical approach vs. the organic approach at all....just wanted to point it that we have to consider who is funding that university research. And, if it were the smaller organic firms who were funding the research and (surprise!) the research showed their approach was best, I'd be just as skeptical. I wish we had TRULY independent research upon which to make decisions.

Jessaka,

Grubs were very bad here the first year and the armadillos and skunks kept our yard cratered and looking like a moonscape. We applied beneficial nematodes in the spring of our second year here, and Milky Spore in the summer of our second year here. So, the third year, we saw a big improvement and more improvement every year since. I only used beneficial nematodes and Milky Spore that one time. I would say I see maybe 5 grubs for every 100 I used to see.

My main focus is to improve the soil organically, via adding organic material, using sugar and molasses to improve microbial activity, steering clear of chemicals that can kill the microbial life in the soil, etc. If we have healthy soil with lots of microbial activity and good amounts of organic material, the soil and the microbes in it will take care of the bad guys who live part of their life cycle in the soil, including damaging grub worms.

One thing we need to remember is that some of the grub worms we encounter are the larval form of BENEFICIAL beetles that we need to encourage. So, I just aim for having healthy soil, and figure the microbes in the soil will target the bad bugs as needed. If I were to use broad-spectrum chemicals, they'd kill the good grubs along with the bad. And, I still hate grubs, but I do know that some of them are good guys!

Dawn

I saw a really interesting beetle today, sort of black and white, but didn't know whether this was a good guy or bad guy. Are most of them Japanese Beetles?

Mari,

We have gazillions of beetles, and some of them are the prettiest colors. A lot of the ground beetles are beneficial and eat other bugs (some eat live ones, others dispose of dead ones).

Japanese Beetles have a pretty unique appearance. I'll link a photo for you. They definitely are damaging to plants.

Dawn

Dawn, while i found a source for milky spore, where do you buy the nemotodes? thanks. I like what you are saying.

i agree about those traps, less next year.

Dawn,

You are such a wonderful teacher!! I NEVER realized that university funding was provided by the chemical companies. What you said makes PERFECT sense though!

So... walk me through the milky spore/nematode applications. Can this be applied anytime, or is Spring/Summer the best time? I read that the nematoes like a warm moist environment, if I apply some now, will they survive the winter or is another application necessary?

In reagrds to nematodes, Ohio State University states "Preparations containing Heterorhabditis spp. seem to be more effective". I found this strain at March Biological, it was priced at $120 per acre.

The milky spore though - WOW!! looking at about $250 to cover an acre... do you have any less expensive resources for that? Is it available from Feed stores or any place "local"?

Here's the link to the Ohio State Fact Sheet, I also added the link for the University of Kentucky website. Both have a couple of good plant lists that attract or deter Japanese Beetles.

Courtney

University of Ohio Fact Sheet:
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2001.html

Courtney,

Thanks for saying I am a wonderful teacher. Sometimes I really, really struggle with the best way to make a point without coming across as an overbearing organic wacko. (smiling and poking fun at self as I say that) The post in which I told you that chemical companies fund the very research that says their products are "most effective" was one of those times. I could tell you had really done your research and understood WHAT you read, but just wondered if you had thought about who was paying for that research?

In many ways, the research system in this great nation of ours is evil....and not just with regards to the gardening world....how about in the pharmaceutical world as well? There is such a complicated financial relationship between the companies who MAKE/MARKET the products and the very researchers/agencies who evaluate their safety and effectiveness. I find it impossible to imagine university researchers and regulatory agencies are not influenced by the large multinational firms who market these products AND fund the research that studies these companies' own products.

There is a superb book out that studies the complicated relationships that exist in the agricultural/horticultural world. It is called THE WAR ON BUGS and was written by Will Allen. It basically describes in great detail the vast ongoing collusion between the chemical firms, the university researchers who study their products AND the media. These three groups have combined to convince us all that commercial agriculture cannot "feed the world" without a heavy reliance on chemicals. I highly recommend this book. It is the best explanation of the complicated relationships/processes that I have ever seen.

I linked info on The War On Bugs below. If you go to that link, read the review by Dr. Rob Williams near the end of that webpage. This is a book that everyone interested in horticulture and agriculture should read.

And, how much of the chemical pesticide-related research is funded by the chemical manufacturers themselves? Research done in the 1990s found the chemical manufacturers and their industry lobbying groups were funding 66% of the research at that time, and it was increasing at a rate of about 3% a year. (As government cuts research funding, the manufacturers step in and fund more and more and more.)

OK, I'll stop going on and on about the chemical manufacturers!

I bought Milky Spore powder in a 40 oz. can and applied it over the 10,000 s.f. closest to the house, following label directions. When you have acreage (even 1 acre!), you just can't treat all of it, so I concentrate on the area closest to the house, yard, barn, garden, etc. If I had felt like I needed to do additional treatment, I probably would have treated a 10,000 s.f. area every year until I felt I'd covered all the area I wanted covered. Keep in mid that Milky Spore powder is a bacteria that should grow and spread on its own over time. Nolo Bait for grasshoppers works the same way--once you establish it on your land, you often have it forever after. I think I walked around with the cannister and sprinkled about 1 t. every 4 feet in a sort of checkerboard pattern. They also make milky spore powder dispensers or spreaders.

I never try to treat a really large area because it costs too much to do so. I just treat what I can.

Dawn

Dawn,

You're turning me into an organic wacko too, and I'm so proud :))) DH sometimes looks at me like I'm crazy, but keeping him guessing at "what next" is probably one of the reasons he sticks around. I never let him get bored LOL! I think he's so willing to go along with it too because everything I've tried, works! Actually I should state that as... Everything you've suggested, WORKS!

You were so very good about tip toeing into the pervasivness of teh checmical companies funding the university studies, and I believed you so easily because I am familiar with the pharmacueticals doing the same. It seems so un-American, yet it's become standard business practice. Sad state of affairs!!

Jessaka,

You asked about the hardiness of citronella earlier. Are you talking about the citronella scented geranium? If so, then I can guarantee you that they are definately not hardy in Oklahoma. They are however, VERY easy to propogate! I've had them for a few years, and I keep them in pots and move them inside in winter, so that I get the spring blooms. Taking a leaf or the top few inches of the plant and sticking it in good potting soil is all that's required to get a new one going. The grow fairly fast, keeping it watered well until roots are established is critical, after that they are super easy to care for.

To be honest, the scented geranium was the first plant that I had that I couldn't kill!! Everything else perished until I started reading and learning, and listening to Dawn :)

Courtney

don't mean to get off subject too much, but i have plants that won't be planted this year. can they go on a screened in porch or do i need to take them inside?

is it too late to use milky spore on my lawn now that I have spread chemicals for grub on it?

Dawn is a wealth of information. I keep saving her answers.

Courtney,

I, too, look for what works best and it often is the organic method. I really like using produces, like Milky Spore, that target a specific pest instead of broad-spectrum approaches that kill good bugs along with the bad.

Jessaka,

You can keep them on your porch right now. As far as whether you need to take them inside, it would depend on what plants they are. If possible, I'd plant them in late September through late October, unless there is some reason they cannot go into the ground in the fall.

If you want to list what kind of plants they are, I'll try to address them individually.

I probably would wait and use milky spore next year since you've already used a grub-killing chemical on the lawn this year.

Dawn

I've had my Beetle Trap placed within my garden for 2 seasons now, and the number of beetles has increased exponentially which seems to support the argument that they attract more than they catch. The Japanese Beetles have decimated my Pole Beans, and a Pussy Willow Bush, but surprisingly have left the roses alone this year. I am moving the trap to a more remote location in the yard, approx 70 ft away, so see if that has any effect on the number of beetles passing through the garden. I'm sure we'll have to implement an IPM program to keep them under control, since the traps alone can't do it.

I didn't think that I planted much that they liked this year but when I checked the grape vine, it was covered. For two days I flicked them off into a jar of soapy water, mostly two at a time because they were in mating mode. Since then I have seen very few.

A couple of days befoe I knew I had them, I had seen Japanese Beetle traps at our local co-op.

When I was new to this area, I planted eggplant and the leaves looked like lace before I knew I had beetles. Of course I am very close to Arkansas and even closer to Missouri, so I was probably seeing them earlier than many of you.

In case someone else didn't mention it, there was a website that showed how to make homemade Japanese Beetle traps with a few simple ingredients. Like a milk jug, water, or soapy water, (forget which), a little sugar, teaspoon of yeast, etc. I don't know how much the traps cost, but when we can make effective organic controls at home it's a real plus.

Barbara