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trisa_edmonson

Asiatic Garden Beetle

Trisa Edmonson
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago

I posted this in the gardening forum... also placing it here...

I'm having problems with nocturnal pests on one side of my yard where I intermixed non-edibles in the ground and edibles (mint, oregano, lettuce, kale, and carrots) in small pots and planters. (My area has a history of chemical toxins in the soil so until I get it tested, I don't want to plant edibles in the ground.) The pests destroyed everything planted in the ground accept the cat grass (I have/had marigold, pansies, begonias, and geranium transplants, and sunflowers I planted from seed multiple times that never last more than two weeks from sprouting - those that weren't dug up by squirrels). They also attached the mint and oregano pretty aggressively.

I went out there at night a few weeks ago and found 5 of 6 asiatic garden beetles, so I'm pretty sure they are the culprits. I also saw them when I was planting the flowers, but I'm a new gardener and didn't know what they were.

I got questions:

~ I can't find anything specific for AGB, but what I've read says they are very similar to Japanese Beetles. Will the same methods work?

~ I have a lot of fireflies that turn my yard into a whimsical light show each night at dusk and I don't want to kill them. I'd also like to continue to attract bees... Will beneficial nematodes and/or milky spore work for these guys and will it hurt my fireflies? What about the bacterial organisms like Spinosad and BTK? Neem oil?

~ Does anyone have any recommendations that do not include going out nightly with a bucket of soapy water? My schedule just won't allow for me to do that...

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