Side Note: This is an old blog post from a domain I deleted in the past. I decided to re-post if here. The original date of this post was: 8-2-2010. Yeah, that was over 14 years ago, but these little pests are still out in this world, so I assume this subject is still relevant. Plus, I've added a helpful update at the end of this post. Anyway...
I’ve planted many small gardens over the years and have never had that many problems with pests. But this year, I grew my first large garden in an open field with loads of various plants including a separate area for a corn field. Well, everything was going just fine until late June when these clumsy, awkward, ugly, pesky Japanese Beetles started showing up.
Yeah, I was really impressed with their appetite, as they devoured the leaves off my Okra plants along with several other plant varieties. But what disgruntled me the most, is when they entered into the corn field. They love to eat the silks off the ears of corn and if they get to it early enough, it will devastate your yield. Luckily for me, I had planted so much corn that I still had a decent crop. The beetles didn’t affect the end result of the rest of my harvest, but what will they do next year?
I’m not one to use poisons and sprays, since the whole point of growing your own food, at least to me, is to have fresh, organic produce. Anyway, I’ll provide a picture of this garden pest, along with an excerpt from Wikipedia about “control” when it comes to Japanese Beetles. If you enjoy gardening and you see these buzzing freaks enter into your green kingdom of vegetation, you may be interested in the following:
“Research performed by many US extension service branches has shown that pheromone traps attract more beetles than they catch. Traps are most effective when spread out over an entire community, and downwind and at the borders (ie, as far away as possible, particularly upwind), of managed property containing plants being protected. Natural repellents include catnip, chives, garlic, and tansy, as well as the remains of dead beetles, but these methods have limited effectiveness. Additionally, when present in small numbers, the beetles may be manually controlled using a soap-water spray mixture, shaking a plant in the morning hours and disposing of the fallen beetles, or simply picking them off attractions (that’s what I did this year), since the presence of beetles attracts more beetles to that plant.”
Read more about these annoying creatures, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_beetle
At any rate, I’ll be on the lookout for these beetles next year and prepare to combat this garden pest without poisons; If needed, I may possibly bring a freakin' blow torch to the scene!
Update (11-9-2024): As the years went by, I ended up moving a few more times. Each place had their own pests, of course, but I've had less and less trouble with this type of beetle, even though they are still buzzing around profusely. This is an incidental discovery, by the way, but I planted a couple Nanking Cherry bushes/trees beside my garden a few years ago. Now, when these Japanese Beetles show up every year, they like 95% favor the cherry bushes as opposed to my garden. Since the birds eat all the tiny cherries they produce anyway, I don't mind a bit that these particular pests prefer to eat the leaves off of the cherry trees as opposed to my garden. It's a win-win-win. ---End of Update
---End of Post "Japanese Beetles - Garden Pest"
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