Japanese beetles

15 years ago

A friend of a friend mentioned that the Japanese beetles were decimating her hosta. Has anyone else noticed this? I've not seen any in my yard, but some of my hosta leaves are just like lace, and I heard that this is symptomatic of JB. I've been blaming slugs, but maybe I have double-trouble this year.

Featured Answer

Gesila

15 years ago

If you were wandering around your garden in June, you would have noticed Japanese Beetles as they usually feed on plants in groups.

I found tons of them that had just had just turned from grubs to beetles. They were literally swarming out of the ground. I tried every insecticide I had and nothing killed them. I finally poured buckets of soapy water on them. It was instant death. A few had matured enough to find my strawberries, you could see their path of destruction on the way to the strawberries (mostly weeds).

At least these guys were caught before they could lay more eggs.

I never saw any the rest of the summer and dug deep down into the area that they emerged from and have not seen any grubs.

I had severe slug damage on some of my hostas this summer. Some of that damage looks very similar to what the JB did to my strawberries. However, as I look through my pictures, the slugs didn't start chewing on my hostas until after July 4th, by which time the Japanese Beetles in my garden had been destroyed.

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Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
or.. maybe its september in z4 MN.. and its nothing to worry about??????

whens the first snow.. 2 weeks??? ... lol ...

its something interesting to ponder.. but is not something i would waste chemicals on.. this late in the season ...

i never heard of JB's doing significant damage.. but i wouldnt be surprised if many things come along and 'use' already damaged leaves ....

ken
squirejohn zone4 VT
15 years ago
Have lots of JB's (most gone by now) and have never seen one on any of my hostas.
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paul_in_mn
15 years ago
I have seen JB's on my hostas, but not much if anything to show for damage. However leaves on my Linden are decimated. JB's have favorite plants they attack. I don't see hosta on the list.

Paul

Here is a link that might be useful: About 2/3 way down page for favorites of JB
loisflan
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, everyone, for your responses. I had seen the menu of Japanese beetle's favorite foods and noted that hosta were absent. But you guys know more about hosta than anyone else, so I thought I'd ask.

And Ken, it's 78 and glorious here in Zone 4 Minneapolis. However, you are right, we usually do get a frost in September - just enough to kill the tender plants - and then it returns to warmer weather until later in October.
in ny zone5
15 years ago
First frosts the middle of September used to be the norm in zone 5 of Upstate NY. I often traveled to Roanoke, Virginia, and saw them also have frost the middle of September. But now it is middle to end of October, and I love it!
Bernd