JB's are just beginning to move into my area. Saw a few for each of the last two years, but so far the population remains small, and damage (mostly to beans & soybeans) has been minimal. No sign if them yet this year.

Yep, saw my first JB yesterday.

I'm starting to get the JBs in larger numbers now. I picked off well over a hundred on my Asparagus, beans, horseradish, potatoes, and squash over the weekend. I sure hope with the early arrival we also get a early retreat!

My first harvest of green beans is only a few days away and so far they really don't seem to be affecting the beans much. Last year I had a couple young bean plantings growing at this time and they really seemed to congregate on those.

Just saw my first JB of the season. They usually devour the leaves on my wineberries, but luckily the wineberries shrug it off. In the past I have not grown anything in my vegetable garden that interested them, however I am growing pole beans for the first time this year so we will see what happens.

They're here. I knew they were coming when I saw one on the holly hox Friday night. I hadn't seen any until today though. We set up traps those seem to be doing the trick, but the grape vines do have a few. They haven't touched the veggie garden yet, but they will. I'll be going out every morning and night and picking them off from now on!

Thanks for the advice. So far we only have one up. I did not think about attracting them to our yard....I'll keep an eye out.

If you do continue to use it, put it at the edge of your property as far away from your garden as you can.

LoneJack, It's interesting that I live only 30 miles away but haven't seen any Japanese Beetles yet this year. I normally see them during the summer but don't get them in huge numbers. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen any June Bugs either.

Randy

Randy - they weren't here in large numbers just a couple years ago either but they seem to have finally gotten the population established here and are moving west. Kansas is just listed as having marginal populations currently. Their numbers are cyclical too and if the previous July and August were dry a lot of the larvae won't survive to wreak havoc the following year. I think that fact contributes to their distribution moving pretty slow since we usually have a dry July and August around here as you know.

I'm not sure if it was the high winds yesterday or what but I only found a couple when I went hunting for them last night.

I just learned something interesting.

I was clearing some unwanted brush from a neglected side of my house. There were some Paper Mulberries (a invasive tree in my area), and some Virginia Creeper (an extremely vigorous native vine.) I cut out a few of the trees, and tugged out a stem of the vine. I hadn't noticed them, but about 50 Japanese beetles fell off the creeper leaves!

What do I learn? That Virginia Creeper might work well as a trap crop for the Japanese Beetles. It's pretty much a useless, unwanted vine that I care not a wit if I damage it while removing the beetles.

Unfortunately, without that vine, I'll probably be busy the next few days removing those beetles from my beans.

Yesterday while picking my black raspberries I noticed a fair amount of JB devouring some of the fruit. Luckily the raspberries are almost done fruiting so I lucked out that they arrived now and not sooner.

rgreen48, I do wonder if somehow Virginia Creeper could be used as a beetle trap....It is very common in our area, but it has no use to us. Maybe it has a use after all...

I saw one of the SOBs today

So they have found my pole beans! I have been knocking them off into a soapy water bucket daily but it is quite tedious. Has anyone had any luck controlling them with neem oil?

Paul - I've never tried to treat them with anything. I just do what you have been doing daily to try to keep the breeding and egg laying to a minimum. I really like it when I can catch a couple of them doing the wild thing and knock them into the bucket at the same time!

I found another plant they seem to like more than the garden crops... sassafras saplings. I allow sassafras to grow into the yard near the garden, then harvest the roots for root beer syrup each spring. They are hitting the sassafras quite hard. Last year was nothing like this year. I'd estimate the numbers are about 3 times as bad as last year. The good news is that, for whatever reason, they haven't moved onto the beans yet like last year when I fought them hard in the soybeans. It's still early though...

They are all over my grape vines.... I broke out the Sevin last night.

Also saw them on the corn and zinnias... plucked about two dozen into soapy water.

I have some JBs now...not a lot. I like to get them early before much egg laying has been done.

I have quite the hedge of wild grape vines growing on my back garden fences. The JBs love these and they make a good trap crop. Also the vines make some wind shield and also some barrier to crop spraying out in the field. There is also brome grass from 2 to 3 feet to augment the grape vine barrier.

I have some JBs now...not a lot. I like to get them early before much egg laying has been done.

I have quite the hedge of wild grape vines growing on my back garden fences. The JBs love these and they make a good trap crop. Also the vines make some wind shield and also some barrier to crop spraying out in the field. There is also brome grass from 2 to 3 feet to augment the grape vine barrier.

Paul, they haven't been too bad here as of yet, and they've been able to be controlled by picking daily, but they're hitting out roses very hard. I've been hand picking morning and night and squishing them.... I'll probably start feeding them to the chickens. I have not tried neem oil but I'm thinking of trying it and soapy water spray. I'll report back with results.

They're controllable right now with hand picking, but I am quite worried about them when we leave on vacation in a few weeks for an entire week. I'm hoping soapy water spray and a heavy dosage of neem oil with hold them off for a week....

My main issue has been aphids. I found probably thousands on a corn plant earlier all down the tassel. Killed them all by hand and poured neem oil down the husk of it and a few others with the same issue to kill them...

Donna (Southeast Iowa)

I have noticed them on my tomatoes & peppers more than anything else in my garden. I put Sevin on them hoping it will help. I have been killing them when I see them on the leaves. Has anyone else tried Sevin on them?

Donna - I haven't used Sevin on them but I got some of them with Pyrethrin when I was spraying my Asparagus for gus beetle larvae. The Pyrethrin worked well on both pests. I need to spray the gus again before we go on vacation.

I doubt soapy water will do anything to slow down JB. I'm not even sure neem oil is all that effective. And it certainly won't help at all as a preventative - only when you are spraying it right onto them. I think that if I was going away and wanted to be organic for JB, I'd go with one of the trapping methods.

Agreed and disagreed drmbear. Soapy water will not do anything as a preventative. The common use of soapy water is for when the beetles are hand picked - you throw them into the soapy water and they cant get out. I think I read somewhere that if you squash them they release pheromones that attract others. Neem oil, meh? maybe? but doubtful. Pyrethrin sounds better.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone recommend those traps who doesn't sell them. Yes they do a good job of killing JBs but they actually attract more beetles to come. Maybe if you put one in a different area of a large property? Or gave them to your neighbors to 'keep care' of while you are gone on vacation?

He was talking about spraying soapy water. Will do nothing but give you clean JBs. I use soap in the coffee tub I brush them into. And the traps were based on going away for a time. I'd only put them at property borders, only when I would be away. Definitely not where they would pass desirable things on the way to the traps.

Actually, a tablespoon of soap in a quart of water will kill JBs if you spray them directly. It kills by contact and has no residual effects. I read about the spray on an university extension's website years ago. Can't recall which extension it was though.

Rodney

I beg to differ on the traps. We have two traps set up near the garden, and there are hundreds of beetles in each trap and you can see them swarming around the traps. I have found very few on the plants, the same as before we set them up a few weeks ago actually, and they're very easily managed by hand picking....

Worst case scenario, though I hate to, I may have to dust some Sevin on a few of the corn plants leaves. Being wind pollinated, I'm not worried about bees getting hurt in the process, and the dust isn't near as harmful as liquid....The only issue is running into our soil and harming beneficial insects I'm trying to build up, but then again, sacrificing may have to be done now and then, though I hate it.

What exactly is pyrethrin?

Its a chemical derived from the chrysanthemum plant. It's a natural pesticide just like nicotine is a natural pesticide that tabacco produces. Pyrethrin is a contact killer only, it breaks down very rapidly. It won't build up in the environment.

Pyrethrins are extremely toxic to important non-target critters such as bees and all beneficial insects, frogs, toads, salamanders, fish, and earthworms. It should not be used around pets or children. "Natural" does not mean safe.

Neem acts as an anti-feedant, not a contact killer. They may land on the plant. but may not feed. Neem won't kill them outright, but may greatly reduce the damage.

Several years ago, I discovered Surround WP, a caolin clay product manufactured to be mix with water and be applied as a spray. Use it to coat the foliage and fruit/veggies you need to protect from sucking, chewing, and egg laying insects as well as from sun scald, heat stress, and excess evapotranspiration.

My reason for seeking out Surround WP was a terrible outbreak of Japanese beetles, coincidentally. I've used it every year since as a barrier against aphids, mites, stink bugs, squash bugs, flea beetles, grasshoppers, and more.

Labled as OMRI approved for organic crops.

I have noticed many Sparrows hanging around the rose bushes and in the cherry trees, and I think they are eating the Jap Beetles. I don't usually like have sparrows around, but if they eat beetles, bring them on!

They are in Iowa, they started later this year, about the last week of June. There are a lot of people putting the traps up. I have 3 in my yard my neighbor has one and I have seen several around in close neighborhoods. I also have my lawn treated every year. We have a black spot fungul or leaf scorch going on. The japenese beetle gets the spores on them and takes it to other plants. The need oil is helping with the fungus and the health of my flower, veggies, and fruit trees. The fight is on, I replace my jap. Beetle bags almost every other day. It has to be putting some kind of hurt on them.

Vicky

Vicky, Don't bury the dead beetles...the eggs hatch out from the dead beetles.

I must have picked off 300 of them from my Asparagus yesterday. They are very lethargic in the early morning dew and don't fly so easy pickin. After they were all drowned in the soapy water I dumped them out on the gravel driveway and ground them in. They are also shredding the top of my pole beans but I didn't feel like getting a ladder out to pick them off.

They have arrived in larger number here in the last couple of weeks. They congregate in the huge rosebush in my front yard, which luckily seems to act as a trap crop so that I almost never see a single one in my back yard vegetable garden. I should still probably go out more often to pick some off it. The perpetrators also perish in a soapy/watery grave here, along with the stripped cucumber beetles.

The beetles seem to have gone away for the time being here. They were getting rather bad even with hand picking daily but the traps took care of them nicely for me. I had to apply Sevin insect dust to our rose just once because they were eating it up so bad. Everything is good now though. No significant damage to the garden (thanks to the traps) other than the roses...

Yep, they were bad for a few weeks here in E. Tn, made a mess of the sassafras trees, ate a few eggplant and soy, as well as pole bean leaves and off they went. I managed them as I do every year with just hand picking. Not too much damage at all considering their numbers. The June bugs are bad this year, but they don't do a lot of damage. I just wave them off or swat them back into the direction of the neighbor's yard from whence they came.

think they started go away here in southern CT.. the beetles i've been seeing are the brownish ones (oriental beetle) but they're all equally bad.
wish there were specific insecticide for them because it's only going to get worse.
you don't even need a lot of them to do a lot of damage. they destroyed some of my kale plants and i only see a couple a day so they are voracious eaters even in low numbers.

Funny how beetles were somewhat of a daunting future pest being my first year gardening and hearing the horror stories of them from family in Missouri. They turned out to be managed with mostly handpicking, though tedious, SO FAR. Of course, it was likely just a good year for us...

Come to think of it, rgreen48, I've only seen one june bug this year. Usually they're everywhere this time of year!

hand picking does not work for plants you eat. they will eat half a kale plant in the middle of the night. these little devils will eat the most newest growth in the center of plant because they are lazy to chew the older bigger leaves.. eating the newest growth causes many plants to stress. even if you manage to pick them off, who would want to eat a plant with a bunch of holes in it. these things are gross and i am disgusted by just looking at them, let alone would want to get near them to pick them off. Eww... touching an earthworm is as far as i can go.

i bought some fine insect garden cover. just need to protect the kale and greens...it's unfortunate that many plants don't have defenses like many other plants do.. they won't even touch or go anywhere near my tomato plants or peppers, not a single hole on any leave.. neem oil works, but has to be applied after rain and it rains here like twice a week.

I've never had them touch kale at all. Beans and eggplant seem their favs in my garden. Sometimes they go for the squash, although today there were a few on the sweet potatoes.

I don't even pick them off... I squish them right where they are and let the flies and ants clean up the mess. To me, that's exactly what flies and ants are for, and I like to keep them fed lol.

If the question is to let them fall on the paths or in the beds, I toss 'em in the beds. My thinking is that the paths don't get cultivated. If they are in the ground under the paths, they live and emerge next year. If they hatch in the beds, I have a good chance of reducing their numbers by removing the grubs at cultivation to keep the birds fed. Doesn't matter much either way though, most of them come from my neighbor's lawn.

The beetles in my garden are selective to my morning glory vines, asparagus ferns, red raspberries, pole beans, zinnias, one of my six apple trees, and a smattering on the other five apple trees. Their favorites appear to be apple, pole beans and morning glory by far.

They do not bother my rhubarb, peppers, scarlet runner beans, bush beans, beet greens, tomatoes, black raspberries, kale, chard, borage, squash, peas, sunflowers, cone flowers, daisy, marigold, or the single rose bush in the center of my garden.

The JB's are just moving into my area, first showed up 2 years ago. Small numbers so far, but I have seen more mating pairs this year, so I expect they will soon become a problem. I grow a lot of soybeans & the JB's are focused on those (leaving the beans alone) so soybeans could be a good trap crop. They also seem to like the Zebrina mallow that I grow to attract pollinators.

JB's have yet to make an appearance at my rural garden (only 6 miles West) so they seem to be spreading very slowly. Not complaining, mind you.

I've been having good results using a spray of rubbing alcohol & water (about 50/50), dish soap, cooking oil, and maple syrup, in a one-quart spray bottle. The mixture temporarily paralyzes them on contact, then kills by suffocation. I was trying to find a mixture that killed cucumber beetles without damaging the plants, it works on JB too, provided they are completely covered.

Sorry to here they are moving into your area zeedman. They do seem to migrate rather slowly and then the population explodes. I was talking to my brother who gardens at his cabin about 20 miles east of Eau Claire and he said that they hadn't arrived there yet.

That spray sounds interesting. I'm taking note of it for future battles. So far I have been mostly hand picking but I did hit them with Pyrethrin one time when I was spraying the Asparagus for gus beetles.

I bought a couple of the JB traps and put them a couple hundred yards from my garden in hopes that they would draw them away. I've emptied them a few times but it doesn't seem to have helped on the beans and gus. I also ordered a 40 oz. box of Milky Spore to apply this fall.

I am wondering, will these Japanese Beetles be here until the frost? Will we be getting them in the Spring from now on and have them here all Summer?

Helen - The adults should be gone pretty soon. Once they lay eggs in your lawn/garden they are done. They will show up again next June. If it's very hot and dry when eggs are laid it may kill the eggs and/or larvae and next year's population may be reduced. We can only hope that is the case but I am trying the Milky Spore treatment to kill the larvae as well.

Good, they have hit my raspberries but most of my raspberries will ripen in the fall. I don't really like to spray if we will be eating the raspberries. I did put some in a bucket of water but that got old fast. I have too other things to do in the garden!

Arghhhhhh.. I hate them SO much. My parents who are retired are hand picking them on our 1 acre property with raspberries and grapes.

Bugs came in about 10 days ago and in those 10 days my parents hand picked ~14, 000 of them... nope.. I am not kidding. About 2K of them a day...

Zone 4 - Minneapolis

They completely ate all the leaves off my plum trees and have also attacked the Linden trees but since they are huge, they only got the tops of them. They hit the raspberries again but seem to be gone now.

Maryna - I didn't know they had made it as far west as Minneapolis already. I was at my brother's place in Wisconsin about 100 miles to the east and he only had a few in his garden so far but his garden is surrounded by woods and there's not many crop fields near by.

I applied Milky Spore around my Missouri garden late last August and I've had a tiny fraction of JB's compared to last year. My next door neighbor has a ton of them so it appears to have helped a lot. My corn patch planted at a friend's garden a few miles away is another story. They are having a orgy on some of the ears but I should still get to pick quite a bit. 4 dozen ears so far.