Jap Beetles Mating

As we talked about yesterday in Pt. 1 of getting rid of Japanese beetles, there are three distinct cycles in a beetles life, and they only live one year.  The adults lay eggs in the summer all over the turf and around the house.  Those grubs come to the surface to feed anywhere from Aug to Oct, depending on the climate, and then bury down past the frost line for the winter.  Then in the spring, those grubs come out and eat everything in sight as they develop into mature adults, then mate and drop eggs and the cycle begins again.

Merit 2.5g

Trying to break this cycle can begin when you are ready to start.  I am writing this in July, so now is the time that you can treat the turf areas, because the females should be close to laying eggs and you want to prevent that from happening.  Applying a grub killing product such as ‘Merit’, will prevent the females from even wanting to be in your yard, and will kill the little baby grubs as they come out of the eggs.  Merit is supposed to last for 12 months, but I would recommend applying a second time in early spring as the grubs reappear to come out and feed on your plants.

If you are at the stage where the beetles are still on your plant, whether they are still feeding on the plant or have formed a train as they are mating, manual collection can slow down dramatically the amount of eggs being laid in your yard.  Get a bucket full of soapy water, and use your hand to scrape them off the plant, or just shake the branches and let them fall into the bucket to drown.  I recommend doing this in the early morning when they are dazed and wet with dew so they can’t fly away.

Triple Action Plus from Fertilome

Anytime that you have the beetles active, I LOVE neem oil as an insecticide.  It is completely organic and can be sprayed on anything including edible plants.  Use this spray early morning or late afternoon because the oil can cause the sun to burn the leaves right after it is been sprayed.  The neem oil will kill any bugs that are currently on your plant and will prevent future bugs from wanting to eat your plant.  Reapply during active season every week if needed.  There are many insecticides that work like this one, but neem is my favorite.  Just read the label on the product before you buy it.  I sell a product made by Fertilome called Triple Action Plus.  It is an insecticide, fungicide, and miticide all in one.

In the spring, you can put a ‘cheese cloth’ type netting over critical plants to prevent the beetles from eating.  This is a good method but is timely and costly if not done right.  And you have this big cloth over your plant for a month which can be unsightly.

Japanese Beetle Trap

The last method is the one that I despise the most…TRAPS!  I HATE TRAPS!  There are two different scents they use for the traps.  One has the female mating scent, and the other has yummy plant scents.  Traps are rarely used properly, in that the traps will always attract more beetles to your yard than you would have gotten on your own.  If you use a trap, put it as far away from your plants as possible.  If you can talk your neighbor into putting it in their yard…just kidding!

These are steps that you will want to do every year.  Once you kill the cycle in your yard, the maintenance is small to prevent new beetles from hanging out on your plants.  The Merit will even help with ticks, mosquitoes, and other grubs that moles eat.  The Neem oil will prevent many problems also.  So your efforts will be rewarded heavily.

Happy Hunting