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raspberries & japanese beetles
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Posted: Aug/03/2008 10:03 AM PST
We planted 1 year growth bear root raspberry bushes. They are just starting to show signs of life and the japanese beetles are after them. Tips on getting rid of the beetles? I'm not too concerned about whether we do this in a "green" manner since there isn't going to be fruit this year and the bushes are far away from where my daughter plays. |
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Posted: Aug/03/2008 5:46 PM PST
There's a few things you can do: 1. hand pick- depending on the size of the bushes that may not be feasible, and be rather ouchy! LOL! That's my prefered method, along with sucking them up with a shop-vac filled with soapy water to get the ones that are too high (don't forget to dump it out on a regular basis, PEEWWW!) 2. WHITE bucket filled with soapy water- I read this in another post somewhere. Apparantly the beetles are attracted to the white bucket, fall in and die in the soapy water. I haven't tried this method myself yet as I didn't learn of it until the end of beetle season for me. Options 3 and 4 won't help with the adults this year, but will in coming years... 3. Grub control products that will kill the grubs in the grass- prevents damage to lawns as well as decreasing the number of adults that will eat your raspberries. 4. Milky Spore- a nematode that will attack and kill the grubs. Pricey, but one application can last up to 20 years, and is completely organic. May take a few years to really start to show an effect on adult numbers. Is applied to lawns. I'm going to buy some this fall as I don't like to use chemicals at all. Hope those options help a little 
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Posted: Aug/04/2008 8:34 AM PST
oh i love the shop vac idea! wonder if we have enough power cords to get that far away from the house. |
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Posted: Aug/05/2008 10:04 AM PST
It is actually WAAAYYY too much fun  After a little practice you'll be able to suck them right out of the air as they are flying 
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Posted: Aug/06/2008 11:42 AM PST
i told the husband to do the shop vac approach. We have enough extension cords to do this with the corn. not sure about the raspberries. he said since it probalby won't reach the raspberries hes' going to pick by hand all of them. That'll take forever, I wonder if that's an attempt to get out of doing the inside work (like removing the privacy locks so the daughter stops locking herslf in the bathroom - she knows how to shut doors but not open them yet). |
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Posted: Aug/06/2008 2:37 PM PST
I finally broke down and bought one of those "Bag-a-bug" lures and bags, and that didn't work, except to have a place to throw them out when I hand pick them  . One thing that does seem to work is aluminum foil trays. The beetles see the bright light, get confused, and fall down. I have a couple in my pole beans, and the leaves right around the foil pans have not been eaten. A couple of problems with this method-- it's ugly, and it only works in the area right around the pans. I keep meaning to put more pans around the beans, but just haven't gotten around to it. 
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Posted: Aug/07/2008 2:39 AM PST
If you aren't worried about being "green," then Sevin dust works great. |
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Posted: Aug/20/2008 1:15 PM PST
This site really covers japanese beetles (JB's) though more info than just about their life with rasberries. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/pub_phjbeetle04 .pdf Toward the end they have a list a plants very attractive to JBs and red rasberries are on the list. This may account for my battle with JBs on some rasberry plants but not others. I planted both reds and whites, both are ever- bearing, last fall and so this is my first season really. One plant is in full sun and it's red rasberry and the JBs are all over it- no sign of berries forming and after a few rounds with poisen I just hand pick them off and throw into a small covered tub of vinigar I keep near the plant. (My son used the first container for airsoft target practice but now he knows- don't touch it!) The others get sun but also lots of shade and they are developing lots of clusters of berries and have no JBs at all!!! Those are both red and white rasberries so I'll try to tell you in a few weeks when they are ripe how it all turned out. This site said JBs do go for their desired targets esp in full sun. I have read too that the traps are BAD because they attract them but don't always trap them!! |
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Posted: Aug/21/2008 9:29 AM PST
my husband's resorted to hand picking the JB's. our garden's in full sun. we've lost 2 raspberry plants to the jb's. they seem to like our corn too. also the string beans but not as much. they seem to be leaving the squash alone. |
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