Need Advice On Controling....

Grubs are a big problem for me in my vegetable garden and I need a safe way to rid my garden before they can turn into Japanese Beetles. I also have a problem with cucumber beetles as well........I really need help.

windsurffer - i once read in a magazine that if you laydown regular sand (not playsand for children) around your plants that grubs etc. will not cross it as it supposed to irratate their sakin. don't know if it works but worth a try i guess unless someone here knows of a foolproof method. good luck

I have to get them in the soil before they turn into Japanese Beetles.

Have a look at this, Windsurfer. Hope it helps.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2001.html

Hi Windsurffer, We have a problem every year with Crane Flies. Every March, I put down Dursban with my spreader to control the Crane Fly Grubs. They burrow just below the surface of grass I believe, just like Jap. Beetles do. In the last two seasons, I have not had a problem with them since I've done this.

I remember the Jap. Beetles when I lived in Maryland, they would destroy my rose bushes, not to mention destroy our lawn. But in those days, I was not so concerned with my garden as I am today! Good luck.

Kit, standard answer for jap beetles/grub is milky spore powder. However, that can take two yrs to reach full power. Also, if you have people with lots of lawn all around you they would also have to use the treatment.

Wish you could get guinea hens and chickens! That would help!

Neem oil will help with the adults when you see them tho.

As for cuke beetles, I have to use reemay/row covers over the plants until they flower...then take it off for pollination. Heck, I had once quit growing cukes and melons for a while cus I had so many of them boogers!

Horseshoe, will the guinea hens scratch down into the grass and pick out the grubs, or do you mean they eat the adults? Do they not eat the cucumber beetles too?
(I've wanted guinea hens for a long time, trying to make a case for having a few...)
Eileen

Sue I thought they banned Dursban? Do you use it in your vegetable garden?

Shoe I wish I could have a few of those hens it sure would bring back good memories of my childhood, as well as being good for the garden.

Eileen, no, the guineas won't scratch down into the soil but if a grub is in eyesite they'll nab it. They will also chase down the adults (they love to go after moving targets)!

I like them in the garden because they don't scratch (like a chicken does. They just eat bugs, peck a few maters (a small fee to pay for all the bugs they eat), and patrol. (Also great at reducing the tick population!)

Get ducks!! They will probe into the soil for the grubs which they seem to instinctively know where they are. If you get Khaki Campbells they will also keep you supplied with eggs almost year around. They are nonflyers too. You might also try growing garlic in all your flower beds and around everything in the garden but beans. This will help to repel the beetles. Don't know what it will do for the grubs tho. Yes, guineas do scratch. But banty hens will do the same thing, not be as crazy and lay eggs to boot.

oh, gosh sorry windsurfer, I didn't read the part about them being in your vegetable garden!

No, I do not put dursban in the veggie garden. Just the lawn.

LeafL we use to have duck when I was growing up but I can't have them here in the city.

That's ok Sue, I know you meant well.

Windsurffer, you could try beneficial nematodes. They are suppose to get them while they are still grubs. I use it for coddling moth larva around our apple/pear trees and have used it against june bettle grubs. We even had a termite company treat areas around our house with them.

You can purchase it from Garden's Alive or maybe one of the nurseries in your area. Good luck.

I wish I could have hens in our area, the next best thing is a friend that lives out in the country has two young daughters and when they come to visit we send them out to look for snails and bugs so they can take home to feed their ducks.

With the weather we've been having I don't think I would be able to keep them alive. Let me explain, every time I think that the weather has warmed up it starts to snow, rain and then freezes again. It sometimes happens even after the last frost date, it would kill the poor things before they got their first meal.

Beneficial Nematodes do work well you can also order them from Gulf coast Bio. in Texas-I use them in the green house with good results--

Michaelp I have heard they do if they don't freeze to death and that is my problem here.
I would like to get the grubs before they trun to Japanese beetles.

I have been out cutting my grubs in half whenever the ground thaws enough for me to dig. Best way to kill them is by the old-fashioned method *grin (also lets me get rid of more lawn)

They start changing into adult beetle form in late May, so if you can get the nematodes sprinkled by early May, it ought to be plenty of time.

Unfortunately Milky Spore does not do any good around here -- the clay is much too dense. After a couple decades of testing by our Extension Service people, they have stopped recommending its use.

Lupy you know I have the same soil but I and going to fight these buggers tooth and nail.

ARE THE GRUB WORMS THAT I AM GETTING IN MY HOUSE, THE SAME EATING MACHINE(BEETLES) THAT ARE EATING-UP MY GARDEN? I THINK THAT YOU CAN SEE THE LACE TYPE LEAVES ON THESE GRAPES.
VETA

i don't know much about this thread, but wanted to addthat if you do a search on jap beeytles, there is a thread somewhere called JB Mix, give it a try!

I know it may not help this year, But in the spring when I dig in my compost and turn the soil I search for gubs. I pick them out and put them on a bird feeding "tray" I have attached to the fence near the garden. The birds will sit on the power lines and wait for them. As soon as I turn my back they swoop down and gobble them up! Im happy and the birds are happy.