Japanese Beetle Mix

Wouldn't I just love to see just ONE...we have also been infested for the last 6-8 years even though this year seems to be a little better,but my roses are suffering.Tried to deadhead and cut as many as I can so the beetles will leave our property and go to another place.

I have a Virginia creeper vine on my gardenshed and that is usually all eaten bare and only leave skeltetons are left...sickening !! I usually go out 2-3 times a day with soapy hot water in a little bucket to drop them in.Kills them immediately.

SORRY TO HEAR IT... :-(

love the soapy water bucket, i add a bit of veg oil to mine, just to be sure they sink! use it on everything, now i have to fuight the leaf-footed, i thought they were baby assassin bugs, but i was DEAD WRONG!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record...Quit fighting these darn bugs and put down some Milky Spores and Scanmask. I promise you'll be so happy you did as these bugs and many other pests/grubs won't even be a thought any more. 1 application and it's a done deal. too easy.
www.planetnatural.com sells both products and are a great outfit to work with. The maker of Scanmask has another very similar product called Heteromask that kills beetles along with many others pests at the same time.
http://www.biologicco.com/index.htm
I just looked at their site today and noticed they now make new products other than the 2 I mentioned.
Please consider giving these products a try, they will eliminate your problems and they're eco-friendly to boot. No poison or other adverse chemicals.
Goodluck;)
JD

thanks JD!

Yep, thanks for those links, JD.

But lookee here folks, remember that Milky Spore will usually take up to two years to have an affect. Also, unless all your nearby neighbors use it as well you may not get your money's worth. (All their JP's will simply fly over to your house.)

Scanmask is a good product but for someone like me (or most of us) it is very expensive ($27 per pint and it only covers 200 sq ft).

However, all this info is great to have out there for our individual choices. Thanks Everyone! (I just love all this input!)

I wondered that about the milky spoor -- about whether the beetles will just come over from the neighbors' yards. I'm glad it's not a bad year for them, at any rate.

Horseshoe. Your slightly misinformed about the Milky Spores. They were working hard and heavy here on the grub/larvae form of the beetles in under 6 months. Then they just got better and better everyday. We've also found that they spread into my nieghbor's yards by the following year a here grub problems were gone too. I don't think you could go wrong if you combine the 2 products. The Scanmask kills with in 24 hours and the milky spores pick up where they leave off. Once they're in the ground, they just spread and multiply like mad until they run out of a food source. Then they lay dormant waiting for the propper conditions and spring back. I can't remember the last time I saw a Jap. beetle and I rarely see junebugs either which is nice.
Diiferent strokes for different Folks, I was just glad I found a fix with out using any more chemicals.
JD

Bigtime congrats, JD, on getting rid of them boogers! Glad you had great success! (They are such a nuisance to many folks around here. I don't seem to be overly bothered with them though. Knock on wood!)

As for being "slightly misinformed" I can only offer research results from Ag Universities and information from those that sell the Milky Spore product. No offense meant.

From what I've researched over the years, it seems that the bacteria tend to spread according to soil temps and also according to their food source. (For example, cold soil in the northern regions would slow the growth of the bacteria as compared to the warm soil of other areas.) Also, Milky Spore needs to feed on live grubs in order to multiply and spread. When something like Scanmask is used which, as you said, kills in 24 hrs, I find it difficult to understand how the investment of Milky Spore will offer benefit. If you kill the grubs how will they multiply?

From a Cornell Univ report: "Milky disease bacteria can only multiply within the living bodies of grubs and for this reason, one must be willing to tolerate a period of relatively high grub populations to obtain disease levels sufficient to control grubs."

Again, I'm tickled pink that you've outwitted the JB's in your yard (and your neighbor's) but at the same time am wondering what test you took to figure out how "They were working hard and heavy here on the grub/larvae form of the beetles in under 6 months." Is there something we can buy that will test that? I'm interested, especially so we can help many others who are having to deal with these pests. ("pests"...I really wish we could just add them to a stir-fry and benefit from them, eh!?)

And yes, I am right there with you ( "I was just glad I found a fix with out using any more chemicals.") To me, that is a success story! Love hearing it! Thanks for sharing!

Have been familiar with milkyspore,checked into it several years ago.At that time it was not available in our area plus it would have been VERY expensive for us since we have a lawn of approximately 4 acres.

So the bucket with the hot water works well for me to go from rosebush to rosebush,plus I cut alot of roses to bring into the house this season so hopefully they will find another home or at least cut down on my number of beetles.

WOW You have done your homework.
My main reason behind buying was a grub worm problem that was totally out of control. I shovel full of dirt would uncover a dozen easily. I also has large patches of grass the would start off small in the morning and get bigger as the day went on. It was the grubs totally removing the roots off my turf. By the end of the day, I was pulling up sod sheet sized patches of grass by hand with no roots left at all. I also had an enormous mole problem that climaxed with the grass damage. So we put down the milky spores and that day counted how many grub worms we would get per shovel full of soil in our beds and lawn. The numbers began to decrease after the 1st month and we really noticed a difference by the 2nd month. Then I noticed the moles began to move out of my yard too. Then winter came and halted everything.
The next spring we began again.
The moles had moved a good 5-6 acres across the park and we had to hunt for grubs. It was more like 1 grub per square yard and they were puny compared to the year before.
It has been several years now and I've talked many friends and relatives into trying them. They observed the same result's I did. Now my nieghbor's have grubfree yards to boot.
So that is the extent of my hitech testing tool. Me, my shovel and a declining grub count. It's my "Grub-O-Meter". Then as a bonus all the beetles that we used to have problems with are now gone too providing their larvae are in grub form. About 1/2 the people I had try them was more to get rid of moles and they didn't realize they had a grub problem until we had a very dry August and their grass went South too. Luckily this was all with in a month or so of trying the spores. I'm suprised they don't market it for mole control.
Just personal experience. Make of it what you will.

love the grub-o-meter!

Hehehe, yeh, TamaraFaye, that part made me laugh, too!

Way to go, JD. Sounds like ya'll had mole feeding grounds. Good idea to proffer the milky spore as a mole deterrent...hmmm, what could we call it? "Milky Mole"? "Mole Milk"? ;>)

I'll be sure to tell the local garden club(s) of your success. So many folks are having to deal with JB's I'm sure they'll want to hear of your success.

Thanks!