Help with Japanese beetles

[Monie]

the shiny green ones - they are attacking everything alive in our garden this year. I have never seen them so bad, there are tons of them out there. I don't want to use pesticides - it's our veggie garden - esp. the beans and raspberry plants they are eating.

Will a soap spray work? I really don't want to go pick them all by hand, I am sort of creeped out by them.

[Owen'nZoe]

OK, this is hand picking, but I go out in the morning while they are still moving slow with a paper cup in hand. You can scoop them into the cup and squish them right in the cup (by squishing the sides of the cup together). It's hand picking without actually having to touch them.

Also, my neighbors have one of the traps, and say it works if you have a large enough yard to draw them away from the plants you want to save.

[lotus.blossom]

We moved into this house last May and shortly thereafter we were INFESTED with japanese beetles. We have a huge raspberry patch and a majorly huge grapevine. Those were the main attraction. We cut the grapevine back to the stump and I did a lot of pruning of the raspberry patch and we haven't seen any yet. It may be because of all the rain we have had this June but I am hoping that we took care of the problem by cutting it all away.

I have heard that the traps actually attract the beetles to your yard. My aunt did the traps and her whole neighborhood started complaining of beetles.

[Owen'nZoe]

And crud, I just read that squishing the beetles releases a phermone that attracts more to your yard, so if you do the paper cup scoop method, maybe shake them into a bucket of soapy water instead.

[GardenStream]

I've done the soapy water trick, but when I was facing 1000+ beetles every morning, I gave up after a week. I'm now switching to Neem oil. I know their are consequences and I never use it on anything flowering, but I see less than 10 a day now.

I also used milky spore in my garden area last fall and that seems to have helped as well.

[Monie]

can Neem oil be used on edibles, or just ornamental plants? I want to save my green beans!

[GardenStream]

Originally Posted by Monie

can Neem oil be used on edibles, or just ornamental plants? I want to save my green beans!

I have always read that it's safe to use on veggies. I can't stand the smell of it so I don't spray anything that I'm planning on eating in the next couple of days.

[Monie]

thanks!