How can I keep the Japanese Beetles away from my plants?

Every year my garden starts out beautifully, I get one or two good pickings of green beans. Next thing I know the japanese beetles have come to stay and destroy every plant. The same thing happens with my morning glories. I have used the chemical powder stuff before, it works o.k. but I do not want to add a bunch of chemicals to my gardens (vegetable, and flower) if I don't have to. I hate those Japanese Beetles it makes me feel like like all of my hard work is for nothing. PLEASE HELP ME. I want to solve the problem before it starts.

How can I keep the Japanese Beetles away from my plants?
Chemical lures and traps catch some while attracting every Japanese Beetle for miles into your garden.



Don't use them. They cause more harm than they do good.



Best thing is to use mechanical controls [knock them off into a bucket of soapy water and KILL 'em].



Don't use pesticides like the idiotic pesticide companies want you [to make profits on their toxic waste], use mechanical coupled with biological controls.



The Beetles have been here long enough to be a permanent part of the Ecosystem and a few insect predators do kill them but it is usually not enough.



Milky spore disease which can be commercially purchased can kill the larvae overwintering underground.



But best to do it manually in a soapy bucket. Yucky yes, but very cheap and effective. Sometimes the Beetles will cluster in groups of eight or more in a mating orgy. Just knock 'em all in the bucket and drown their worthless butts.
Reply:You can go to Gardens Alive

website they have all natural stuff. I had mold on my plants inside and i sprayed with a organic spray (inexpensive) and got rid of it. I also use a bottle of water with garlic pieces or crushed fresh garlic and some dawn dish detergent. Let the garlic really sit there a while . Shake the bottle good and spray you have to spray after it rains cause it will wash off. It does keep those beetles away.
Reply:Go to Home Depot or even Wal-Mart, there are traps and special sprays. I use both every year and the work GREAT, my trees are two times bigger than my neighbors who let the beetles eat theirs. P.S. the spray is sevin, not seven.
Reply:You can get a trap with a lure in it. I have seen one in use and they can catch a lot of beetles.

I would just spray with "Seven". Seven is really effective on killing Japanese beetles. You can reenter where you sprayed as soon as it drys. It will not last long however because it brakes down fast. In fact when the beetles are bad you have to spray almost every day because the chemical is gone that fast.
Reply:Habitat Manipulation--Sometimes people can suppress the population of pest insects by making the habitat less suitable for them. Cultural methods typically employed in the control of the Japanese beetle include planting resistant plant species and using mechanical traps designed to attract and trap the adult beetles

Traps for adult beetles operate primarily with two chemical lures. A combination of a pheromone, or sex attractant, and a floral lure attract both male and female adult beetles to the trap. Then, as a result of their clumsy flying and the design of the trap, they end up caught in either the bag or funnel portion of the trap

Homeowners who choose biological methods to control Japanese beetle populations can successfully use parasites, nematodes, fungi, or other biologically based approaches. Some of these agents are commercially available to homeowners; others are not. While they take a little longer to produce the same results as insecticides, biological control agents last longer in the environment. More importantly, they do not adversely affect nontarget or potentially beneficial organisms

Nematodes--Insect-eating nematodes--microscopic parasitic roundworms--actively seek out grubs in the soil. These nematodes have a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with a single species of bacteria. Upon penetrating a grub, the nematode inoculates the grub with the bacteria. The bacteria reproduce quickly, feeding on the grub tissue. The nematode then feeds on this bacteria and progresses through its own life cycle, reproducing and ultimately killing the grub. The two nematodes that are most effective against Japanese beetle grubs are Steinernema glaseri and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. The latter is commercially available.

Milky Spore--Milky spore is the common name for spores of the bacterium Bacillus popillae. This bacterium was first registered for use on turf in suppression of the Japanese beetle grub in the United States in 1948.



Upon ingestion, these spores germinate in the grub's gut, infect the gut cells, and enter the blood, where they multiply. The buildup of the spores in the blood causes the grub to take on a characteristic milky appearance.