Japanese beetles
 

They are eating the HECK out of my bananas! I don't have any of those bag traps people use, simply because I've read many places that having them ony attracts more than you'd get anyway....and not all of them go for the trap... so I'm currently doing nothing.

I was just reading something about diatomaceous earth....people say it works to keep insects (and these) off plants. Would it hurt the bananas in any way to sprinkle some on? I happen to have food grade diatomaceous earth...I use it in my barn, chicken coop and kitty boxes. Unfortunately, with the volume of traffic and the amount of predators we have around here, my chickens are in a coop/fenced run....otherwise I'm sure they'd take care of my bug issues. But, I have a neighbor who is on their third flock of chickens because coons and hawks are killing them all. I don't want to be in that situation.

But it interests me that maybe the answer to my beetles has been sitting here all along? Anyone heard of using DE? Anyone actually tried it?

Thanks!
Angie

Re: Japanese beetles
 

I dust mine with sevin dust, only where I see the beetles are congregating.They seem to all want to be in the same spots and once you see one, then they all go to that leaf. The beetles will only be really bad for a few weeks, and then use scissors to trim off any chewed places and you'll never even know they were there.

Re: Japanese beetles
 

The lifespan of most insects on the ground in my farm is measured in seconds not minutes.
Geckos seem to eat everything that fits in their mouth except for some types of ants, but they love to eat beetles.
When I raised beetles for manure, I needed to keep them indoors for their protection.

Re: Japanese beetles
 

flyswatter

Re: Japanese beetles
 

Malathion for edibles.

Orthene, a systemic, for ornamentals.