Japanese beetles are back!

[Mitch]

Munching on the same two trees they devoured last year.

Can I spray the trees myself, or do I need a professional?

[Steveo]

Liquid Sevin works well, it's available at any garden store.

[Mitch]

Thanks...I'll go look for some. Do they sell it in concentrate that I can dilute and put in my big sprayer?

[Steveo]

Yes, it's sold in concentrate for hose end or pump sprayers.

[William W. Plummer]

Do it now before they lay eggs for next year. Or, wait until next June and apply grub killer to get the grubs before they emerge as beetles.

[Steveo]

Waiting until next June won't help his trees much..

[newsgroups01REMOVEME]

Just to toss in my two sense. I bought a trap, and it looked like a cartoon. In minutes, the cloud of beetles moved in a line towards the trap. Soon, the first bag was full in a day or two. The second back is filling up now but the population(what I can see flying around) has declined.

I know I probly attracked every beetle in the nieghbor hood, but the positive effects was almost immediate on one tree they were attacking.

On a side note, I live in easter pa, have they layed eggs already? I've seen tiny brown spots where the grass comes up in handfuls? I thought this would happen at the end of July.

later,

tom

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[Steveo]

Look for billbug grubs. They're very small with no legs, look at the second picture down.

[William W. Plummer]

on for a month and a half and those eggs will hatch next spring. Attracting the flying beetles now may save your trees but spraying everything green with a toxic chemical is not a good idea. The chart is a bit out of date -- Sevin and diazinon are being phased out by order of the FDA. "Eight" is available to replace "Sevin".

[Steveo]

Nope, those billbug larve will feed this summer. The billbug over-winters as an adult, not a grub.

Um..he said -two- tress. Is that everything green?

The only reason it's being phased out is over-use, not because of its LD-50.

[newsgroups01REMOVEME]

I'm in my second year of laying down milkyspore so I'm trying to avoid laying down any harse pesticides. I'm guessing I'm going to have to live with the small dead spots till next year.

Would feeding the lawn help get it through this bad bug year?

later,

tom

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[newsgroups01REMOVEME]

One bush on my property edge(it's the neighbors, but in full view of my deck) is still somewhat green, and another small tree(20') has red leaves so it's not green. I have two other trees, maples(one red) weren't touched by the beetles. As you can tell only three full trees, and having one under attack weirded me out.

So much work for such a small piece of land. ;)

later,

tom

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[Steveo]

Only if it's getting proper irrigation. (one inch per week)

[Mitch]

They were out of Sevin, so I bought Bug-B-Gone, hose sprayer.

I sprayed the three trees that were infested, and about 10 minutes later the ground and driveway were covered with dying beetles.

Now we'll see how long it lasts.

[Steveo]

7-10 days if it doesn't rain hard. The jap beetle will be done in a few weeks..old age.

[newsgroups01REMOVEME]

I'm in eastern Pa, and I can say the trap is hardly catching anything, and they seem to have left my one tree alone. I'm guessing, the worse has past, and soon the trap will even come down.

later,

tom

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[Steveo]

Yep, now it's time to treat their offspring..the lovely grub.

[Steveo]

How much did the control product cost? Your OP asked if you needed a pro tree-spray company. There is money in doing that for people who won't help themselves. :) ($100 minimum)

[Steveo]

btw..next year, spray them around the fourth of July holiday with the same product. You'll prevent most all the damage and offspring in two treatments.

hth

[Mitch]

I bought Bug-B-Gone for $12. I sprayed three small ( 15') trees and used half of it. So I figure $6 per week until the critters are gone.

BUT! This morning the local landscape company owned by my "friend," i.e. a guy who goes to my church, was at the neighbor's.

Afterwards, I called him over. He's going to spray my three infested trees for $15 each (friend price), and he said (depending on rain) it should last for the rest of beetle season. So I think it's $45 well spent.

Last year at this time, because I didn't notice the beetles until it was too late, these trees were literally bare....looked like November.

Why does God make these creatures? :-)

I consider myself lucky that I have over 40 trees, and they only like to eat three of them!