Last year, Japanese beetles arrived early and stayed late!
Japanese Beetles win!
As an organic gardener, all I could do was try to drown as many as possible but I was outnumbered.
They started with my green beans literally wiping out 8 foot high pole bean plants and chewed through my Bumble Beans, too.
Green beans fall to Japanese invasion
Japanese beetles make lace with Chinese Cabbage.
Every leaf on my apple tree turned to lace. Japanese Beetles!
Then they moved to my Chinese Cabbage. By the time they were done, the plants looked like a bit of lace tatted by devils.
Then they moved to my blackberries. They finished their backyard rampage by stripping every leaf off my 25 foot tall apple tree while I stood by, helpless.
So, this year, I plan on fighting back…organically, of course.
I have ordered 50 pounds of Surround – kaolin clay – from one of my very favorite (and quirky) places to buy plants and products in person and online — Edible Landscaping.
I need to spray it on the plants when I first sight the Japanese invaders.
However, this summer’s weather is wreaking havoc with predicting their arrival! So, I was wondering if there was a web site that could tell me when these little devils would be arriving in my neighborhood.
That’s how I found Big Bug Hunt!
NOTE: Big Bug Hunt is just getting started which means they are just beginning to collect data so they can’t help us this year. That’s where we come in. Gardeners are asked to report bug sightings in their back yards and zip codes.
The web site has a few hiccups so you’ll have to be patient if you want to participate. And I hope you do so I can get a better handle on when the Japanese Beetles will arrive in my backyard!
Grow So Easy Organic 