Episode-205- Backyard Japanese Beetle Battle – Part 1 – The Great Grape Grapple Grind

The culprits up close
Close up with the Beetles

   

Among the many plants I am growing in order to create a mini food forest in suburbia are grapes. I used to come across some plates of grape leaves as appetizers when I was a kid in certain settings but I can’t remember eating any. They must be delicious though be cause the Japanese Beetle (Popillia Japonica) are devouring the leaves like there’s no tomorrow. The video for today does not reveal the true extent of the damage so far because it is early in the battle.

Several weeks after the great grape grapple began the beetles seem to be winning but I don’t give up. Watch Backyard Japanese Beetle Battle – Part 1 – The Grape Grapple and see how I begin to take on the beetles. In later episodes I will show how I employed some other spray methods to keep these bugs away and maintain the safety of the plants for other animals such as my honey bees.

I knew I would be heading into trouble this year with the Japanese beetle if I did not take preemptive action and I did put down grub control all over the yard. However, the timing might have been off and I am also just starting the milky spore applications to my yard. It takes quite a while for milky spore to demonstrate results but in a few years between the efforts of my neighbor and I we expect to see a dramatic decrease in the number of these creatures.

In the meantime I must face them head on and remain diligent until they can no longer take the Surround WP or Neem oil I use to control them. With both of these cotnrol methods it is not immediately apparent what the ill affects are for the beetles. Rather the treatments do the work over time and reapplications are often necessary. Especially with all the rain we have been grateful to receive in northern Virginia this year. Stay tuned as the struggle continues…

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