Japanese Beetles - net insect barries on fruit trees

[Lemure]

I live in New York and I have many different kinds of small fruit trees. This year I am trying the insect net barriers on my trees - because I am tired of Japanese beetle plucking all summer long. I am new to gardening. I do not want to use any chemicals, etc. Not that any seem to work on these beetles, anyway...

My question is: When is the fruit set? I want to put the net on before the beetles attack, which is the first week in July. I'm assuming if the trees were going to have fruit, it would be set by July 1?

I have multi-cherries, plum, peach, pear, apricot, a fruit salad tree and a multi-apple. Most are still small and do not have fruit. This year my fruit salad tree and peach have fruit already, the rest are still fruitless.

Has anyone else tried these mesh insect barriers on fruit trees? I plan on keeping the trees small so I can handle them easily.

Thank you for any help, it is much appreciated.

[applestar]

I think the simple answer is -- by the time the blossoms lose their petals, they would have been pollinated or not pollinated ... Fruits would have set or not set. After that it's a question of whether the trees are mature enough and/or have the necessary resources to bear the fruits to maturity.

I saw some signs of Japanese beetle predators last year -- a type of wasp -- I'm hoping they will be back/will have produced next generation for this year's Garden Patrol in my garden.

You may want to consider treating the ground around where there was Japanese beetle infestation with beneficial nematodes this fall so they can take care of the grubs. I posted a pretty thorough thread about this last year. I wonder if I or someone else can find it?

[rainbowgardener]

Is this the one you were looking for applestar:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... es#p340825

[applestar]

THAT'S the one! Thanks @rainbowgardener
Even though the topic was nematodes, I posted links to info about predatorial wasps that use Japanese beetle larvae as hosts in that thread.

[Lemure]

Thanks for your help. I have tried all the other methods, except for making a mix with the dead beetles and spraying the trees with that. They smell so badly that I wont do that.

Treating the ground seems futile, since I cannot treat all my neighbors lawns also - fruit trees all around my property on all sides, including a large wooded area at the base of a mountain that is full of raspberry and blackberry bushes. If I were completely remote with no fruit trees around except for mine for miles, I could see that working. But I am not - hence the use of barrier netting. A few years back, I did treat the ground and my house plants with nematodes - there were tons of fruit flies after the one hurricane. It helped with the fruit flies, but there was no noted difference in the amount of beetles on the trees. There were less beetles grubs in the ground when I dug my veggie garden, true. But since they FLY in from all around - there were the same amount of beetles in the trees.

I use garden fabric around my trees anyway, so they would have trouble burrowing up or down into the ground through that fabric.

[applestar]

Did you read about the predatorial wasps?

[Lemure]

Yes, I have read on the import of more insects to fight the beetles and can quote it as being "like a drop in the ocean".

Yes, I am well read on the subject of Japanese beetles since I have been fighting these buggers for years.

Hence, the use of GARDEN BARRIER NETTING which is the ONLY REASON FOR MY POST. Emphasis on "ONLY".

Sorry, but you are preaching to the choir here. Been there, done that, etc.

[applestar]

OK sorry about the O T -- we all get that Japaneese beetles are frustrating and need the best organic remedy/tool to fight them.

Let us know the progress as season goes. Will you also be trying to catch and kill the ones hanging around on the barrier netting?

I will post any noticeable developments that may have resulted and may be happening in my garden from my last year's --grit teeth and don't do anything so pest/prey population will reach the critical mass needed to attract the beneficial predators "technique" -- IN A SEPARATE THREAD.

[Mhasan]

Hi,

My pear tree is doing great so far, there weren't many JB's on it last year. My peach trees are a different story. JB's like them The trees don't look that great this year, not many leaves, and only about 3 peaches on one tree, and one on the other. I guess that's it for this year? Anyway, last year was my first experience with the JB's and I had a service apply the nematodes. Will wait to see how effective this is.... Am willing to try the net insect barriers. Can I get them at Home Depot? Or do I have to go to a nursery? Maybe I should try them on my roses......


https://www.almanac.com/content/japanese ... rst-plants

[imafan26]

Good trap plants are four o'clocks (poisonous), larkspur (poisonous), castor bean (poisonous), borage, marigolds, light colored zinnias, and white roses. Some of the poisonous ones are also toxic to the beetles if they are eaten. Trap plants lure the beetles away from the target plants. You can selectively spray the trap crops with insecticides to kill them or you can go out and hand pick or vacuum off the beetles early in the morning when the dew is still out and the beetles have a harder time flying off.

It won't help immediately, but you can reduce the number of beetles over a couple of years by treating lawns with milky spore. Beetles will over winter as grubs in the soil.

Beetle traps have gone out of style but I used them for years. They will attract beetles from all around, reduces their number by 50%-75%. If your property is large enough set the traps out at the farthest corner away from the fruit trees. The beetles will be attracted to the lures there instead of to the trees and over time reduce the beetle damage, but expect an increase in the short run. I don't actually have Japanese beetles, but I do have Chinese Rose beetles which do practically the same thing except that they feed at night and I can use a light to control them. The Japanese beetle traps work well in trapping them, I just omit the pheromone lure. After a couple of years I hardly had any beetle damage and I was catching fewer beetles. The downside is that the lure will also trap bees attracted to the floral lure. It helps if you can get your neighbors on board with putting out traps in their yards as well. The traps should be put out about the time that the beetles start to emerge in your area.

Neem oil, is not my favorite thing, but it is an anti feedant and it works if you spray the trees before they become infested. Spraying should be every 3-7 days.

[GardeningCook]

I'm surprised that you're having so much trouble with Japanese Beetles on your fruit trees. While we have them here (in abundance) in Virginia, they only seem to bother grapes and roses. Have never seen them on our apples, pears, and peaches.

Thankfully the overly abundant wild grapes here make for an excellent trap crop.