Last week when I mentioned that some sort of bug {which turned out to be a Japanese beetle} had attacked my pole beans, tons of helpful readers chimed in with suggestions on how to deal with those pesky little buggers. Especially how to get rid of Japanese beetles.
The tips were so helpful, I wanted to make sure I had a post dedicated specifically on how to get rid of Japanese beetles in case anyone else was searching for ways to keep Japanese beetles out of their garden.
Thank you to everyone who made a suggestion! I LOVE sharing my gardening adventures here on the blog and as always, I love to hear about what’s happening in your neck of the woods as well. š
Gardening is pretty rad, and I’m so glad we’re in this together!
How To Get Rid of Japanese Beetles
Sacrifice One Plant For The Sake Of All Others
Lana “The Japanese beetles always find my knock out roses near my mailbox first and I just let them have them. If I donāt try to kill them or trap them they stay right there and leave everything else in my yard alone. If I try to discourage them there they will eat everything they like on my entire acre. It is the only effective means of control we have found.”
Jen “They seem to love zinnias even more than beans and basil. So, we plant zinnias at least 20 feet from the vegetables and it seems to help.”
Another Nancy “Trap crops work well, as someone mentioned above (the roses). The old-fashioned flower four oāclocks will work for this purpose.”
Hand Pick Japanese Beetles Off Your Plants
Janet “The old-school, organic way of dealing with Japanese beetles is to use a coffee can or other container with a cover, fill it with soapy water, then hand-pluck those nasties and send them to a watery oblivion. I keep the covered can outside and near the affected plants. You can dump the can and refill it with soapy water and beetles as needed.”
Joyce “Japanese beetles destroy my grapes every year, I have tried the traps but find hand picking the best way to removeā¦they smell awful to me.”
Misty “In my yard Japanese beetles seem to prefer fruit trees (apple and in the past peach), fruit bushes (raspberry and grape), rhubarb, willow, zinnia, flowering shrubs like roses especially when they are in bloom.
Iāve also caught quite a few hanging out on my asparagus ferns and some on my Japanese maples. Unfortunately, hand picking seems to be the best way to stop them which also prevents the next generation from being quite as bad.”
Diane Dodge “After mating, the Japanese beetles lay eggs under the earthāthese become grubs and can destroy turf, but also become the next generation. SOāyou want to control them before they mate and lay eggs in your yard.
Iāve handpicked them every morning when making rounds for years and it seems to keep their populations in control.”
Feed Them To The Chickens
Sheila “My chickens love them and instead of using liquid soap when hand picking, I splash a dollop of distilled vinegar in the water. The beetles still drown though I think it takes longer, but I can then feed them to the chickens. (I do the same for stink bugs ā the chickens love those too.)”
The Soapy Water Method
Lillian “A spray bottle with water and just a bit of dawn detergent to spray on plants keeps the beetles away.”
MichĆØle “If you pick them off and toss them in a mixture of soapy water KAPOW! theyāre gone. If squeamish, have your husband do the deed.”
Jen “We also pick them by hand and drop them in water (it doesnāt have to be soapy) so they donāt get too out of control.”
Lisa “We pick about 50 Japanese beetles a week, just put a small container of soapy water under them and gently flick them in! A daily practice! Lol.”
Holly “Japanese Beetlesā¦.they live in abundance here in the North East. We just drop them in a bucket of water and a squirt of Dawn.”
Cathy “When I was a kid my mom would hang out the white sheets and the beetles would land on them, then I would nudge them into a Ball jar of soapy water and kill them.”
Anita F “Theyāre pretty docile in the morning, easier to flick into bucket of soapy water. They love my rhubarb and raspberries!”
Colleen “Japanese Beetles are a pesky garden visitor. As others have said, plunk them down in a bucket of soapy water. They meet the same fate as bagworms at my house.”
Milky Spore
Pat “The best way to get rid of Japanese beetles permanently is to spread milky spore on your yard. It is harmless to everything else, since it is a spore, it spreads out and it kills the grubs for 20 years. Those beetles will decimate everything!”
Renee “If you have grubs in your garden use Milky spore on your ground and it will kill the grubs.”
Pat “I used milky spore last season and I havenāt seen any grub at all this year. It is organic and it can last for at least ten years after applying it. It is a little pricey but when you stretch that over ten years it more than works out.”
Cheryl “Milky Spore is the only thing I have found to help. It looks like dust ā but is actually little critters that eat the larvae ā so no bugs. I mix as directed into soil, then till it in. The years I have used we had excellent crops.”
Japanese Beetle Traps
MEM “They make traps for them but they just seems to attract more of them. I pick them off by hand and squish them.”
Kathleen “I use the traps. I just put them away from my gardens. There have been years where we have to put a 5 gallon bucket (with a lid) with water under them because the traps fill up so fast.”
Mel “We have them, and they go after just about everything (beans, apples, basil, etc.), but they usually donāt fully destroy anything. You can buy traps, but thereās some evidence that just attracts more. Our chickens eat them if we throw them in their water bowl.”
Nancy “If you do use the Japanese beetle traps you need to put them farther away from your garden because they will draw more in. I saw only one on my basil this year but then noticed neighbors two streets over had put up traps. I think they took care of the problem for me!”
Mrs. C. “If you use a Japanese beetle trap, which contains pheromones to attract them, the best place to put the trap is as far from the gardens as possible. This works pretty well if you have a lot of land. If you donāt, the pick then picking the bugs off is a better idea.”
Beneficial Nematodes
Misty “If youāre willing to spend quite a bit to put nematodes or milky spore down you can kill the overwintering grubs though you may also be at the mercy of your neighbors who are not doing the same.”
Diatomaceous Earth
Nancy “Food-grade diatomaceous earth has been our go-to for pest control in the garden. Works really well, you just have to be careful to not breathe it in since it is a lung irritant.”
And Then There’s Grandpa’s Method Of Getting Rid Of Japanese Beetles
Psuchica212345 “Japanese beetles! The hardware store sells bags and baitā¦they fly in, never to exit! Sevin dust is also good! The bag traps have the most unique odor! My grand dadā¦use to pour used motor oil on the bag and light it up in the middle of our dirt roadā¦grandfathersā¦oh they can be naughty ha!”
*****
So there you have it. 9 proven tricks from readers on how to get rid of Japanese beetles.
Keep Calm and Garden On.
~Mavis
*I probably wouldn’t try Grandpa’s method though if I was you. š
Jamie says
Good luck! I’m in the midwest and these are an awful pest and decimate whatever they decide to eat. You can try all these methods and still not get rid of them. Don’t do the bag or trap – it will collect and kill a bunch but it just keeps drawing more to your yard! I hate Japanese beetles!!
Lulu K says
I agree with you, Jamie to a point. Japanese beetles live 11 months of the year, spending a lot of that time underground as grubs. They become adults and do their damage in June & July in NC where I live. We applied a pre-emergence chemical larvae killer early last spring. Our grass was beautiful. We hardly saw any beetles. Didn’t do it this spring and the knockout roses were decimated. I sprayed with water, real neem essential oil and dish liquid. Then, I hand picked the critters off. Some still came back. I cut all the new blooms and some foliage off the the knockout roses until they go away in August. Next year I will use natural beneficial nematodes, which worked really well in our community garden. NEMATODES WORK! But, I am curious about that bug juice. BTW, after all that work, neighbors on both sides had tons of them and are doing nothing to reduce their populations.
Maybe I will try that bug juice, afterall.
Ugh!
Ginger says
Years ago I read an article in an organic gardening magazine about this thing called āBug Juiceā. It was a terrible year for those pesky Japanese beetles soooo. I hand picked a baby food jar full, dumped them in a blender (not one I use for our food) with some water, and blended! Strained the ājuiceā and put in a sprayer. Sprayed the garden and never saw another Japanese beetle! This method works for other insects as well. The article did state to not use it for flies or other disease carrying bugs. There is more detailed information available, just google ābug juiceā.