bad year for our blueberries japenese beetles

Rkh · Jul 18, 2016

Got 8 blueberry plants, last year we got 10 gallon size freezer bags. This year the berries are pea size or smaller & will be lucky to get half that. I noticed some japenese beetles on the plants & some leaves have been chewed on. Is there any safe way to get rid of Japanese beetles. We've had a very dry summer & used 5 gallon pails of rain water from our gutters, to water plants. I use needles from pine trees for mulch around our plants.

MarkB_MI · Jul 18, 2016

Traps like <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/p/Spectracide-Bag-A-Bug-Japanese-Beetle-Traps-HG-56901-1/100012648">this</a> will catch a bunch.

FBH44 · Jul 18, 2016

We grow BB's for a We-pick / U-pick operation. This year we had a huge crop, and the beetles have returned after being gone for several years. We learned to never put up the yellow traps, it just lures the beetles in from the surrounding county. Plus, there is noting in the existence of the universe more disgusting than a bag of the dead beetles. Best bet is spray Malathion [ 1 day to re-entry ] or spray Sevin [ 7 day to re-entry.] Knocks them right down. Wear face respirator rated for pesticides, costs only $35 or so at your farm-n-home store. Spray in the hot afternoon, when they are concentrating in groups on the tops of the plants. My experience is you only have to spray the tops of the plants, where they are. You'll get 95% that way. You might have to come back in a week and get the survivors, as there will be a few. WAIT the correct number of days before re-entry or consuming the berries.

FBH44 · Jul 18, 2016

If you are getting smaller and smaller berries, as the years go by, you might prune the plants. Remove the older / dead / largest stems or branches, and allow new growth to come up. Prune the middle of the plants, to allow sunlight to get inside. For the best berries, prune until your wife yells at you "You're pruning too much!!!".

4520BW · Jul 18, 2016

I cant help you with growing blue berries since our soil is not acidic enough but when it come to beetles on my blackberries I use a product called 8 that works great to kill them. I get it at my local TSC.

BarnyardEngineering · Jul 18, 2016

8? Perhaps you mean SEVIN?

glennster · Jul 18, 2016

i use liquid sevin on my fruit trees and berrie bushes, and also use the beetle traps. i modified mine because those little bags were a pain in the butt. i hook my traps to plastic barrels. about 6 years ago we had beetles real bad , stripped everything. they were also in the soybeans and corn. i set 6 traps and was catching about 30 gallons a week per trap. now i get about 3 gallons or so between 2 traps for the season. here is a couple pics, one of the trap, one of the beetles caught.

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank">

IMG_21221_zpsgcnkfqjz.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_21221_zpsgcnkfqjz.jpg

</a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank">

IMG_21241_zpsskgsoduc.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_21241_zpsskgsoduc.jpg

</a>

Michigan Iron · Jul 18, 2016

We use Sevin, but now that the berries are getting ripe my wife sprays them with dish soap. It does a good just but needs to be reapplied more often. We have discussed getting a trap but have yet to do so, maybe next year.

bad year for our blueberries japenese beetles

Rkh

Member

MarkB_MI

Well-known Member

FBH44

Well-known Member

FBH44

Well-known Member

4520BW

Well-known Member

BarnyardEngineering

Well-known Member

glennster

Well-known Member

Michigan Iron

Member

Similar threads