rec.gardens.ecosystems homepage -> archive: MOD$990804.2883@rec.gardens.ecosystems



Subject: Re: japanese bettles
From: "gypsy" <gypsy@endor.com>
Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com
Date: Thu, 05 Aug 99 03:17:09
Message-ID: <MOD$990804.2883@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$990709.24089@rec.gardens.ecosystems>



smart weed: polygonum and yes, they like it...but they prefer basil

i have my tomatoes and cukes growing in boxes up on my deck this
year...better to control those buggers who'd eat 'em down to the ground. i
have a caraway growing in one of the tomato boxes..keeps away the infamous
horned tomato catepillar and i have a separate pot of basil on one of the
deck benches...each day i go outside, i find at least 5 japanese beetles
devouring the basil.
tons of polygonum grow right beneath the deck and there're beetles on them
daily..but not the numbers i pick off my basil (which i will NOT being using
this year because of the beetle feces, et al). i pick 'em off the plants
and throw 'em into a bowl of soapy water and DEATH BECOMES 'EM!!! (evil
laugh).
----------
In article <MOD$990712.28080@rec.gardens.ecosystems>,
l-haynes@students.uiuc.edu (lisa anne haynes) wrote:

>
>Steve Rehrauer writes:
>
>
>>karen howell wrote:
>>> I have noticed japanese beetles buried in the dirt. Are
>>> they leaving the soil to feast on the plants?
>
>>Are you sure they're Japanese beetles? I've had problems in my central
>>Massachusetts gardens with a beetle of the same size and similar
>>appearance, but it's more a coppery-brown color than the jade/copper
>>of Japanese beetles.
>
>>I don't know what a long-term control solution is (there seem to be enough
>>coming from surrounding yards that nematodes aren't a final solution).
>>Short-term, I drench soil around ravaged plants with a liquid pyrethrins
>
>A friend told me these beetles prefer smart weed (no idea what it is
>really called, it's that weed with the flower that looks like tiny tiny
>pink grape clusters) so to let that keep growing around the basil. That
>is the only place in my field i don't have any! :)
>I'll try transplanting some weeds (how counter to my existence!) and let
>y'all know if it works as an emergency control.
>
>lisa
>
>--
>l-haynes@uiuc.edu
>
>