Japanese Beetles On Eggplant

[GoDawgs]

This is what I found yesterday when I discovered the arrival of Japanese beetles.



The interesting part is that while they chewed on the Millionaire eggplant on the left, the Chinese String eggplant (on the right and one of this year’s toys) hasn’t been touched at all. Maybe they just hadn’t had a chance yet.



There were no beetles on the plants in the middle of the afternoon today. I will check this evening when it becomes shaded and cooler to see if the beetles prefer a cooler time like I do!

I have read that the first Jap beetles are scouts and will report tasty findings to their friends. If you kill the first ones you find you'll have a lot less of them later. Old wives' tale? I have no clue BUT it does seem to work. Coincidence? Or is some other factor at play? Who knows. However I will be ready to do battle with any that I find. There’s a cup of soap water at the ready.

[zipcode]

Bugs of all kinds seem quite selective in what they eat, and it's quite hard to predict what they will go for. For sure plants that are somewhat lagging will be hit hard, but they have preferences for certain varieties, so much that spider mites target one variety of tomato for me every year with a preference of at least 10:1. I basically can't grow that variety anymore.

Also, those are some insane plants, how big are the pots?

[MuddyBuckets]

Try a light dusting of Sevin (or similar product) when leaves are dry. Works well on roses when I first see the Japanese beetles.

[GoDawgs]

Thanks for the tip, Muddy. The JPs always hit the eggplant first every year except last year. I had done away with the Knockout roses which the JPs loved so they decided that the nearby pole beans were the food of choice.

Thanks, zipcode! Those are 15 gallon nursery pots.

[Labradors2]

Wow! Your eggplants are amazing GoDawgs!

I find that hand-picking the beetles seems to work, but then they usually target climbing roses and grapevines in my garden, so it's really not that big a deal for me. Good job that my eggplants are in a different area .


Linda

[GoDawgs]

Thanks for the reminder about the grapevines, Lab. I forgot to check those. I wonder if they like the muscadines we grow here in the South? I can't recall having a JP problem with them but problems seem to change year to year. This evening while watering stuff, I found one on a corn leaf!

[brownrexx]

I occasionally find them on corn leaves too but they don't seem to bother my eggplants. I do get lots of them on the asparagus ferns though and I hand pick those into a small container of water and then I feed them to the chickens! They love them.

[JRinPA]

Should be about 3 weeks until they start up here (knock).
Sevin dust is incredibly effective on them...
Eggplant, pole beans, okra, summer squash...tough to say which they like best. There is a time of day when they seem easier to knock into soapy water and kill. I want to say an hour before dark? But I wouldn't swear. I will have it back in current knowledge next month. But there are conditions where they are sharper and harder to kill.


I don't think japanese beetles are like doves or ducks that smell the food on each other on the roost and then follow the most well fed birds back to the good fields. At least I never thought of it that way. I don't know where the beetles go at night, but I doubt they roost up in bunches like birds!?


Edit I still think the worst thing to do is put up those beetle traps. That calls them in from a huge distance and they won't all go the trap if you they have tasty leaves to eat.