New Day Lily Plants and a Beetle Trap Update

I have a beetle trap update but let's look at the pretty flowers first.

 Fooled Me

 Indian Giver

Those are some striking day lilies.  I couldn't resist buying them the other day when I was shopping for flower pots.

The beetle traps are kicking it.  After only a day and a half the half gallon container was half full of those nasty beetles.

The other two traps have a full two days worth and they are each over 2/3 rds full.  Unfortunately that means I need to empty the traps.  EWWWWWW

The above trap shouldn't be too bad because I just need to put the cap on it and I am done.  The other two are gallon bags that you are suppose to empty but I am going to remove them and staple them shut.  EWWWWW  When I replace the ziploc baggie I will put the ziploc portion at the top so that I just need to remove bag and zip it up.  

I walked around again today checking the beetles usual haunts and nary a beetle to be found.  Love it when a plan works out.

Also not to be found, orioles.  They have left for the summer.  But we have a new bird.  The grey cat bird.  They sound just like a pissed off cat.....LOL  

On a side note.....see that rock popping out of the ground behind the beetle trap?  That boulder has popped up out of nowhere in the last three winters.  More than likely the deeper than normal frost has pushed it up.  R poked around with a metal rod and says it's big.  There are about 5 rocks that need to be mined in the side yard. You can see where they are because the grass turns yellow first in those areas because the dirt is shallow where there is a rock.

It's always something.  If it's not beetles eating your leaves, it's big old rocks popping out of the ground.

Japanese Beetle Trap Hack

It is amazing how well these traps are working.  The beetles just fly into the bag.

I set up the third trap today and used the trap hack that Hartwood Roses posted about last week.  I used a large water bottle (half gallon???)  and a tomato cage in my version.  She posted an update on her traps today. Read about it here.

First, I cut the bag off just below the narrow portion.

I then placed the neck of the water bottle into the bag and used a piece of plastic twine tied just below the ribs that hold the cap in place.  A twist tie would work better but I didn't have one right at the moment.

Then using the same plastic twine I suspended the trap in the middle of the tomato cage.  I used the tomato cage to help keep the traps from blowing sideways in the high winds that we have had the last two days.  The beetles are not very good flyers and when the trap is blowing around it is hard for the beetles to land on the trap.  Also, I had a stash of cages so no extra money was spend except for the initial costs of the traps.

Yesterday I mentioned that they say not to hang in trees or by plants.  I have found that my plum tree is a Japanese beetle magnet.  In the past years the top of the tree has had a swarm of beetles flying around.  But today the top of the tree was without beetles and the only place I could find beetles were on the limb right around the trap.

The second trap that I hung yesterday was moved out into the yard as was the new third trap.  After relocating the traps I walked around my yard looking for beetles.  Normally my rose bushes are favorite places for beetles to snack on but today there were no beetles to be found.

Where were they?  They were in the traps.  The two traps that I hung yesterday are filling up fast.  By Thursday I will need to remove the bag on the trap in the plum tree. At that time I will either replace with a gallon ziploc bag or modify the trap to accommodate a large water bottle or milk jug.

The more beetles that I kill this year are less beetles laying eggs in the ground to hatch next year.  I don't see ever being able to eliminate beetles all together but if I can keep them off my trees and roses I will be happy.

The Dreaded Japanese Beetle and How to Get Rid of Them

First off, as bugs go, these are nasty little buggers.  I've lived with them long enough and tolerated their destructive ways, but no more.  I'm packing pheromones and not afraid to use them.

The perpetrator.

Google

 The Japanese beetles was first spotted in New Jersey in 1916 after it was accidentally introduced into the United States from Japan where it is not a major pest.  Here in the US the beetles skelotinize leaves of plants and trees.

 University of Kentucky

The life cycle of the Japanese beetle is such that it is suggested that you treat both for the beetles and the grubs that are in the soil.  Those grubs are nasty looking.  I rarely see grubs when I am digging in the soil but I am sure they are there.

University of Kentucky

I've decided that I am going to use traps to help with the destruction that the Japanese beetles are doing to my fruit trees and roses.  The use of traps is controversial but I do not want to use chemicals in my yard or around my fruit trees.

While reading some of my favorite blogs, I ran across a post by Hartwood Roses .  She has a fantastic hack for the beetle traps that not only save money on bags but also keeps critters from tearing open the bag of beetles looking for a snack.  Check it out.

There has been some research that shows that traps lure more beetles into your yard than if you didn't have the trap.  My feeling is that I don't care where the beetles come from because my goal is to kill 'all the Japanese beetles'. I could care less if I am luring my neighbors beetles into my yard, as long as I kill them.  I'm sure my neighbor doesn't care because their roses take a hit every year.  I just can't see using chemicals and then eating the fruit from the trees that I treat to kill the beetles.  I may get sick and die from the chemicals but at least I don't have bugs on the leaves of my trees and plants....NO THANK YOU.  I'm going to give these traps a whirl and see how it goes.

The wind was almost unbearable today so I was unable to install the traps on a wire frame out in the yard but I will do that tomorrow.  You are suppose to hang the traps in the open and away from trees and plants.  I did hang them from two of my fruit trees which you are not suppose to do but I wanted to see if the beetles would be interested in the trap.

Were they interested????  Oh my gosh. I laid one trap on the ground while I attached the other one to a limb of the apple tree.  When I looked down there were three beetles on the trap trying to get into the bag.

I hung the second trap and went and got R to check it out.  When we got close to the traps we could see them flying into the bags.  It's amazing.  They fly into the yellow plastic part and drop down into the bag.  The bag kept blowing around and some of the beetles were having difficultly hitting the bag. This will not be a problem once the wind calms down.

There are several companies that make these traps and they are basically the same.  There is a hard plastic frame that the plastic collection bag hangs from, a plastic bag, and a pheromone and attractant disc.  The pheromone lures them in using the possibility of sex as the attractant.  Then there is also the scent of fruit or flower to attract those not interested in a hook up.  The smell is actually quite pleasant and I thought it smelled like a sweet flower and clove mixture.

Tomorrow I will attempt the milk jug hack on the other brand that I purchased.  This is very appealing to me because I do not want to empty a bag or even come close to any kind of contact with these beetles.  The milk jug option means I can remove the jug, cap it, and toss it.

The style that I hung today has a ziploc bag that hangs from the frame.  I think I can use gallon size ziploc bags and a hole punch to replicate the set up.  Rather than emptying the bag, I can just remove it, staple it shut, and  toss it. 

You can buy replacement pheromone/attractant for each brand so that next year you just buy that part and you are ready to go.  I think I will try and buy those at the end of the year when they go on sale.  They are good as long as you do not open the package.  The pheromone/attractant is suppose to last 6-8 weeks once it is opened.

Wish me luck.