Beginner Gardening: Japanese Beetles, 1 by dividedsky

dividedsky wrote:
I sprayed the hot pepper/garlic spray two days ago and did an initial evaluation today. Lots of beetles came back to the pole beans, which had quite a bit of damage on them. However, it looks like there weren't nearly as many beetles on the sunflowers and a couple of other plants I sprayed. I don't know if that's because it's working or was just a coincidence at the time I showed up.

It's supposed to rain again soon. I think I'll reapply and check back to see how it's working. I'm guessing, though, that the beans were so heavily marked that the beetles will keep coming back. I don't see how they can stand to eat that stuff, though.

The best part of the inspection, though, was running across this guy (assassin bug) on my squash. We saw a lot of these hatch and it looks like at least a few made it to maturity and are snacking on (potentially) pests. Yay for nature's checks and balances!

Yes, that sharp drinking straw on its face? That's for piercing the vulnerable parts of exoskeleton and sucking out the bug guts!