What can I put on plants so bugs stay away?

I have a small flower bed in my front yard it is in full sun, and has 2 luna hibiscus, a butter fly bush, a few anuals, some whirling butterflies, russian sage....things of that nature....

So far it seems to be most obviouse on my luna hibiscus, I think japanese beetles are getting to them? There is a lace pattern on a few leaves, and the bug is small and has a colored shell that seems to look like an oil spill....blues, and greens.

Also there are ants on the hibiscus alot they look like the little tiny black ants can they do any damage to these??? And how do I get rid of all the bugs?

As far as I know, Japanese beetles are one beetle that will be killed by systemic imidicloprid (such Bayer Advanced). Unfortunately if it is another type of beetle, your options are more limited and less non-target critter friendly. The small beetles you are describing sound like leaf beetles or flea beetles, but without a picture, don't hold me to that.

I myself don't spray in my flower gardens. I, too, am in Georgia, and I finally have a few butterflies on my butterfly bush. They are mostly only the skippers with the silver spots, but that's better than the next to nothing I've had for almost two years, so I'm not going to put anything on the flowers that might kill the visiting butterflies and bees.

My impatiens and black eyed susan's get a little nibbled, but that's okay with me. Most products that will work on beetles with any residual will also kill any bees and butterflies visiting your flowers later on.

And in most cases ants don't do damage to flowers. I can't be sure without knowing what kind of ants or whether or not they have a herd of aphid "cows" or other homoptera.

Thank you very much! I am pretty sure they are just the tiny black sugar type ants that sometimes get into the house in the springtime. Thats exactly what they look like. The little beetles I am not sure. They are making a few holes in a few leaves on the hibiscus but they arent destroying the entire plant.

I guess I will just leave it alone! I do have butterflies on my butterfly bush and I didnt think of it killing them! Seems like the bugs and ants just like the hibiscus though so far. I will just leave it nature I guess. Got them on sale at Lowes anyways :)

Thanks again!

Someone told me to spray soapy water on my hibiscus whose leaves were eaten up (appeared to be caterpillars). I did it & it worked. Guess they didn't like the taste.
Nancy

You sure do have the Japanese beatle, we have lots of them here, and the Bayer spray does work but you have to keep at it.



Doris

You can also try traps just for them. They are also grub worms, so it helps to control those too.
A strong spray of the water hose can wash those ants off.
I have many anole, green lizards that eat many bugs. Make your yard friendly for beneficial insects and you have to keep bad bugs for them to eat. I just let them battle it out in my mini-jungle here just 28 miles south of Ga.
I sometimes think I have the most religious garden around.
sidney

sugarweed - my bugs battle it out too. Most of the insects in my yard are kept in check - except the flea beetles. Nothing seems to want to eat them.

Most of my veggies do just fine though. My Swiss chard got chomped starting a couple weeks ago, however, but it was just about time for it to go anyway with the hot weather we've been having. Even the chard evetually gets too hot (and gets bitter when it does). Besides, I really didn't want to spray it to save it for just another week or so.


And sometimes the Japanese bettle traps can be a problem (there was a thread here on this forum recently about them), because they can attract every Japanese beetle in the neighborhood - but something like milky spore in the soil can be a good idea.

I Tablespoon of dishsoap for every gallon of water I spray (with a recycled miracle-grow feeder) keeps my plants pest free. It doesn't hurt the plant at all and breaks down after a while. It works especially well in the apple tree and the rose bush. I have never had to buy chemcicals. You have to keep at it.

Have you tried the CUTTER Garden spray, it does work. you connect it to your garden hose and spray everything, and lasts 1 month, some bugs on Brugs are such pests that they keep coming back after a couple of weeks.




Doris