Organic Sprays for Japanese Beetles on Raspberry Plants

Fragile raspberries are surprisingly easy to grow at home.

Raspberries are fragile and carry a high price in grocery stores. Surprisingly, raspberries are easy to grow at home, but they are not immune to insect pests. Measures to protect raspberry plants from Japanese beetles include organic sprays.

Neem

Neem is a botanical pesticide derived from the neem tree, Azadiracta indica. Neem seeds are crushed or pressed to extract an oil. According to the University of Michigan Integrated Pest Management Resource, products containing neem have "a short but effective impact on adult Japanese beetles."

White Clay

A spray containing kaolin clay is available to protect raspberries from beetles. The spray encases raspberry fruit and leaves with a protective white coating. The nontoxic coating may be removed from the harvested fruit by washing the berries.

Grubs

Japanese beetle grubs live in the soil, under grass. Milky spore powder infects and kills the grubs. It is nontoxic to mammals, birds and fish and safe to use around food crops.

References

• University of Illinois Extension: Raspberries
• Michigan State University: Controlling Japanese Beetles
• University of Kentucky: Japanese Beetles