How to get rid of Japanese beetles with organic methods

Strawberry plants are attractive to Japanese beetles.

Japanese beetles, the copper and green garden pests, can be a perennial problem for gardeners and homeowners with outdoor plants. These beetles feed on hundreds of different plant species and often swarm from plant to plant, creating quite a nuisance. Rather than killing them with toxic sprays, there are several methods you can use to eradicate the beetle population in your yard. It may be difficult or nearly impossible to completely get rid of the beetles, but controlling their population could help save the plants in your yard and neighboring yards.

Things You'll Need

• Bucket
• Liquid dish soap
• Water
• Garden gloves
• Kaolin clay
• Garden sprayer

Instructions

1. Squirt a tablespoon or so of dish soap into the bottom of a bucket. Fill the bucket at least halfway with water. Carry the bucket to one of the plants attracting beetles. Don the gloves. Hold the bucket in one hand while shaking or flicking any leaves containing beetles to shake the beetle into the bucket. Do this until you've caught as many beetles as possible on all the plants that are infested. Leave the beetles in the bucket overnight until they drown.

2. Skim and discard dead beetles the next day. Repeat the beetle-catching process on all infested plants every day until the beetles are gone or nearly gone.

3. Mix kaolin clay and water in a garden sprayer, following package directions. Seal the sprayer and shake the mixture. Apply to all plants which may attract Japanese beetles, including fruits and vegetables.

Tips & Warnings

• It may seem nearly impossible to completely get rid of the beetles, but every effort to control their population will help save the plants in your yard and neighboring yards.

• Once you start plucking beetles from the plants, fewer new beetles will be drawn to the area. Fewer beetles also means fewer births of beetles, so every bit of plucking you do helps immensely.

• Kaolin clay is a natural substance that, when applied, acts as a barrier between the plants and the beetles. It disguises the plants, making them unattractive to beetles. The clay is non-toxic but leaves a white residue, so it should be washed off of produce before eating.

References

• University of Maine Extension: Japanese Beetle
• Blue Horizon Farm: 5 Organic Ways to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles
• Clemson University Extention: Less Toxic Insecticides

Resources

• Veggie Gardener: How to Get Rid of Japanese Beetles
• Extremely Green: Surround WP Kaolin Clay