I have some questions on japanese beetle eradication/usage, if I may.
As I'm considering growing old garden roses (in addition to berry
bushes and, hopefully, paw paw, as a followup to recently planted
rugosa bushes) it seems inevitable that japanese beetles (already in
the area) will become endemic. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
1. I've recently read of a couple of ways to remove/gather japanese
beetles. In the morning (while the dew is weighing them down) they can
be picked/pushed off into (soapy?) water. Alternately, a sugar/yeast
solution can be put into plastic gallon containers (of which I have a
plethora between $4/gallon milk & $1/gallon water) to attract them -
they check in but don't check out. The beetles can then be put in a
blender & sprayed on susceptible plants, which the beetles would then
find repugnant due to their scenting a member of the family.
How well does this work? Can the solution be applied to other
susceptible plants (e.g.-grapes) with success? Should the blended
beetles consist of just the morning ones, or would the sugar/yeast
solution be outweighed by the "beetle juice"? How often would spraying
be required (was thinking late morning & early evening)? What effect
would this have on the roses/other plants (i.e.-fertilizer? cause black
spot or mildew?)?
2. Re paw paws - I understand that a way to attract the proper insect
pollinators is to hang roadkill from the trees. Although this sounds
appealing, might the "beetle juice" work as well?
3. Am I missing anything here?
George Drosehn
Northern Delaware - zone 7 (from whichever of the 2 charts you choose)