Japanese Beetles showed up about a week ago.
Yes, I know I need to get better at keeping the weeds down.
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| These photos will be more striking as the grapes color up. This is a David Johnson (Milton, Washington) hybrid of V. riparia L50-s by Trebbiano. It is a good "lab rat" for breeding because it is a female and its flowers do not need to be emasculated to prevent self-pollination. Under my conditions, the leaves always look chlorotic and in need of a good dose of nitrogen. |
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| Geneva Red |
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| Lucie Kuhlmann (Kuhlmann 149-3?) |
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| Steuben |
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| Swenson Red |
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| Diplomat Honeydew melon |
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| Northern Pickler cucumber |
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| Tomatoes |
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| Stupice |
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| Polish Linguisa |
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| Mystery variety. Maybe Rossa Sicilian or Costoluto Genovese |
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| You can click on the picture to embiggen. A close-up of the fruit on the mystery variety |
Hi - came your way through Continuation of Politics.
ReplyDeleteI think my new blackberries have been munched by Japanese beetles. Any non-pesticide recommendations?
Sacrifice crops are an option.
DeleteJapanese beetles are pulled in by pheromones. They are attracted to some species (grapes, sassafras, basswood/linden). They like taller plants more than shorter. They like eastern exposure that warms early in the day. Very generally, they will migrate from shorter plants that are downwind to taller, preferred species that are upwind. They follow the scent of the pheromones.
(http://eatonrapidsjoe.blogspot.com/2018/07/decoy-crops-for-japanese-beetles.html)
Find the specimen you want to use for the sacrifice. Hang a JB trap in it. Then, every morning, shake the snot out of the plants you want to save from JBs, starting with the plants on the downwind (east for me) and working upwind.
I would use something like badminton or tennis racket or whiffle-ball bat for blackberries because of the thorns. You want the plant to get a vigorous shaking that gets the JBs into flight.
My wife encourages natural predators for the pests in her garden. Wasps, red ants, spiders etc. She's still trying to defeat squash bugs.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, tilling everything under and starting the fall garden in a couple of weeks. Weeding is straight up torture.
Just finishing up the tomatoes here.
DeleteCarrots will be coming up soon.
Everything else is just about spent.
So, like you mentioned it's time to start thinking about the fall crop. Probably will be more of the same, but with lower expectations of production.
Ate my first fig of the year yesterday.
-rightwingterrorist