Japanese beetles are eating my organically grown oregano. What will stop them that isn't toxic?
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The completely safe way to remove Japanese Beetles is to hand pick them off your plants and drop them into a buket of soapy water. Another option is to use a floating row cover or netting/mesh to keep the beetles off your oregano. Larkspur is poisonous for the beetles, and they avoid the odor of geraniums. Traps painted yellow and baited with fermenting fruit, sugar, and water catch thousands of beetles - empty this daily.
The pheromone bags do kill a lot of beetles, but they also attract a lot of Japanese Beetles to your yard. In fact they attract more beetles than your plants do. If you use the bags, place them as far from your oregano as possible. They may reduce the number of adult beetles on your oregano, but they will not eliminate them from your garden.
Lady bugs and lacewings are totally ineffective on hardbodied beetles like the Japanese Beetle. They do like softbodied insects like aphids, but there is no guarantee that they stay put in your garden.
Grub control will not remove the adult from your oregano today. Long term, grub control will not remove the adult beetle from your oregano tomorrow. Adults can fly up to two miles per day. Grub control can only be effective if practiced community wide.
You can use diluted Melaleuca(Tea Tree) Oil. I would put maybe 10 drops ina couple ounces of water and spray directly on the plant. Either that or Vinegar might have a strong enough smell to repel them. One other thing I have heard of doing is using dishsoap, but I'm unsure if that would kill your oregano. Good luck!
I usually flick them into a bowl of soapy or oily water. Make sure the bowl is deep enough.
Long-term prevention for Japanese Beetles is biological controls such as beneficial nematodes or a product called "milky spore," which attack the grubs, and prevent recurrence for years.
This site explains how it works:
http://homeharvest.com/milkspore.html...
Take advantage of the biological control already taking place in your garden by encouraging natural predators, such as preying mantises, ladybugs, lacewings & birds.
Spectracide's "Bag-a-Bug" traps
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