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Farmer Fred tackles No. 1 turf pest

Fred and Debbie meet the beetles on latest podcast

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED SEP 1, 2021

Illustration of Japanese and green June bug beetles

A Japanese beetle, left, is much smaller than most people think.

It also is incredibly destructive. (Photos courtesy California

Department of Food and Agriculture)

Every summer, Sacramento gardeners look onto the Internet with alarm after spotting a shiny greenish beetle somewhere in their garden. Was it a Japanese beetle? Or a (much bigger) green June beetle? Or another lookalike scarab, a Figeater beetle?

Fortunately for us, it’s almost never a Japanese beetle, a scourge of the East Coast and Midwest. But in June 2020, 19 confirmed Japanese beetles (eight in Arden-Arcade, 11 in Rancho Cordova) were found in Sacramento County. That’s kept county agricultural authorities on alert: Besides eating more than 250 crops, Japanese beetles are the nation’s No 1 turf pest.

Local gardening experts "Farmer Fred" Hoffman and Sacramento Digs Gardening’s Debbie Arrington discussed the challenges of Japanese beetles during Fred’s latest podcast. Listen to it here:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629/9104331-japanese-beetle-control-tips-the-oxblood-lily

Fred’s podcast is an online continuation of his popular radio broadcasts.

This beetle talk was spurred by a listener in Indiana who watched in horror this summer as her roses and hardy hibiscus were skeletonized. This was an annual problem. The question: How to stop the cycle?

Fred also discussed this problem in his “Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter.” Read it here:

https://fredf82.substack.com/p/controlling-japanese-beetles-roses?r=ft658&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

Keep an eye out for Japanese beetles, which are more coppery

than green.

Here’s how Sacramento County agriculture officials describe the Japanese beetle:

“Adults feed on the foliage and fruits of several hundred species of fruit trees, ornamental trees, shrubs, vines and field and vegetable crops. Among the plants most commonly damaged are apple, pears, cherries, corn, grapes, roses and turfgrass. Adults leave behind skeletonized leaves and large, irregular holes. The grubs develop in soil, feeding on the roots of various plants and grasses and often destroying turf in lawns, parks, golf courses and pastures.”

Japanese beetles, which measure under half an inch, look more coppery than brilliant green. In Sacramento, they’re often confused with two much larger, metallic-green summer insects: green June beetle (a.k.a June bug) and figeater beetle.

Usually appearing in (you guessed it) June, the green June beetle measures an inch long and feeds on decaying fruit or other organic matter. Native to the Southwest and Mexico, the figeater is even bigger, about 1-1/4 inches, and emerge from July through September. Both like to hang out in compost piles and mulch.

California ag officials ask homeowners to stay on the look out for Japanese beetles. If you suspect Japanese beetles in your garden, contact the Sacramento County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office 916-875-6603 or California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Pest Hotline at 800-491-1899.

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Keywords:

beetles gardening Sacramento pests roses Japanese beetles summer pests Farmer Fred Hoffman agriculture UC IPM flowers

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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