The Japanese Beetle made an appearance in the back yard garden this week. A very unwelcome visit. My okra has been taking a beating and I finally caught them in the act. On Tuesday morning right after daylight I found the beetles feasting on my okra leaves. It took me several days to actually find one and the total count was six before I was finished.
Damaged Leaves And The Culprit
I have six rows of okra and three rows had some damage to just about every plant. I had some other friends saying they had them bad also. One said she had them on her crape myrtle’s. I went and checked mine and found several on just about every crape I had. I went straight to the okra and found the one in the pic and five more scattered throughout the patch. Nothing else in the garden has been showing any damage other than the bloom rot on my squash that was minor. I found some eggs on the under side of an okra plants leaf at the edge of a row and found my first one a couple of plants down the line. I crushed the eggs before I thought to take a pic. I mixed up a spray of soapy water and soaked my plants down and then crushed the ones I found in my hand. I hope I got all of them. I sprayed the crapes down good with a stronger mix and a lil’ pesticide. My wife said she saw some on the yellow bells today. I suspect these have hit my cukes a bit but not as hard as the okra.
The Okra Patch
I have plenty of beneficial insects and honey bees in the back yard garden and hope they continue to do their thing. I need them to pollinate and eat other insects as they do. It seems the beetles over run me and I have got on top of the situation as of now. The whole garden is looking nice and lush. The okra is really starting to put some very nice looking blooms out in the early morning.
drduhgylie
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