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| I planted Rattlesnake beans this year, and unlike past years, so far the Japanese Beetles that have been around about 2 weeks now have ignored them. In the past they feasted on my bean plants.
Are some bean plants less attractive to Japanese Beetles, or have my beans just been lucky so far? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Your soil nutrition might be better, healthier plants are more resistant to insect predation. |
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| Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. ;-) I wonder, did your beans previously receive some fertilization? It has been my observation that the accelerated growth caused by fertilization can trigger increased insect attacks. I've observed this with squash, where fertilization seemed to increase the severity of attacks by squash bugs & cucumber beetles. Since I stopped fertilizing my squash, the bugs are still present, but not in overwhelming numbers. |
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| Mark, Mother Nature at work!! No one, not even the places like Monsanto will ever really figure her out. Enjoy those beans. Ed |
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| We normally have hundreds of the little buggers every day for weeks, but there have been many fewer this year and they May already be slowing down. Anyway, especially with fewer bugs you will see a decrease in plants attacked. They seem to focus on particular plant types at one time and then migrate to another plant type. Perhaps they are drawn to others already saying 'oh boy, good eats here' or perhaps they detect the chewing? Maybe the first female's feromones say 'over here boys' and everyone comes running? Anyway they gather together to eat and mate. From one year to the next, there are changes in the first plants chosen. I would normally say just wait and they will find your beans, but they haven't attacked as many types here as usual. |
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| Some varieties can be less attractive to them than others. I've grown Fowler Bush been for years and it is always the last to be attacked by Japanese beetles. Here in Oklahoma, where I've gardened since 2006, I've hardly seen this problem. The Japanese beetles usually pass up the beans for my sweet potato vines. George |
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- Posted by mark_roeder 4B IA (My Page) on Tue, Jul 3, 12 at 1:03
| I have Linden trees in the front yard and they attack them. They are on my rose bushes and I am picking about 100 per day off them, and other days I am applying insecticide. The insecticide on roses has no lasting benefit as far as I can tell. In past years they skeletonized the leaves of my Blue Lake beans, but I still had fairly productive bean plants. The Japanese Beetles are here in greater numbers this year despite my efforts at killing the grubs. My yard is a magnet for these things, but so far the Rattlesnake pole beans escaped their notice almost entirely. |
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| Mark, strange you should mention that your Rattlesnake poles are escaping the JB's..same here. I have Rattlesnake and another pole (forget the variety) side beside and the R's are untouched so far and the other ones riddled. Tomorrow may be a different story but hope not. A few days ago they were on my rhubarb big time and now they seem to have moved on to other delicacies. Why don't they attack the crabgrass? There's plenty of it this year. |
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