How to Kill Japanese Beetles With Sevin Without Harming Your Plants
By Robert W. Lewis, eHow Contributor
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Japanese beetles can wreak devastation.
Japanese beetles are a hated scourge. Adult beetles ruin ornamentals and vegetables by eating flowers, tender stems and leaves, often leaving a characteristic, skeletonized leaf. The grubs bore into the ground and eat plant roots all summer. Telltale signs of grub damage are reduced plant vigor in summer and large patches of dead grass. The gardener looking for a pesticide to minimize Japanese beetle populations will find a friend in carbaryl, known by the trade name Sevin. Sevin is favored, especially in vegetable gardens, for its non-toxicity to both humans and plants.
If the population of beetles is such that handpicking them is not a feasible option, foliar applications of an insecticide such as permethrin, carbaryl, or malathion can help reduce the Japanese beetle population. There is no published threshold for Japanese beetle, however, if >15% of leaves are damaged; an insecticide spray may be warranted. It is important to note that Japanese beetles are gregarious and they may be present in great numbers on just a few vines. Therefore a localized spot treatment may be appropriate.