It’s almost that time of year again – time for Japanese beetles to begin their flight and make exporting ornamental plants from Ontario more difficult.
But this year, growers have a new biological insecticide available for managing both the larval and adult stages of Japanese Beetle.
BeetleGone and GrubGone
These are two new products on the market for control of several beetles that attack ornamentals. Both contain a naturally occurring bacteria, Bt, or Bacillus thuringiensis (subspecies galleriae). You may be familiar with other products that contain B.t. (e.g. Dipel, Bioprotec, Xentari) that are used for moth larvae. All are Class 11 insecticides.
BeetleGone is a liquid formulation, and can be used for the adult and larval (grub) stage of JB. GrubGone is a granular formulation, appropriate only for the larval stage.
Both are now available as options for part of your general management program for JB in both outdoor and greenhouse ornamental crops.