And....The Battle Begins!

[O]

Don't set traps for them - it only attracts them to your area.   We sold the traps for years, and used them at home too - never helped one bit.  The milky spore is pricey, and not always is able to get established.  Spaying or dusting Sevin works.

[rgfixit]

Are you using Seven on your lawn? Not on your vegetable garden I hope.

Rg

[O]

You can apply Sevin to your lawn and your vegetable garden.  Label says you can apply up to one day prior to harvest.

[Raquettedacker]

Just use  Rotenone Dust....   Get a duster and puff it around...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotenone 

[taxid]

Recently on vacation I saw bits of leaves falling from the trees. Pieces everywhere. Turns out the trees were loaded with gypsy moths munching on leaves. I've never seen that many in my life. They were everywhere.

I read that part of the reason for the numbers were the dry summer they had last year. Apparently there is a mold or fungus that controls their numbers unless the weather is dry.

[rgfixit]

The other day at work, I talked a very nice lady out of buying a Bag-aBug trap. She opted for Neem oil instead. I explained how the traps attract beetles from far away rather than helping eliminate the local residents.

Rg

[Mac Attack]

The other day at work, I talked a very nice lady out of buying a Bag-aBug trap. She opted for Neem oil instead. I explained how the traps attract beetles from far away rather than helping eliminate the local residents.

Rg

You're such a nice guy.

 

[zwiggles]

Are you using Seven on your lawn? Not on your vegetable garden I hope.

Rg

Why is that? I'm not a huge fan of the stuff, but my father swears by it. I used to spray lawns for a landscaping company, and I hate killing bugs now. It's hard to kill the bad bugs without killing the beneficial bugs as well.

[rgfixit]

"lemmings need to be directed to the sea."

I'm not a fan of any pesticide. Seven  I would use on my lawn I guess. But not on anything I'd eat. Same for Rotenone, or nematodes or any of that stuff. Manufacturers claim that it's harmless within a certain amount of time. But, the side warnings are pretty scary.

I figure I've done enough experimenting with my brain cells over the years.

Rg

[taxid]

Rotenone has been implicated in possibly causing Parkinson's disease. It's illegal to use as a piscicide in some states apparently because they fear it will contaminate an aquifer in states where surface water is closely tied to the ground water, as it stays active longer in cold water.

[esox_xtm]

Bah! Anything causes everything.... I'f you're eating apples or peppers from the supermarket they're the worst. I always wash everything in warm to hot water (even "triple washed whatever").

Seven? My Mom used it in the garden for decades. I'm not much worse for the exposure, certainly I brought more upon myself in my early "adulthood". Don't get me wrong. I'm not a blissfully ignorant applicator of pest/herbicides. I avoid it when I can but when necessary, well, "get back Loretta!".

Several years back we had an infestation of pine sawfly larvae. I went out for, oh I don't remember now, but 4 -5 days in a row and used a garden hose to knock 'em off the trees. By the time it took for them to find the tree and inch back up I think they starved to death. Anyway, all gone.

I don't know that it applies here but if you have the Japanese lady Beetle or Boxelder thing going in the fall the fix is a product called Buggslayer. It is absolutely amazing. The poison part is pyrethrin (a very "natural" pesticide sourced from Chrysanthemums). The claim to fame is some sort of "microcrystalline additive" that cuts the little buggers feet so the poison can enter because they really don't eat anything you can apply the poison to. Very, very effective. Hose end sprayer on the house in mid to late September, non-staining and no more bugs. Lasts through rain (I don't know how) and persists through the Spring. One application a year at the right time does it. A little OT but worth passing along.

Plain old soapy water works on lots of pests too.

Rotenone? Sprinkle/spray it on the water and go pick up fish....    Our DNR applies it selectively to harvest carp from overrun systems.

[Mac Attack]

I figure I've done enough experimenting with my brain cells over the years.

Rg

Not to mention, the liver and kidneys Bob.
I agree.
Better living thru chemicals is no longer an option.

[rgfixit]

Rotenone....Seven....I, think I'll pass.

Rg

[fishnmachine]

I do what my grandmother used to do.  I walk up and down the rows with a ten quart pail and a paint stir stick. Whack every bug and beetle I see into the pail. Once I'm through the garden, add a half a cup of kerosene and drop in a match.  No more bugs.  No chemicals.     

[rgfixit]

I found that if I mix just a teaspoon of dawn with water in a hand sprayer and squirt the little buggers. They slow down big time. Then I've just been picking them off the plants and dropping them in a coffee can with an inch of water and some more dawn. Kills them dead.

They must have gotten used to the Neem oil. It doesn't seem to deter them at all any more. Good news is, they're numbers seem to be reducing.
Rg