I was pulling weeds in the vegetable garden this weekend, and came across this weed in the basil patch. I was about to pull it when I realized it was full of Japanese beetles, and there were no Japanese beetles on the basil.
This weed was functioning as a Japanese Beetle Attractant Plant, and a neat way to not use Japanese Beetle pesticides and traps. This is one of those simple organic Japanese Beetle controls one can use to deal with the beetles.
I have yet to identify the weed, as the weed identification sites I have visited have yet to yield an answer.
But think twice before pulling up a plant that is full of garden pests, its probably keeping those pests from your vegetable plants.
Comments
5 responses to “Japanese Beetle Attractant Plant saves the garden”
[…] is one of those simple organic Japanese Beetle controls one can use to deal with the beetles. •Read More WHAT TO DO NOW? Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback […]
Looks like the weed might be “smartweed”…we have var. “pennsylvania
smartweed” which looks similar but falls over as it grows larger.
hey… your post is awful for my brain lol
I don’t know the name of the weed, but I found also that Japanese Beetles loved to chow down on them. ‘Horseradish’ was another favorite; the only difference being that the horseradish didn’t seem to suffer from the voracious little beggars. (Then again, some consider it a weed )
Hey there – this is the 5 th time I have googled something in the last few months and ended up with one of your articles of videos. Anyway, thanks for the tips. It is nice to see a real person using things on hand and his own ingenuity to get things done. I, too like to garden, DIY and cook so you’re site is a great find for me! Cheers from Michigan!!