We have three trees and only one produced this year and only a light crop. Our red havens look to be 7-12 days from ready to pick. Today i discovered 5 large peaches literally covered in japanese beetles. One eaten to almost the pit. Ive never seen anything like this and i am very worried for the remaining fruit. Given that we are close to harvest what can i do to save our crop? Im not opposed to spraying but again, close to harvest. Any help greatly appreciated.
Insecticidal soap
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I feel your pain. I, too, had very few peaches this year and almost all of them were eaten by Japanese Beetles or June Bugs- just exactly like shown in your photos.
I used Sevin dust just so I could get a few fruits and it works great, but a lot of people are reaching for their keyboards right now to say that Sevin Dust has a pre-harvest interval of 14 days for peaches, meaning you shouldn’t use it for 14 days before you pick the fruit. That still works out of you don’t get any/much rain, but if you do Sevin won’t stay on enough to prevent the swarms shown in your photos.
I confess to having used it closer to harvest than 14 days and then peeling the fruit before using it, but let me be clear in saying there is no scientific evidence that this is a safe or acceptable method nor am I going to recommend it. But for me it was that or not get a single peach this year. Good luck.
Some say soapy water works but I don’t have good luck with it doing much more than clearing the swarm for a few hours and by the next day they are back. But its been a few years since I tried it so others may have better instructions for its more effective use.
Put larvicide in the soil under your fruiting plants in the Fall and Spring.
I put out four barrel traps with scented lures just outside my orchard. They each have many gallons of dead beetles in them. Very few beetles in my orchard, which has no peaches in it. Search here for instructions how to make the the JB traps. Or buy the bag kind and empty it more often. They work!
The tulle didn’t work for June bugs. My husband is removing them for me. Next year I have both plastic bags and tulle. They follow the smell and my garden smells like a huge ripe fig. The plastic bag might keep the smell down.
It takes about 10 minutes for 2 people to put it up on the tree with long rods. Or you can buy smaller size insect barrier bags to cover only branches.
That’s how I was able to harvest 30 lbs tree ripened Saturn peach this year, which is a Japanese beetle magnet.
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I’m thinking of spraying vinegar to keep these bugs under control. My husband just crashed a bunch of them with his hands, he had gloves on.
Do those hold up in the wind?
Everything i see seems to be pointed at mosquitos. What specific product?
No problem for me.