Does anyone growing summer flowering cattleyas have to contend with
Japanese Beetles? If so--and especially if you've found effective ways
of discouraging them from turning your flowers into a salad bar--I'd
like to hear from you. I have a couple of cattleya species (leopoldii
and bicolor) and a few of the hybrids derived from them that flower in
the summer. I've tried everything from "hiding" the flowering plants
behind other orchids and houseplants (all of which spend the summers
outdoors here in the Midwest where I live), to coating them with a good
amount of Safer's insecticidal soap, but nothing seems to work. Just
last week I had a guttata hybrid that I got to enjoy the flowers of for
a whole two days before they--like some horrible magic act--disappeared
because of the attentions of the beetles. Luckily another group of
budds on the same plant are still maturing, and weren't of any interest
to the beetles. Now I'm praying that the budds don't mature for another
week or two in the hopes that the beetles will have all died off by
then. Any advice (other than getting rid of the summer flowering
cattleyas to avoid the problem!) would be very much appreciated.

Be very careful with any oil based product in this weather. If you're going
to use oil of any kind, it must be applied either early in the AM
(preferable, IMO) or after the sun has lessened, early evening. Otherwise,
you'll have charred orchids. As far as oil on the buds, I don't know what
that would do to the flowers, but I'd test it on one bud before doing a
wholesale spray.

Have you considered a screened enclosure?

Diana

Steve Weaver wrote:

Does anyone growing summer flowering cattleyas have to contend with
Japanese Beetles? If so--and especially if you've found effective ways
of discouraging them from turning your flowers into a salad bar--I'd
like to hear from you.....................
....................................

Something ate part of a single yellow mini-Catt flower but I'm quite
sure it was a slug. Japanese beetles love my grape vines so much, they
pay no attention to the orchids. Maybe that's you answer; plant grapes
near by.
Seriously though, I just normally bring summer blooming plants indoors
as the buds begin to open. I see the flowers more often indoors and a
few weeks of dim light doesn't seem to harm the plants at all.

Steve

Steve,

The soap probably only works when sprayed directly on the beetles. For a
repellant you might try Hot Pepper Wax, testing on a single bud/blossom
first.

You could also try something systemic like imidacloprid, found in some
"Bayer" products. Of course a meal of your blossoms would precede the
timely, but too late, death of the beetles.

The best suggestion though is Steve's. Bring them inside.

Bob

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Steve Weaver wrote:

Does anyone growing summer flowering cattleyas have to contend with
Japanese Beetles? If so--and especially if you've found effective ways
of discouraging them from turning your flowers into a salad bar--I'd
like to hear from you.....................
....................................

Something ate part of a single yellow mini-Catt flower but I'm quite sure
it was a slug. Japanese beetles love my grape vines so much, they pay no
attention to the orchids. Maybe that's you answer; plant grapes near by.
Seriously though, I just normally bring summer blooming plants indoors as
the buds begin to open. I see the flowers more often indoors and a few
weeks of dim light doesn't seem to harm the plants at all.

Steve

Steve,

Japanese Beetles are very difficult to keep from eating anything blooming.
Hiding the flowers doesn't work.

When I have a vanda or other summer out plant that is blooming I bring it
indoors when I can see buds otherwise the critters will chew them up.

I did read that Neem will discourage them. I tried spraying it on the crepe
myrtle trees in my yard with good results this year. They seem to love the
crepe myrtles and it must do something because thats where they seem to have
sex. You might try spraying neem on things that you can't bring indoors but
be careful...it is an oil and may damage flower buds.

Good growing,
Gene



"Steve Weaver" wrote in message
ps.com...
Does anyone growing summer flowering cattleyas have to contend with
Japanese Beetles? If so--and especially if you've found effective ways
of discouraging them from turning your flowers into a salad bar--I'd
like to hear from you. I have a couple of cattleya species (leopoldii
and bicolor) and a few of the hybrids derived from them that flower in
the summer. I've tried everything from "hiding" the flowering plants
behind other orchids and houseplants (all of which spend the summers
outdoors here in the Midwest where I live), to coating them with a good
amount of Safer's insecticidal soap, but nothing seems to work. Just
last week I had a guttata hybrid that I got to enjoy the flowers of for
a whole two days before they--like some horrible magic act--disappeared
because of the attentions of the beetles. Luckily another group of
budds on the same plant are still maturing, and weren't of any interest
to the beetles. Now I'm praying that the budds don't mature for another
week or two in the hopes that the beetles will have all died off by
then. Any advice (other than getting rid of the summer flowering
cattleyas to avoid the problem!) would be very much appreciated.

Steve: So far, knock wood, no beetles here.

The soap is not going to do you any residual good. It will kill the beetles
you hit while you are spraying it, that's all. Mostly same for the oils,
but I second Diana's caution about those. Are you of the age to remember
the sunburns produced on humans tanning with baby oil? Same idea.

I cannot recommend a specific chemical, but if you Google on "pesticide
labels" and your specific pest, you will find some. Chances are, most
(maybe none) will not be specifically labelled for orchids. No guarantee,
but _usually_ those labelled for "ornamentals" will be safe. Do a small
test run on a couple of your least favorite plants and watch them for a few
days before spraying overall.

Look around your premises for non-orchid "host" plants, too.

Until you solve the problem, bringing them inside sounds like your best bet.
Good luck, Kenni


"Steve Weaver" wrote in message
ps.com...
Does anyone growing summer flowering cattleyas have to contend with
Japanese Beetles? If so--and especially if you've found effective ways
of discouraging them from turning your flowers into a salad bar--I'd
like to hear from you. I have a couple of cattleya species (leopoldii
and bicolor) and a few of the hybrids derived from them that flower in
the summer. I've tried everything from "hiding" the flowering plants
behind other orchids and houseplants (all of which spend the summers
outdoors here in the Midwest where I live), to coating them with a good
amount of Safer's insecticidal soap, but nothing seems to work. Just
last week I had a guttata hybrid that I got to enjoy the flowers of for
a whole two days before they--like some horrible magic act--disappeared
because of the attentions of the beetles. Luckily another group of
budds on the same plant are still maturing, and weren't of any interest
to the beetles. Now I'm praying that the budds don't mature for another
week or two in the hopes that the beetles will have all died off by
then. Any advice (other than getting rid of the summer flowering
cattleyas to avoid the problem!) would be very much appreciated.

On Fri, 4 Aug 2006 18:11:32 -0400, Kenni Judd wrote:

Look around your premises for non-orchid "host" plants, too.


Speaking of "host" plants are bambo anything to be concerned about?

Bob

Something ate part of a single yellow mini-Catt flower but I'm quite
sure it was a slug. Japanese beetles love my grape vines so much, they
pay no attention to the orchids. Maybe that's you answer; plant grapes
near by.
Seriously though, I just normally bring summer blooming plants indoors
as the buds begin to open. I see the flowers more often indoors and a
few weeks of dim light doesn't seem to harm the plants at all.

Steve

That's an idea, you may try a trap baited with fresh fruit or a
chemical lure set a distance away from your orchids. If you can move
them 50 feet or so and keep them somewhat confined then spray or
slamming the lid may help with the control.

Nancy

Yes, I definitely remember when everyone thought it was a swell idea to
slather themselves with baby oil and lay out in the sun. I'm kind of
hesitant to try the oil for the same reason. For now, I think I'll take
the majority vote and bring the plants inside when they're flowering
during the summer. I have a humidifier built into my central
air/heating system, which is set to keep the humidity at a year-round
constant of 50%. Hopefully that will be sufficient for the cattleyas to
keep their flowers alive for at least a couple of weeks so that I can
enjoy them.

Interesting, I did notice today that the guttata hybrid I just brought
inside a couple of days ago has flowers that smell like cloves--which
is also reminiscent of what the lures to the Japanese beetle traps
smelled like when I tried them last summer. And on a (sort of) related
note, if anyone is thinking about using a miticide on their plants, I
would recommend steering clear of a product called Bonide. I have a
couple of cycnoches that were showing what I thought was the beginning
signs of a mite attack. So I bought Bonide at the local nursery, went
home and started spraying it on the plants. First I noticed that it
also had that familiar sweet clove-like smell. Then, to my horror, I
noticed Japanese beetles starting to alight on all of the orchids that
I was at that moment in the process of spraying. I immediately dropped
the Bonide, picked up a garden hose, and started spraying the orchids
to get rid of the apparently attractive aroma that the Bonide had. I've
since felt a small pang of guilt by picking certain sacrificial plants
in my yard and liberally spraying them with the Bonide in an effort to
get the marauding beetles to fly in that direction rather than go near
the orchids. Ugh, one more reason to finally write a check and buy a
greenhouse. I just have so few plants (less than a few dozen orchids),
that it seems like a waste of resources--besides, I'm too afraid that
my hobby will turn into an uncontrollable addiction if I get a
greenhouse!

Thanks very much to everyone who took the time to respond. I really
appreciate your help.

Kenni Judd wrote:
Steve: So far, knock wood, no beetles here.

The soap is not going to do you any residual good. It will kill the beetles
you hit while you are spraying it, that's all. Mostly same for the oils,
but I second Diana's caution about those. Are you of the age to remember
the sunburns produced on humans tanning with baby oil? Same idea.

I cannot recommend a specific chemical, but if you Google on "pesticide
labels" and your specific pest, you will find some. Chances are, most
(maybe none) will not be specifically labelled for orchids. No guarantee,
but _usually_ those labelled for "ornamentals" will be safe. Do a small
test run on a couple of your least favorite plants and watch them for a few
days before spraying overall.

Look around your premises for non-orchid "host" plants, too.

Until you solve the problem, bringing them inside sounds like your best bet.
Good luck, Kenni


"Steve Weaver" wrote in message
ps.com...
Does anyone growing summer flowering cattleyas have to contend with
Japanese Beetles? If so--and especially if you've found effective ways
of discouraging them from turning your flowers into a salad bar--I'd
like to hear from you. I have a couple of cattleya species (leopoldii
and bicolor) and a few of the hybrids derived from them that flower in
the summer. I've tried everything from "hiding" the flowering plants
behind other orchids and houseplants (all of which spend the summers
outdoors here in the Midwest where I live), to coating them with a good
amount of Safer's insecticidal soap, but nothing seems to work. Just
last week I had a guttata hybrid that I got to enjoy the flowers of for
a whole two days before they--like some horrible magic act--disappeared
because of the attentions of the beetles. Luckily another group of
budds on the same plant are still maturing, and weren't of any interest
to the beetles. Now I'm praying that the budds don't mature for another
week or two in the hopes that the beetles will have all died off by
then. Any advice (other than getting rid of the summer flowering
cattleyas to avoid the problem!) would be very much appreciated.

Steve Weaver wrote:
Yes, I definitely remember when everyone thought it was a swell idea to
slather themselves with baby oil and lay out in the sun. I'm kind of
hesitant to try the oil for the same reason. For now, I think I'll take
the majority vote and bring the plants inside when they're flowering
during the summer. I have a humidifier built into my central
air/heating system, which is set to keep the humidity at a year-round
constant of 50%. Hopefully that will be sufficient for the cattleyas to
keep their flowers alive for at least a couple of weeks so that I can
enjoy them.

Depending on your location in the country, 50% humidity won't be that
much of a reduction. In some areas it may also be an improvement.
I've kept my small seedlings inside this summer and added supplemental
lights.

Interesting, I did notice today that the guttata hybrid I just brought
inside a couple of days ago has flowers that smell like cloves--which
is also reminiscent of what the lures to the Japanese beetle traps
smelled like when I tried them last summer.

You may be fighting an uphill battle if the scent of orchids in bloom
are an attractant for a pollinator. Orchids don't care about the
blooms' appearance, they just want to get pollinated.
Afew years ago, bulbophylum exhibited in the Birmingham orchid show was
totally abuzz with really hairy bottle flies. The blooms were amazing,
however the fragrance was the odor of the bottom of dumpster. This
summer I had two cattleya hybrids in bloom. They were products of the
same cross. From the time one set buds it was mugged by really
defensive aggressive wasps. The other ignored. The blooms looked
virtually identical to me. I don't know whether the attractant was
"eau de wasp in heat", a larval scent for nurtering, or a danger scent,
but the the buds were attended constantly by wasps. for about 2 weeks.

I really miss the ground floor sun room I had in Alabama. A garden
paradise to drink coffee in the morning, screened in to exclude the
larger insects.

Nancy