An entomologist friend tells me that the beetles eating my basil are brown
chafers, not japanese beetles. They will be gone in a few weeks, so to keep
the basil from being totally devoured until then, I'm going out at night to
pick them off and drop them into a bucket of soapy water. They also eat my
mint, but they love basil the best. I don't have marigolds this year, but
they were on the chafer menu last year. It seems that they like things with
scented foliage.
--
Martha Stallmann

"Anne Lurie" wrote in message
. com...
Well, it sounds as though you have Japanese Beetles (JB). Welcome to "the
club no gardener wants to join"

I don't know about the basil (mine has not yet been affected by JB), and I
don't use insecticides on leafy vegetables such as lettuce, basil,
spinach,
etc. (although I cannot cite a scientific reason for that). For other
veggies, I recommend Sevin (carbaryl). Sevin is available in concentrated
liquid or dust; I recommend the liquid, simply because sprayers are *much*
easier to find than dusters.

BTW, I know that some people put the Sevin dust in an old sock to apply
it,
but that was not practical for me, since I wanted to apply Sevin dust
around
the perimeter of my house to stop an epidemic of millipedes (it helped.)

What ever insecticide you choose, make sure to read the label so you get
one
meant for use on edible crops (as opposed to "systemic" insecticides which
remain in the plant).

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


wrote in message
. com...
Umm....newbie gardener plants' like roses : bud/leaves, persimmon leaves
and
other plants are being eaten by these fingertip size beetles with
greenish
casts. What can I use to get rids of them but leaving my plants and
basils
safe enough to eat ? Thanks.