Best product(s) to treat ground for Mexican bean beetles?

[TacticalSpeed]

Trying to figure out what the best products are for treating the ground in the Spring, before planting anything, to hopefully not have a Mexican bean beetle problem again.

Anyone know?

 

[Chuck]

Trying to figure out what the best products are for treating the ground in the Spring, before planting anything, to hopefully not have a Mexican bean beetle problem again.

Anyone know?

Treating the soil will do nothing as the Bean Beetle entire life from egg to adult is above ground on the plant itself. The best way to control them is to kill the eggs. Neem Oil works great for this as the oil smothers the eggs. If you miss the egg stage the next thing is the larval stage and after that is the pupal stage and then the adult stage. A spinosad based insecticide works good on the larval and pupal stages and not quite as good on the adult stage. Pyrethrin works best on the adult. Pyrethrin is strong stuff, is organic if not mixed with synthetics and it kill all insects including pollinators but it is fairly fast acting and not long lived as sunlight will destroy it. About 2 days is max in my experience.

 

[TacticalSpeed]

Treating the soil will do nothing as the Bean Beetle entire life from egg to adult is above ground on the plant itself. The best way to control them is to kill the eggs. Neem Oil works great for this as the oil smothers the eggs. If you miss the egg stage the next thing is the larval stage and after that is the pupal stage and then the adult stage. A spinosad based insecticide works good on the larval and pupal stages and not quite as good on the adult stage. Pyrethrin works best on the adult. Pyrethrin is strong stuff, is organic if not mixed with synthetics and it kill all insects including pollinators but it is fairly fast acting and not long lived as sunlight will destroy it. About 2 days is max in my experience.

Thank you. I'm just trying to think ahead and not let them ruin my green bean crop next year. I did the neem oil thing several times this season end while it eventually took care of them, the plants were too far gone at that point.

Should I perhaps just keep the green bean crop covered with some sort of netting next year or is that not going to do it either?

 

[Chuck]

Thank you. I'm just trying to think ahead and not let them ruin my green bean crop next year. I did the neem oil thing several times this season end while it eventually took care of them, the plants were too far gone at that point.

Should I perhaps just keep the green bean crop covered with some sort of netting next year or is that not going to do it either?

Netting will help but not much of a help. The secret is to spray the underside of the leaves to kill any eggs that have been laid. And, if you miss some of the eggs and they hatch you will see the little larvae if you closely inspect your plants. When you see them spray with the spinosad or pyrethrin. You must maintain vigilance on your plants because once the larvae change into pupae it is not very long until the pupae turn into adults and they will immediately start laying eggs and you are behind the curve of controlling these insects. I inspect my beans EVERY morning or afternoon. The eggs larvae and pupae are all a yellow color