Peppermint oil can be used for Japanese Beetles. Photo by Chie Gondo
There are many oils that have pleasantly strong smells which insects such as the Japanese beetle are avoidant of. You can use these oils to easily make all-natural liquid repellents.
These homemade repellents are not necessarily as powerful potent as commercial grade, but if you are determined to go the all-natural route they should suffice.
Just pick your preferred fragrance and dilute it with water. You can then use a spray bottle to apply the mixture to the foliage of your plants to protect them from Japanese beetles.
Some of my favorite oils for this purpose are tea tree oil, peppermint oil, cedar oil, lemongrass oil, and neem oil. Plain old vinegar will work too if you have some laying around the house, although it definitely doesn’t smell as nice as the oils that I mentioned.
A better longer-term solution to a Japanese beetle infestation is to use milky spore to kill the beetle grubs. But when in a pinch, making your own Japanese beetle repellent is easily done and is pretty inexpensive too.
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