Neem Oil for Japanese Beetle Control?

Neem oil is a great natural repellent for most insects, but is it effective at keeping Japanese beetles out of your garden? The answer is both yes and no.

Japanese beetles are averse to the smell of neem oil. If you dilute neem oil in water and spray it on the foliage in your garden, it will be effective at keeping the adult Japanese beetles away.

But there are some definite drawbacks to using neem oil for this purpose that make it difficult to recommend as a primary means of Japanese beetle control.

First, the oil is only effective against adult Japanese beetles, and it doesn’t even kill them. The beetle grubs and eggs are not affected at all so you are not disrupting the life cycle, which is necessary to fully eradicate a Japanese beetle infestation. For the adult beetles, they are only repelled by the smell of neem oil. They are not killed.

Another huge drawback to neem oil is a fact that it will be washed away during the next rainfall. So you would have to reapply your homemade brew repeatedly depending on how much rainfall you have that summer.

Finally, neem oil is more expensive than other types of Japanese beetle killer. There are other kinds of safe and organic Japanese beetle control that are cheaper and better at getting rid of Japanese beetles.

So, in conclusion, I do not recommend using neem oil for Japanese beetles. Better to go with milky spore since it will disrupt the insects life cycle.