The sweet potatoes began in ou... HOLLY TOWNSHIP, Michigan – For the second straight year, my family is taking advantage of the Holly Township Community Garden on N. Holly Road, using a couple plots there to grow our favorite veggies this summer.
As a change of pace, this year, my husband and daughter decided to try something different – sprouting sweet potatoes in our kitchen this spring, and later relocating them to the garden where we planted them in May.
I’ll have to admit, I was rather impressed when Tony’s potatoes sprouted thread-like protrusions in the kitchen, and even more so when a network of pretty reddish-green stems and leaves emerged from the tops.
Jess’ potatoes – not so much.
Even so, Tony insisted we plant them. Inserting her two potatoes into the hardened earth in May, Jess had her doubts.
“Do you think these will grow, Dad?” she asked eying her father's vibrant plants, before turning her attention back to her seemingly lost cause yams.
“Well, we’ll see, won’t we?” he said trying to hide a smile, and dumping water onto her pathetic plants.
Over the weeks, Tony and Jess never gave up hope, hauling can after can of water over to her plants at each garden visit.
Finally last week, Jess came home from the garden with some pretty exciting news.
Jess' sweet potato is finally ...
“Well, Dad says I should call my sweet potatoes ‘Zombie Yams,’” Jess said.
“Yeah? Why’s that?” I asked, almost afraid to hear her answer.
“Because they came back from the dead – I have plants growing out of mine now, too!”
And it’s true. Late last week, I visited the garden and could hardly believe my eyes. Jess’ once-tragic taters are quickly gaining momentum on Tony’s plants – and with good reason. Tony’s potatoes have Japanese Beetles.
“Uh oh,” I said aloud as I watered. “Your dad’s got some problems with his taters here – Japanese Beetles.”
Riddled with small holes, you could see where the beetles had been busy chewing.
An invasive insect, the beetles were first noticed in New Jersey in 1916. Since then, they have spread across the northeastern United States where the climate seems to be just about perfect for them.
A summertime staple on most golf course putting greens and beyond, the bugs are a little less than a half inch long, metallic greenish bronze in color, with coppery-colored wings and small white tufts on the sides and tip of the abdomen.
Feeding on the foliage and fruits of hundreds of plant species, they’re every gardener’s nightmare.
“What should we do?” Jess asked.
Tony's sweet potato plants hav...
While there were only a few on Tony’s plants, I picked them off. Most garden websites suggest that gardeners avoid chemical pesticides, instead encouraging them to reach for the soap and water.
Since then, we’ve been visiting the garden in the early morning hours, putting a little dish soap and water into a bucket, and then shaking what few beetles we had from our plants into the soapy water. It’s “beetle juice” as Jess calls it – the bugs’ last bubble bath and a way for us to easily manage the problem, and ensure our harvest.
Beetle traps that use female beetle pheromones can also be used, but most gardeners agree that you have to be careful as it can sometime attract more beetles to your garden than what you already have.
Planting Mirabilis, larkspur, white geraniums, red buckeyes and dwarf buckeye plants is also a good option as the flowers from these plants attract the beetles, but poison them when ingested.
Neem oil can also be sprayed upon the plants – it’s a natural Japanese beetle repellent. Most garden centers or nurseries carry the product as it’s deemed to be a green way of ridding your garden of bugs.
Barring any more trouble from our Asian insect friends this summer, autumn in our garden might get pretty interesting. Who knows, maybe Jess’ “Zombie Yams,” will be a Thanksgiving dish “to die for,” thanks to this summer’s “beetle juice.”
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