Please share your opinions:
Japanese beetles arrived in the in the United States in the early 1900's and are one invasive species that lay their eggs in the soil, the grubs eat roots, and the beetles chew on the veins on plant leaves which destroys the plant. If they continue to spread, they are expected to do extreme damage to United States Agriculture in the next 20 years.
The state of Washington started seeing Japanese Beetles in 2020 and some counties have gone as far as to place a quarantine for plant materials. They don't want any plant material leaving specific counties. They are even setting up areas to drop off yard waste disposal, so it doesn't leave the county.
I realize not all states require agricultural certification to sell annuals. However, I think all sellers should do their part to help stop the spread of invasive species.
I also know some people selling tubers don't wash their tubers because it's not necessary and they feel they over winter better with the soil on. My thought is unwashed tubers may allow beetle eggs to be transferred from one garden to the next. What do you think? Do you think washed tubers can slow the spread of Japanese Beetles? Should this be talked about more?
