Hi everyone,

Cecil, you sure do have your share of bad luck trying to grow figs. A guy at LSU told me to spray the ground under a fig tree with Sevin or Malathion. They hide in the grass under the tree and will contact the poison as they move in an out of their cover.  June bugs only come out at night to eat the leaves.......so you can catch them by hand too if you go visit your tree with your flashlight.

Maybe that is why some of the old timers used to grow their fig tree in the chicken yard. FYI, those June bugs will eat Pecan and Persimmon leaves too.

Wishing you better luck.........

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Dan,

Cecil,
Why do you suspect June Bugs? Normally, I can see them doing their damage. I have not had any problems with insects on my fig trees except for Katydids devouring my unripe figs (pictured in my avatar). I too had an incident with a young fig plant dropping all its leaves. Thought it had died for no apparent reason but the leaves grew back after a few weeks. I have noticed that happen to newly planted fruit trees when transplanted from nursery potting mix to my alkaline clay soil too. They either drop their leaves or fail to grow (sometimes for the entire season) until they adjust to their new reality. btw, what part of E.TX are you in? I have in-laws in Woodville.

@go4broek

This is what you will see at night if you have a June bug problem. These were eating fig leaves and persimmon leaves in my back yard. Usually they will eat the leaves but not the veins of the leaf. So, sometimes you will see the leaf skelton left on the tree and lots of evidence that something was munching on the leaves.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

No photo Dan?

.....not sure why they didn't show up the first time. They were there when I hit the edit button.

Dan
Semper Fi-cus

Dan,

Thanks Dan,

Do sticky traps work on them or pheromone traps?

Additional info on "June Bugs" http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/view_question/id/724/ . Hope it helps.

EDIT: Cecil, just saw the pic you posted. It was a deer. Get your gun! lol Look around for his pelleted poop pile for confirmation.