Izu Kogen | Little Stories from Daily Life 3 — Something is wrong with the avocado I planted in the garden🥑

Hello. I'm Asumi, and I've moved to Izu Kogen.

After peacocks, hedgehogs, and badgers, now it's time for a story about insects🪲.
(There are photos of insects, so please be careful if you are not a fan.)

I want to grow fruit on my avocado tree

I have an ambition.

My avocado, which I grew from a seed, has grown over 1m tall, so I've started to think,I want to try and get it to bear fruit!
I'm growing two of them because they say they won't pollinate with just one.

Right after I moved in, I planted these two avocados in the garden.

They looked cramped in their pots, so I was very happy to be able to plant them directly in my own garden, but...

A swarm of Japanese beetles arrived🪲

When I went to check on them the next day, there were about 10 Japanese beetles swarming on the avocado leaves! (Photo withheld)

"Aaaah, stop it!"
Why are there so many of them?!

At this rate, all the leaves will be eaten!

I immediately searched for"Japanese beetle countermeasures"and since they apparently dislike shiny things, I laid a silver sheet at the base and planted marigolds nearby, which they supposedly dislike the scent of.

A rhinoceros beetle also arrived

A few days later, when I went to check on the avocado again...

This time, arhinoceros beetlewas clinging to the trunk.

Don't rhinoceros beetles usually suck sap from trees like sawtooth oaks??
The avocado trunk is still thin, and there's no sign of sap coming out.

Then a stag beetle arrived too

And the next day...
Now there was a stag beetle!

What is going on?
This avocado😳🥑

It's like a beetle magnet (lol

Even after that, despite my countermeasures, it's been a Japanese beetle paradise every day, and I've also seen female stag beetles and Japanese longhorn beetles.
It's not just beetles; various moths have come too.

What is it about the avocado that attracts so many insects?
It's a mystery😅.

I used to be bad with bugs, but
at some point

I started looking forward to seeing what kind of bugs would be there tomorrow

(lol).
The patterns on the bugs and the beauty of nature's design are actually quite beautiful, aren't they?

Izu Kogen is formidable.
To think it would change my dislike of bugs this much.

My stock photos are full of bugs 😆

Bug photos actually sell surprisingly well on stock photo sites.
Every time a bug comes to the avocado, I go to the house to get my DSLR and take many pictures.

This is the reason why my registered photos on PIXTA became full of bugs (lol).
(Adobe Stock has strict screening, so I don't post bug photos there)

I'm always taking pictures in the garden... I'm sure the neighbors think I'm a strange person 😅.

Will the avocado bear fruit 🥑

The avocado tree started sprouting new buds after autumn arrived.
These are my cute avocados that I grew from the seeds of avocados I finished eating using hydroponics, then moved to pots, and have survived the cold winters on the balcony for over 5 years.

I look forward to the day they bloom (and bear fruit) 😊

It's getting colder and I don't see Japanese beetles anymore, but the other day there was a giant praying mantis.
The battle with the bugs seems like it will continue 💦.

Thank you for reading 😊.

A 6-year-old boy in the neighborhood told me, "Let me know if any bugs come to your garden!" and since there was a giant grasshopper the other day, I told him, and he happily brought his bug cage to catch it 🦗.
In Izu Kogen, bugs have become a communication tool (lol).