I'm told it's time to put down some kind of grub poison. I've got
Japanese beetles all over my garden so I know they're lurking.

Unfortunately, the usually helpful expert at my locally-owned garden
center was away, so I could not get help in figuring out which of the
many products to use.

I read up on milky spore, and it does not look like a solution because
my neighbors aren't using it so I'll just get their grubs.

I have a big yard--about 10,000 sq feet, so all this stuff is expensive.
The lawn is a bit over a year old and has a lot of quack grass mixed
in with a fescue/rye grass/bluegrass mix, and fairly thick turf. I've
been mowing high and often.

I'm in the cold part of zone 5 in W. Mass.

What would be the best product to use? One time 24 hour Dylox? The
long-term solution from the same company whose name escapes me? Grubex?
Something else?

And is it indeed the time to apply?

Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

Forget about using Dylox at this point. All grubs have turned into
their adult flying form by now in Mass. so the Dylox would not be
effective.

You should use Imidacloprid, the active ingredient in MERIT. This is
about the time you want to apply MERIT in Mass. It is a systemic that
will affect newly hatched grubs. This is currently egg laying season.

Grubex no longer contains Imidacloprid.

-al sung
Hopkinton, MA
Zone 6a

"Alan Sung" wrote in message
oups.com...
Forget about using Dylox at this point. All grubs have turned into
their adult flying form by now in Mass. so the Dylox would not be
effective.

You should use Imidacloprid, the active ingredient in MERIT. This is
about the time you want to apply MERIT in Mass. It is a systemic that
will affect newly hatched grubs. This is currently egg laying season.

Grubex no longer contains Imidacloprid.

-al sung
Hopkinton, MA
Zone 6a


Actually I just saw a local gardening show on PBS that spoke to this very
subject. They indicated that unless everyone within a mile of you used a
ground treatment anything YOU do will be basically worthless because JBs
will travel a mile to feed. And, short of having a grass landscape alone,
they will feed on just about anything.

I do feel your pain. I have a very small property and I easily pick
hundreds an evening from my plants. They're devouring everything from
asparagus fronds to roses to petunias to daisys to coneflowers.

Cheryl

find "Mily Spore" it's what kills the groubs.


--

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"Jenny" wrote in message
...
I'm told it's time to put down some kind of grub poison. I've got Japanese
beetles all over my garden so I know they're lurking.

Unfortunately, the usually helpful expert at my locally-owned garden
center was away, so I could not get help in figuring out which of the many
products to use.

I read up on milky spore, and it does not look like a solution because my
neighbors aren't using it so I'll just get their grubs.

I have a big yard--about 10,000 sq feet, so all this stuff is expensive.
The lawn is a bit over a year old and has a lot of quack grass mixed in
with a fescue/rye grass/bluegrass mix, and fairly thick turf. I've been
mowing high and often.

I'm in the cold part of zone 5 in W. Mass.

What would be the best product to use? One time 24 hour Dylox? The
long-term solution from the same company whose name escapes me? Grubex?
Something else?

And is it indeed the time to apply?

Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

Starlord wrote:
find "Mily Spore" it's what kills the groubs.


I already read that milky spore is useless unless all your neighbors use it.

Our neighbors farm and some of them raise free range chickens, so there
is no way they are applying chemicals to their property.

What are you interested in controlling ? the grubs or the beetles?
The grubs feed on underground plant tissues for a far longer period
than the adult beetles and milky spore works pretty damn well albeit
slowly at first.
Mind the imidacloprid if it gets into flowering plants it's very hard
on pollinators because it also gets into the nectar.
As for the beetles, traps and hand picking will beat the wholesale
application of pesticides.
Allowing your cool season grasses to go dormant tis time of year will
mean more beetles will lay their eggs in the lush green irrigated lawns
of your neighbors.
Cutting a test patch of turf and inspecting the soil for grubs is a
good idea, you really need to take no action below the presence of
about 10 grub/square foot.
I have no experience with benneficial nematodes but I hear there is
some control from them as well.

Milky Spore is not that effective in the cold part of Western
Massachusetts, zone 5. Just too cold. Same problem with the beneficial
nematodes. None of them will survive the cold winter and must be
re-introduced every year.

-al sung
Hopkinton, MA
Zone 6a

Mind the imidacloprid if it gets into flowering plants it's very hard
on pollinators because it also gets into the nectar.

I didn't think that Merit had any effect on flying insects via
ingestion of plant nectar and that it was specific to insects in the
larval stage.

A simple solution would be to contain your application of Merit to the
turf part of your yard only and avoid any excessive over spreading.
Merit does leach or spread very far horizontally. "Good" pollinators
don't visit turf grass for anything edible.

-al sung
Hopkinton, MA
Zone 6a

Alan Sung wrote:
Milky Spore is not that effective in the cold part of Western
Massachusetts, zone 5. Just too cold. Same problem with the beneficial
nematodes. None of them will survive the cold winter and must be
re-introduced every year.

-al sung
Hopkinton, MA
Zone 6a

Well, after some thought we decided not to do anything this year as we
don't seem to have a major grub problem in the lawn, though we will
keep an eye on it. The pollinator issue is a biggie: our next door
neighbor keeps honey bees which feed on my flower garden and my fiance
is very against using any poisons if not absolutely necessary.

No one waters grass out where we live as it is very rural (very gorgeous
too.) I live in a town that looks more like "Vermont" than the real
Vermont does.

I think I may put some beetle traps out at the other end of the property
away from my garden and see if that helps next year. I have been picking
the beetles out of the dahlias by hand, but by the time I get there,
they've chomped through the petals. I won't spray because of the bees.

OTOH, all those dahlias I'd potted up and then left out to get frosted
on our late frost bounced back and I have a splendid display of tall,
gorgeous, if somewhat munched flowers. So starting them early in the
pots was worth it.

Jenny wrote:
I'm told it's time to put down some kind of grub poison. I've got
Japanese beetles all over my garden so I know they're lurking.

Unfortunately, the usually helpful expert at my locally-owned garden
center was away, so I could not get help in figuring out which of the
many products to use.

I read up on milky spore, and it does not look like a solution because
my neighbors aren't using it so I'll just get their grubs.

I have a big yard--about 10,000 sq feet, so all this stuff is expensive.
The lawn is a bit over a year old and has a lot of quack grass mixed in
with a fescue/rye grass/bluegrass mix, and fairly thick turf. I've been
mowing high and often.

I'm in the cold part of zone 5 in W. Mass.

What would be the best product to use? One time 24 hour Dylox? The
long-term solution from the same company whose name escapes me? Grubex?
Something else?

And is it indeed the time to apply?

Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

IIRC, Milky spore must be used every year and must be the only thing you
apply to your lawn. Other chemicals will render it ineffective.
Treating for grubs has nothing to do with treating for Japanese beetles
since grubs can do extensive damage to your lawn.
In PA, this is the perfect time to apply grub control.

Here's some info about grubs in PA:
http://www.ento.psu.edu/extension/fa...hite_grubs.htm

--
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe -
the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. - Immanuel Kant

It seems to affect the bees ability to navigate , if they do not return
home then there is no next generation.
Of course the producers will probaly deny this but the beekeepers
believe otherwise and also have a stake in it.
If you will notice the original poster referred to beetles all over her
garden.
As for turfgrass application, if there are no clovers or no flowering
weeds like dandylions or no nectar producing trees which includes
maples, sure it would be hard to get into nectar.

I meant to say that "Merit does NOT leach or spread very far
horizontally".

-al