Milky Spore Disease questions

15 years ago

We had a discussion about peach-ripening time about Japanese beetles working their way up into Oklahoma. A few weeks later, after most of my peaches were harvested, I saw some kind of beetle-looking insects on the remaining peaches and they flew back and forth from my raised beds to the trees. I couldn't tell what they were feeding on, it was either tomatoes or cucumbers, maybe.

Somebody said they had gotten Japanese Beetle traps and that they were working well. I ran into some research on Japanese Beetles when I was trying to find ways to rid myself of a mole or a vole that has come to my yard before -- last year he didn't do any damage but the year before he got into the raised beds and uprooted some things.

I am reading now that if you have moles you have Japanese Beetles, and the reason the moles come through your yard is because they are eating the larvae in the form of grubs, underground, and that to get rid of the moles you just get rid of the larvae that draws them. According to what I have read, the only non-chemical cure is to apply Milky Spore. They say that the traps do more harm than good because they attract more of the beetles into your yard, thereby increasing the numbers of larvae under your grass. However I'm kind of confused because if you trap the beetles and they die, how do you end up with larvae? But anyway...

So what do all of you think, apparently the milky spores take awhile to work, but it lasts for years. I'm thinking a late frost will probably kill the blooms on the peach trees this year, as I had a great crop last summer and I've never had crops two years in a row before. So if I put milky spore down this spring maybe by the time I get more peaches I'll have had time to kill all the larvae. I'm not worried about the larvae ruining the grass as some people are b/c I have Bermuda (Take my Bermuda .....please!) LOL

I've added a link to one of the sites I went to, I don't know anything about their service or anything and I'm not promoting them, but there's lots of information there.

I'd like to hear your thoughts. --Ilene

Here is a link that might be useful: About Milky Spore

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7
15 years ago
Ilene,

I used milky spore powder in Texas in the mid-1980s and it worked great for me there. I used milky spore powder here in Oklahoma either our first or second year in the house and it also worked great for me here.

When we first moved here, several types of animals, including gophers, moles, skunks and armadillos, kept our yard and garden dug up all the time. I saw some improvement shortly after I put out the milky spore powder, but saw even greater improvement the following year. I haven't had to put out any milky spore powder since then, and it's been 9 or 10 years. I hardly ever see a grub worm of any kind, and I believe Milky Spore works on 30 or 40 different kinds of grubs, not just on the grubs of Japanese Beetles.

Do I still have an occasional skunk or armadillo digging in the yard? Yes, but it is very minor compared to what it was before. The moles and gophers are completely gone too, but that is because the cats wiped out that population.

I like milky spore powder and it does work. Also, for what it is worth, I've purchased from the company you linked and have been very pleased with their prices, products and customer service.

Dawn
ilene_in_neok
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, Dawn, it looks like I'd better order some of that and put it down this spring. The year that the mole or vole or whatever it was, did so much damage, I researched how to rid myself of it and got some pretty disappointing information -- that the only way to rid yourself of a mole is to hire someone experienced in that, that the traps and poison peas and other things my mother always tried in her garden don't work. At no point did I find any of the information I have found lately about the food supply, which is so simple. So I'm real glad I tried again.

Oh, and I have to tell you this story about my mother. She had so many moles/voles in her yard that sometimes she would be able to catch one. Don't ask me how, the mental picture is enough. She hated them with a passion. She thought they were eating her tulip bulbs. On a visit to her house one summer when my kids were elementary school age, she found out they had never heard of moles. The following summer, when Mom and Dad came to Indiana to see us, my mom brought a dead mole that she had caught and killed and put in a coffee can. She had kept the can in their freezer so that she could show the kids. They were impressed. I was really grossed out. The kids held a funeral for him and he was buried. Not exactly in the land of his forefathers, but better than going in the garbage....

As long as we're all thinking, "Ewwwwwww!", now, I should add that I just brought in my first batch of soil to bake for starting seeds in. It had been in a big planter container last year. After it baked and cooled, I found a nice crispy grub in THAT soil! LOL
Related Discussions
Milky Spore application question
Q
Comments (4)
Bart: I said I happened to do it in July on my son's place, but that was accident not choice. Earlier is better. If your bag says to do it three consecutive times - once in spring, summer and fall, that is different than the stuff I used. I don't know why they would say that; this should be a one-application product, if done properly. But you can do it any time during the summer. Don't make it more complicated than it really is. I applied it throughout the vegetable garden and all the beds. Obviously, I don't think there is the slightest risk of harm, but you may be able to search out other opinions. Check out yardiac.com for good prices on the pure spore, not the dilute stuff intended for spreader application. In larger quantities it gets a lot cheaper. I don't know how you would apply it to many acres but you may be able to mix it with an inert ingredient like lime and spread it that way. It will be a lot cheaper if you start with the pure product and mix it with something yourself. Sort of like combination fruit tree sprays; you end up paying about ten times as much for the same amount of chemical if you bought them separately. If you are going to limit application, starting under the trees or plants you wish to protect sounds reasonable. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
...See More
Milky Spore - Over Application?
Q
Comments (5)
I always have to ask where you live for questions like this. After reading these forums over the years, my observation is that people who have cool season grasses are usually more successful with milky spore and people with warm season grasses are more successful with beneficial nematodes. Beneficial nematodes carry a disease bacterium to the insects. That is how they kill them. Once the insect is dead, the nematodes hatchlings feed on the disease bacterium growing on the host's corpse. Then they launch off on their own to find new hosts. Apparently one nematode can lay 275,000 eggs so the population can increase into the trillions quickly with ideal conditions. Ideal conditions means your soil is saturated when the critters go down and it stays pretty evenly moist for a week or two. Unfortunately these are ideal conditions for weed seed sprouting, too. Here is a link that might be useful: My favorite link for beneficial nematodes
...See More
Any Milky Spore users?
Q
Comments (17)
Milky spore is effective only against JBs, not Oriental beetles or Asiatic garden beetles. All 3 are scarab beetles and are "white grubs" during their in-soil phase. As far as adult JBs flying in, I found this interesting tidbit on the NCSU site: http://www.cropsci.ncsu.edu/turffiles/ag366/ag366.html >When milky spore disease becomes established, it will spread naturally to adjoining, untreated areas. The link below discusses beneficial nematodes, which attack all the scarab beetles. There is a list of suppliers on the page, too. I believe they need to be applied when the grubs are in the soil, not now while they're in the beetle stage. I've used them for black vine weevils under rhodies - that's a little easier because you have to keep them out of direct sunlight until they've penetrated the soil. Here is a link that might be useful: Nematodes, Cornell
...See More
Merit or Milky Spore?
Q
Comments (10)
Merit is a very broad spectrum and potent poison that will kill most all of the soil life you have, although there are some of the target population that are immune to this product. Since this is such a broad spectrum poison it should only be considered for use as an absolute last resort poison. Milky Spore Disease, Bacillus popilliae, is a specific control for members of the scarab beetle family and only affects them at certain, early stages in their life and does not adversly affect the health of any other insect as Merit does. A start to growing plants that are not affected by insect pests as much as yours are is to contact your local office of the University of Connecticut USDA Cooperative Extension Service about a good, reliable soil test and then dig in with these simple soil tests to see what you have and what you need to do to get there; 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer you soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. Plants growing in a good, healthy soil are less susceptible to insect pests and diseases. Here is a link that might be useful: UCONN CES
...See More
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
15 years ago
Ilene,

The story about your mom saving the mole in the coffee can is hysterical.

When we first moved here, we had them everywhere. And, we put in a dog door so the dogs and cats could come and go as they pleased. At the time, we had a big, male, black and white cat named Moose who'd grown up in the city, so we didn't necessarily expect him to be good at catching wild animals.

Well, Moose brought in a constant supply of dead (and somtimes live!) gophers, moles, voles, baby bunnies and birds through that dog door. Within a few months, you couldn't find any living small animal on our place. He'd bring them in the dog door and then, if the animal was dead, he'd put it in the pantry, and if it was alive, he'd come lay it at your feet. Needless to say, after only a few days of that, I kept the dog door closed 90% of the time. Our son rehabilitated and released many small rabbits that he saved from Moose.

After a while, Moose figured out he didn't have to capture and kill his own food supply to stock the pantry. He began to leave the birds alone, but still brought us the occasional gopher or mole. Nowadays, our lazy and well-fed cats keep down the population of field mice and voles, but they don't even bother the birds. Perhaps living with the chickens and guineas has made them less likely to attack song birds.

Sometimes the chickens and cats get into a tussle.....usually it is a battle for possession of a frog. I try to get them to leave the frogs alone, but I don't always succeed.

When I am digging in the soil, the chickens follow me around, hoping I'll unearth a big, fat, juicy grub for them. Every now and then I'll find one, but every year it seems there are fewer and fewer. I guess if the chickens are eating them, we are disrupting their reproductive capability.

Dawn

Milky Spore Disease questions

Comments (3)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

ilene_in_neok
Original Author

Related Discussions

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Milky Spore Disease questions

Comments (3)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

ilene_in_neokOriginal Author

Related Discussions

Okiedawn OK Zone 7

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

ilene_in_neok
Original Author