Japanese Beetle traps & Milky Spore?
krikit
9 years ago
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
9 years agokrikit
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Milky Spore Disease questions
Comments (3)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...See MoreJapanese Beetle Traps Work Great!
Comments (39)Courtney, Thanks for saying I am a wonderful teacher. Sometimes I really, really struggle with the best way to make a point without coming across as an overbearing organic wacko. (smiling and poking fun at self as I say that) The post in which I told you that chemical companies fund the very research that says their products are "most effective" was one of those times. I could tell you had really done your research and understood WHAT you read, but just wondered if you had thought about who was paying for that research? In many ways, the research system in this great nation of ours is evil....and not just with regards to the gardening world....how about in the pharmaceutical world as well? There is such a complicated financial relationship between the companies who MAKE/MARKET the products and the very researchers/agencies who evaluate their safety and effectiveness. I find it impossible to imagine university researchers and regulatory agencies are not influenced by the large multinational firms who market these products AND fund the research that studies these companies' own products. There is a superb book out that studies the complicated relationships that exist in the agricultural/horticultural world. It is called THE WAR ON BUGS and was written by Will Allen. It basically describes in great detail the vast ongoing collusion between the chemical firms, the university researchers who study their products AND the media. These three groups have combined to convince us all that commercial agriculture cannot "feed the world" without a heavy reliance on chemicals. I highly recommend this book. It is the best explanation of the complicated relationships/processes that I have ever seen. I linked info on The War On Bugs below. If you go to that link, read the review by Dr. Rob Williams near the end of that webpage. This is a book that everyone interested in horticulture and agriculture should read. And, how much of the chemical pesticide-related research is funded by the chemical manufacturers themselves? Research done in the 1990s found the chemical manufacturers and their industry lobbying groups were funding 66% of the research at that time, and it was increasing at a rate of about 3% a year. (As government cuts research funding, the manufacturers step in and fund more and more and more.) OK, I'll stop going on and on about the chemical manufacturers! I bought Milky Spore powder in a 40 oz. can and applied it over the 10,000 s.f. closest to the house, following label directions. When you have acreage (even 1 acre!), you just can't treat all of it, so I concentrate on the area closest to the house, yard, barn, garden, etc. If I had felt like I needed to do additional treatment, I probably would have treated a 10,000 s.f. area every year until I felt I'd covered all the area I wanted covered. Keep in mid that Milky Spore powder is a bacteria that should grow and spread on its own over time. Nolo Bait for grasshoppers works the same way--once you establish it on your land, you often have it forever after. I think I walked around with the cannister and sprinkled about 1 t. every 4 feet in a sort of checkerboard pattern. They also make milky spore powder dispensers or spreaders. I never try to treat a really large area because it costs too much to do so. I just treat what I can. Dawn...See MoreDefinately can't afford milky spore...any other options?
Comments (1)Milky Spore Disease, Bacillus popillae, is a dormant disease spore that you put around in your soil and as the target insect, the larva of scarab beetles ingest it, those spores become active in the gut and they cause this larva to die and when this grub does die this disease again becomes inactive and more spores are released to the soil to, eventually, infect more on the grubs that ingest this disease. People will tell you that MSD is not very effective and that is simply because this does take a long time to work, but the longer it is in your soil and the more of those grubs that ingest it the more MSD, which you may already have some of since it is a natural disease that is in many soil, you will have in your soil and nothing except the target, the larva of the scarab beetle, will be affected by this unlike other broad spectrum poisons. You need not treat your whole yard at one time and you can spread applications over several years, if you desire....See MoreI could use some Milky Spore guidance, please.
Comments (3)Milky Spore Disease , "Bacillus popilleae", is a passive grub control that must be ingested by the grubs but is spread around as they die greatly enhancing what you put down. The package should have instructions on application that will be something like put a teaspoon of the powder, or grains, every 4 feet in rows 4 feet apart. Once either is applied, neither is better than the other, it needs to be watered in and now is a good time to apply it since the grubs will be hatching from the eggs laid last month soon and the best time for control is while they are quite young....See Morebrandon7 TN_zone7
9 years agokrikit
9 years agobrandon7 TN_zone7
9 years agobrandon7 TN_zone7
9 years agokrikit
9 years agoCandace Seaton
9 years agooldgardenguy_zone6
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agooldgardenguy_zone6
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agokrikit
9 years agoVivian Lang
8 years agoVivian Lang
8 years ago
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