Milky Spore VS GrubEx?

8 years ago

I stopped using Grubex when I learned that it also kills off Katydids, crickets, clickbugs and things that sing in the gardens. I realized a silent Spring many years ago and stopped using it.

Of course the grubs returned along with critters that dig up the lawn.

I put down Milky Spore and look forward to it being in full effect in a year or two although I believe it is already working.

Question is that I still have more and want to continue putting it down. I heard that it has no effect unless it is put down in the fall. This makes no sense to me because there is no reason to match the application with the bug cycle as it will find its way throughout the soil not unlike a mushroom (I believe it actually is.)

Anyone with experience with this?

The best part about this is that it will spread throughout the neighborhood even if others are not using it!

Featured Answer

emerogork
Original Author

8 years ago

"If you insist on going all natural.. and protecting nature...
ask yourself.. why you insist on a non native perfect lawn ..."

ummm,,,, The Japanese beetle is a non-native critter in the first place.
What is your point?

Also, I never insisted in going all natural.
Do you wear clothes?

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Comments (6)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years ago
Milky spore is actually a bacterium that targets Japanese beetle larvae. It can be applied any time the ground is not frozen but is most effective in late summer-fall as that is when the grubs are most actively feeding. Once the grubs consume the spores and are infected and die, their decaying bodies release billions of new spores that spread and infiltrate in other parts of the garden. The spread of the spore is really dependent on the grubs eating the stuff and spreading it around, so summer/fall applications have the most benefit. However the product has a long shelf life, so if not needed or used now, it can keep in a cool, dry situation until next season.
kimmq
8 years ago
Milky Spore Disease, " Paenibacillus popilliae", is a passive method of control, the targets must ingest it. When you apply it to the soil does not make much difference as long as the spores are where the grubs can ingest them after they hatch around August. Like other bacteriums used to control insects MSD is effective for only a short period of the grubs life, shortly after hatching.

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Voles will not be repelled by the use of milky spore, they are strict vegetarians and do not eat grubs. And in soft, friable soil, they are digging their own tunnels to the sweet potato roots, not waiting for a mole to wander by. There is also a certain type of deer mouse that likes to dig shallow tunnels in light soil that is also a possible culprit, though I caught those more among the melons, not in the sweet potatoes. The solution? Constant Vigilance! Ok, not quite that, but I did figure out some things this year through keeping a close eye on the sweets. Voles did not try to colonize the row until there was a very thick cover, like in august. The first wave was discouraged by my messing up their runs when I found them (back filled the holes and tamped it pretty good), and I set traps, but did not catch anything there. There was no sign of them again until a couple of weeks ago, when we got our first taste of cool weather. The good news (for me) was that I had decided the week before to dig the sweets early, to be sure of getting some if I was right and the voles had not been in them. I got several good sized tubers, including some huge honkers, with a few showing cracking and subsequent bug damage. Then we went on vacation for a week, cool weather came, we got back, I was busy for a week before I got to check the vines, which were helpfully defoliated by the deer (who left the gate open while we were gone? Surely not me!). Sure enough, and easy to spot, a hole at the base of each vine, and the remaining tubers that I had left were eaten to stubs. What I glean from this is that they like the cover of the vines, can be repelled with some maintenance and trapping, and an early harvest before you see signs that they are invading will bring you some good tubers. I also trap in my garden and yard through the winter to make sure I don't get a local build up of furry creatures. And I use covers over the traps, they prefer that and it helps prevent random deaths of small birds. I did read that their appetites are dictated by the season, and they preferentially eat certain plant parts at different times (like green bark in winter, tender leaves in spring), and maybe that is why they came all at once to the vines in september. Maybe all of this will help you? Cheers!
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Milky spore would be my suggestion, especially if you want a preventive measure. Depending on whom you ask, it may not take as long as 3 years to work. If you plan on staying in the property, are you going to consider doing this again in 3 years? If so, just do it now and you will be three years along. From what I read on the GrubEx label, its more of a snapsot killer that lasts a few weeks to a month in the soil. If miss the window, you need to do it again. Not the case with milky spore. Yes, the whole teaspoon thing is a bit of a pain, but going around re-seeding patches of dead grass, and making sure those patches stay wet through germination, etc. is not real easy either. Also, Milky spore is a bacteria harmless to humans and pets so if you are trying to build up beneficial organisms through organic methods, this works better than GrubEx.
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Milky Spore Disease, "Bacillus popilleae" is a passive method of grub control because the spores do not seek out the grubs, the grubs must ingest the spores as they search for food. Since this is most effective when the grubs are newly hatched the time to apply the spores is just before they hatch in August, or apply the spores sometime in July to give the carrier time to move the spores into the soil where the grubs will be eating plant roots or other soil organic matter. Unless one were to either ingest or inhale fairly large quantities of the Milky Spore Disease there has not been found to be any detrimental affect on humans from this bacterium. However, at this time parasitic nematodes may be a better control since the grubs could well be beyond the growth stage that Milky Spore Disease will do them harm.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
if you insist on going all natural.. and protecting nature...

ask yourself.. why you insist on a non native perfect lawn ...

might make you head hurt

plant some clover.. and various other weeds i call a lawn in my former horse pasture ... and you dont have to worry about things attacking your monoculture ...

ken
emerogork
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
"Like other bacteriums [sic] used to control insects MSD is effective for only a
short period of the grubs life, shortly after hatching."

Maybe you are saying that it is effective on the grub only when the grub is a new born. From what I have read, it can remain active in the soil for 15 years or more just waiting to kill a grub after it spreads it.

I wonder if it makes any difference when the spore is applied, not when it is effective.
kimmq
8 years ago
You can apply Milky Spore Disease anytime the soil is not frozen and it will be effective, eventually. Since the target grubs hatch from the eggs in August you do want to be sure you apply it in time that the spores are where the grubs will ingest them, so like July, maybe June. Applying MSD in late August will have little affect on the current years crop of grubs since it would be unlikely that the spores would reach the grubs before they grew too big for the disease to have an affect on them.

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Milky Spore VS GrubEx?

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