Although Japanese beetles can fly in from your neighbor’s lawn, they will be few in number. Milky spore won’t completely eliminate Japanese beetle grubs from your lawn, but it will keep their numbers below the damage threshold, which is about 10 to 12 grubs per square foot (0.1 sq. Once the powder is watered in, you can safely mow or walk on the lawn. Water it in with a gentle spray from a hose for about 15 minutes. Place a teaspoon (5 ml.) of milky spore powder on the lawn, spacing the applications about 4 feet (1 m.) apart to form a grid.
MILKY SPORE HOW TO
Knowing how to apply milky spore is important for effective control. Although the grubs are in the soil year-round, it only works when they are actively feeding. The best time of year to use the product is fall, when the grubs are feeding aggressively. Ideal soil temperatures for using milky spore are between 60 and 70 degrees F. You can also use milky spore in vegetable gardens without fear of crop damage or contamination. When using milky spore for lawns, it can take three years to achieve control of the insect in warm climates, and even longer in cooler areas. The bacteria remain in the soil for two to ten years. Japanese beetle larvae are the only organisms known to be susceptible to the disease, and as long as they are present in the soil, the bacterium increases in numbers. After the larvae eat the bacteria, their body fluids turn milky and they die, releasing more of the bacterial spores into the soil. Although it isn’t new, it is still considered one of the best methods of control for Japanese beetles. Long before horticulturalists coined the terms “integrated pest management” and “biological controls,” the bacterium Paenibacillus papillae, commonly called milky spore, was commercially available to control Japanese beetle larvae, or grub worms. Let’s learn more about using milky spore for lawns and gardens to control these grubs. The adult beetles are tough and difficult to kill, but their larvae are susceptible to several biological controls, including milky spore disease.
To add insult to injury, their larvae feed on grass roots, leaving ugly and brown dead spots in the lawn. Japanese beetles can strip the foliage from your prized plants in no time.
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