![]() The folks at Reuter work closely with homeowner and community groups to infect larger areas than an individual backyard. It's far more effective if injected or spread over a large area. Once established in an area, milky-spore disease will maintain its effectiveness and in fact spread for up to 20 years. But when you consider the duration of the spore's killing power, the cost is really worth it. For a quarter-acre lawn, it costs about $20. Quite a few retailers sell it around Washington or you can get it through Reuter.īecause the manufacture of milky spore is extremely labor-intensive - the lab must collect by hand up to 100,000 grubs each spring from lawns and golf courses around Gainesville in order to produce the spore - it tends to be expensive, initially. If you see what might be a Japanese beetle grub, you can send it in to Reuter Labs for confirmation, or you can go right out, buy some milky-spore disease and apply it yourself. Just push your spade down six or eight inches and turn over a clump of grass. If you suspect an infestation of the critters, take your shovel and dig out a few patches of lawn. ![]() They grow in undisturbed soil - that is, ground that isn't tilled or cultivated - which usually means lawns, golf courses, fields or pastures. When you turn the soil over, you'll find them curled head to rear like a sleeping cat. They are two or three inches long, very fat and have a grayish area on one end and a brown head with six little brown legs behind the head. The heavier the infestation of grubs, the faster the virus will spread and the more effective the treatment. This creates another milky spore "plug," and the next grub will come along, eat the spore and so on. As the grub comes along, eating through the soil, it will hit one of the "plugs" of milky spore, become ill, continue its trek through the ground, and then die, releasing more spores in the spot in which it died. The milky spore comes in a powder that's "injected" into the soil in a grid pattern. The first year will put a dent in the population, but it won't be until the second or third year before you really notice" the absence of Japanese beetles. "What people have to understand, though, is that you really won't see any effect for a couple of years. "You can apply milky spore any time the ground isn't frozen," says Zach Richards, a spokesman man for Reuter Laboratories in Gainesville. Milky spore is a virus that affects more than 40 species of white grubs (including the June bug), many of which damage the roots of plants.įortunately for area gardeners, we have nearby a lab - one of only a handful in the country - that manufactures and sells, among other products, milky-spore disease for use on home lawns. One of the most effective methods of controlling them is by infecting them in their larval (fat white grub) stage with milky-spore disease. In the vegetable garden they can do untold damage if allowed to fly about unchecked. As mature beetles, they are voracious eaters of almost any vegetation. Chances are the lawn is infested with Japanese beetle larvae, which nibble at grass roots and later cause brown patches in the lawn. A case in point came last week from a caller who wanted to know why his lawn was riddled with little holes. You probably won't see any immediate benefits, but you ought to start applying them now, particularly against Japanese beetles. They often take longer to work, but they're far more effective in the long run than chemicals. What's important to realize about biological controls is that they get at the heart of the problem by using the insects against themselves. They're increasingly popular now, however, given the expense of toxic chemicals. But until recent years no one was making, on a commercial basis, viruses and bacteria to infect specific pests in specific stages. The research has been around for years, pursued mainly by the U.S. Chemicals, as we all know, are also bad for the environment - for good critters who are trying to help you in your battle against bad critters and for the gardener who plans to eat his vegetables.Ī third approach is to use host-specific biological controls, a fairly new method of natural and organic pest management. You'll have to use chemicals repeatedly within the year and then again and again each year after that. ![]() But they're hard to ignore, and they probably won't go away by themselves.Īnother is to bombard them with chemicals, which will treat the symptoms by getting rid of the bugs temporarily, but won't cure the disease. One is to ignore them, in the hope that they'll go away. When it comes to controlling bugs in the garden, you've got several choices.
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