What Is The Best Time To Treat Grubs
The best time for treating grub worms is in late summer or early fall while they are newly hatched and are small and live closer to the surface.
In the spring, the grubs are much larger and deeper, they also dont feed as heavily as when they are small larvae, therefore, insecticides will prove to be ineffective.
Apply Nematodes To Control Grubs Naturally
You can apply nematodes to get rid of grubs in the lawn naturally and within a few days. Beneficial nematodes are very tiny roundworms that move in the moist soil under your turf and enter into the grubs where they release pathogens that attack the pests and kill them.
Heres how to use beneficial nematodes to eliminate grubs naturally:
- Choose beneficial nematodes that work against grub worms.
- Mix the nematodes with distilled water in a lawn or garden sprayer.
- Water your lawn adequately to keep it moist.
- Spray the nematodes on a grub-infested lawn in the evening.
Pro tip: Apply nematodes only in the evening because they get killed by light and heat. Also, make sure the soil temperature is above 60°F before applying this natural treatment. Water the lawn 15-20 minutes after applying the nematodes for the best results.
Repeat the application after two weeks for the best results in controlling grubs in your lawn.
The beneficial nematodes, also called entomopathogenic nematodes, are very effective and mobile in moist environments. They seek and follow their hosts and infect them. Soon after, the white grub population in the lawn will be destroyed.
Irrigation: Keep The Soil Moist
Pay attention to the moisture content of your soil. It is a good idea to thoroughly water it before you apply.
After application, go ahead and water again to rinse any nematodes off the leaves of plants in the area, and down into the soil closer to their targets.
This is particularly important if you are treating turf with a white grub problem. The thick thatch can make it difficult for the nematodes to penetrate the soil.
Watering after application will help the organisms travel through the thatch to get down to the soil where the grubs are.
Once youve applied them, you want to keep your soil moist for the next couple of weeks to make sure they can stay active and keep killing those pesky insect larvae! If it doesnt rain, you should water every three to four days.
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Make Sure Grubs Are Actually The Problem
If youve started noticing brown patches in your lawn and simultaneously unearth a white grub, you may jump to believing that grubs cause your discolored grass. In fact, there are dozens of common and uncommon lawn issues that can cause grass to turn brown. It also normal for lawns to have some grub worms.
Treating your lawn for the wrong issue is a waste of time and money. So before you jump to blame the grubs, check for these specific signs of grub damage.
Lawns damaged by grubs will show these symptoms:
- Irregular-shaped patches of dying grass.
- Grass thins and turns brown.
- Grass may feel spongy as you walk on it.
- Grub worms attack the root structure holding the grass firmly in place, so visibly weakened areas may be easily pulled and rolled away, almost like a rug.
- Depending on where you are in Texas, the damage will appear sometime between June and October.
- You may notice an increase in animal activity. Animals such as raccoons, armadillos, and birds may be frequenting your yard to feed on the grub worms. Look for mole holes or tunnels.
If your lawn checks off the items on the list above, its time to conduct a test to find grub worms. Use a shovel to dig up or peel back a damaged area of your lawn. The testing area should be about 3-5 inches across and 3-5 inches deep.
The next part is simple but slightly unpleasantcount the worms! Knowing how many worms inhabit your small testing area is crucial. Having some grubs is normal and should not be harmful to a lawn.
How To Get Rid Of Grubs In The Garden With Synthetic Pesticide
Essential Commodities
- Synthetic Insecticide
Way of Approach
- Try to spray synthetic insecticide as a grub killer to achieve bayer grub control and to protect grub lawn from damage.
How It Works
If you are finding any improvement in your lawn damage it means that your lawn is infested with the grubs. Then you need to opt for synthetic pesticide as long-term grub treatment. Although it is a long-term solution to remove grubs from lawn it is a damaging method to an environment, other plants and even to humans. So make sure that your lawn is really in need of insecticides to spray because of large infestation of grubs. Hence try this tip on how to get rid of grubs in my lawn as a best lawn insect killer granules.
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Home Remedies To Get Rid Of Grubs
Lawn grubs are the immature form of a variety of scarab beetles. They feed on grass roots, which is why you might find some spots in your yard mysteriously dyingespecially during the early fall when they feed the most. Its important you actively work to get rid of grubs because once they grow into their mature, beetle form, they will lay more eggs, and the cycle will begin again. Here are a couple home remedies to get these pests out.
How To Get Rid Of Grubs In Your Lawn
Although most homeowners expect to find some worms in their soil, no one expects the severe damage that one particular worm can inflict. Yes, we mean the peculiar damage left by the white grub worm. Grub worms feed on roots, and with a large enough population and some time, they can actually detach your grass from its roots in some areas.
What does that look like, you may wonder? These severed areas of grass will literally roll up like a cheap rug. So if you think you have a grub problem and youd like your grass to stay put, then its time to snub those grubs from your lawn.
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Bringing In The Professionals
Sometimes, the best way to deal with a stubborn grub problem is to call in the professionalsand theres no better local team than TruGreen. TruGreen is an expert lawn care service provider offering all of the grub and lawn treatments that you need to keep your property looking great. Give our team a call today at learn more or schedule your Healthy Lawn Analysis.
Beneficial Nematodes Kill Grubs In Lawns
Spraying beneficial nematodes on grass can eliminate beetle grubs from lawns naturally. Nematodes are tiny parasitic worms that invade the bodies of white grubs. They then release bacteria that infect and kill the grass-destroying grubs. Using nematodes for grub control doesnt affect other animals, beneficial insects, or earthworms.
Scientific evidence suggests that spraying lawns with beneficial nematodes can effectively reduce grub numbers. One study found that treating the ground with Steinernema carpocapsae and Heterorhabditis indica killed up to 80 percent of scarab grub populations.
To use nematodes as a white grub killer, its crucial to follow the manufacturers instructions. Nematodes are living organisms, and you should use them as soon as possible after buying them.
Mix the powdery solution in water and then apply it to your lawn with a watering can or hose-end applicator. Its best to treat lawns with nematodes when the soil is at least 50°F , and you dont expect rain. Apply the nematodes in the fall and late spring.
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How To Kill Nematodes In Soil
Related Articles
Nematodes are microscopic worms that can live in your soil or water. Some nematodes in the soil are beneficial, controlling grubs and other insects in the soil. Other nematodes are harmful to plants, burrowing into roots and making their way up the stems and leaves. The damage makes it difficult for plants to absorb nutrients, resulting in weak, small or even dead flowering and vegetable plants. There is no chemical nematode killer approved for use by homeowners, but there are other ways to limit the damage caused by the parasitic worms.
Till The Soil To Prevent Grubs In The Garden
One way to prevent grubs from destroying your shrubs or crops is to till the ground in the fall. Its a good idea to get rid of old plants. Then till the soil to about 6 or 7 deep. Then two weeks later, till the top surface to the ground. Handpick any white grubs and drop them into soapy water to kill them.
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What You Can Do About Nematodes
Traditional nematicides that have been used and proven successful in the past are not an option any more because of their risks to humans and the environment. There are products available for use on home lawns that are specially marked as organic, biological, or non-toxic that claim to be suppressive to plant parasitic nematodes. If youre going to purchase one of these, know that there is currently no field effectiveness data conducted by credible scientists that indicates that they work.
Going organic is certainly an effective option, however, in the form of compost, mulch, municipal sludge, and manure, all of which can help the grass tolerate nematode damage. Combined with best practices such as proper watering and fertilization, these organic options are the best way to treat a nematode issue.
Treatment of your Florida-friendly lawn should be aimed at increasing the ability of the grass to tolerate nematode damage. Avoiding stress, promoting root vigor, and choosing tolerant grasses are just few of the best strategies.
Identification Biology Distribution And Life Cycle
Nematodes are usually between 0.6 and two millimeters long, with a cylindrical shape and an unsegmented roundworm body.
Steinernema includes the more shallow-dwelling, less mobile types, while Heterorhabditisspecies are more mobile, moving and hunting up to seven inches deep in the soil.
Its important to remember that they move by traveling in the water in the spaces between particles of soil. They often move more effectively in sandy soils compared to clay because the pores in the soil are larger.
Free water is critical to the efficacy of your beneficial nematode attack plan! Irrigating before you apply will help them to control pests for a number of reasons:
Next, lets take a look at the insect pests that these organisms target.
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How To Check Your Lawn For Grubs
How To Get Rid Of Grubs Naturally
If you are not attracted by synthetic treatments, use natural ones. Well share several popular methods with you.
1. Apply milky spore powder, i.e. natural bacteria that infect grubs when they feed on the infested lot. The powder is only effective against Japanese beetle. The product provides stable results regardless of weather conditions. However, the effect depends on the number of grubs on your lot, as the more there are, the faster the deadly grub disease spreads. Moderately irrigate the soil with water. In some cases, the grubs infected during late fall can survive until spring. They wont develop any more, though, and will eventually die.
2. Use neem oil, a natural insecticide made of the evergreen Indian tree. This organic biodegradable substance does not have any substantial side effects, as the Environmental Protection Agency estimates. Mix neem oil with water and spray damaged grass. The insects consume this insecticide as if it were a natural hormone. Once ingested, neem blocks real hormones and the pests forget how to eat, lay eggs or even fly. Even if they manage to lay some eggs, they wont hatch. At the same time, neem oil wont harm useful insects. In addition, it has a repelling effect as its presence and smell scares off the insects that consume leaves. It does not yield quick results, but in the long run, you will end up with a balanced environment.
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How To Get Rid Of Grubs In Lawn Naturally
Introducing beneficial nematodes onto the infested lawn is the best way to eliminate grubs naturally. You can also spray Neem oil onto the lawn to eliminate grubs. It is good to have birds around the lawn as they are natural predators.
Natural ways of control should be preferred as they are harmless, both for you and your pets. You wont be harming the ecosystem in any way too.
Signs Of Grub Worms In Lawn
A lawn thats developing brown patches and showing signs of weakening could be suffering from disease. Fungal infections commonly produce brown spots, but even white grubs in your lawn can cause similar signs.
Here are signs of grubs in your lawn and how to check for these destructive worms:
- Dead patches in the lawn: Youll observe patches of brown or dead spots as the grass starts to thin out, turn yellow, and die. This occurs because grubs feed on roots, thus killing your turfgrass easily. Check out this great article I did on other causes of brown patches in lawns.
- A spongy turf: Grubs will damage the roots of turfgrass, leaving the grass easy to pull and roll up just like carpet. To test this symptom, you can do a tug test on your grass to see if it pulls up too easily.
- Increased raccoon and bird activity: Birds, moles, and raccoons feed on worms and other insects in the lawn. If you notice theres increased activity of these predators digging your lawn, it could be a sign there are grubs in your lawn.
- Presence of many grubs in the soil: A major sign of grub infestation in your lawn is the presence of the milky-white, C-shaped worms in soil samples cut from your yard. A few of these pests shouldnt stress your grass, but a large number of them can cause serious damage. More than 5 grubs per square foot of lawn soil will produce symptoms of white grub damage.
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Beneficial Nematodes Can Kill Other Soil Pests Too
By inoculating your garden soil with beneficial nematodes, youre likely killing several birds with one stone! And by birds, I mean pests. The strain of beneficial nematodes we use can effectively control many other pests including: cutworms, fungus gnats, fire ants, weevils, root maggots, flea larvae, crane flies, white grubs, and many more!
One study even showed that the beneficial nematodes also help reduce the population of root-knot nematodes in soil. We previously had an issue with root knot nematodes in our garden soil, and that has seemingly gone away with the grubs too! Other species of nematodes target different pests. For example, Steinernema carpocapsae Is great for organic flea control. As discussed in our introduction to organic pest control series, it is always important to identify your garden pests before acting.
If you have a pet, dont fret! Beneficial nematodes are not harmful to anything except their target pest species. They will not harm mammals, aquatic life, birds, reptiles or amphibians. When applied correctly, beneficial nematodes should not negatively impact beneficial insects such as ladybugs, who have very different above-ground life cycles. They do not harm earthworms either!
What Insects Are Beneficial Nematodes Effective Against
While an effective form of organic pest control, nematodes do not attack all outdoor pests. However, they do kill and prevent a vast array of bugs. In the case of lawns, nematodes are very effective against grub works that feed on and destroy plant root systems. Additionally, they control over 230 different insect species that are soil dwelling and wood boring. Some of the most common lawn pests that beneficial nematodes help prevent are: fleas, ticks, Japanese beetles, chinch bugs, cut worms, wire worms, weevils, white grubs, fungus gnat larvae, and subterranean termites.
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How To Use Nematode Repellent Plants
Of the list above, two of the best plants for nematode control are the painted daisy and French marigold. Both of these are not just nematode repellent plants, but they actually kill nematodes more efficiently.
- Painted daisy is useful for warding off nematode problems because it produces a botanical toxin that kills root nematodes.
- French marigold produces a natural chemical that kills several types of nematodes, including the root-knot nematodes that attack carrots and many other vegetable plants.
Scientists have found that Tangerine, a dwarf French marigold variety, is especially effective at combating nematodes in garden soil. The following varieties of French marigold are also effective:
- Bolero
- Scarlet Sophie
- Single Gold
If you have a nematode infestation, remove as many plant roots as possible when you clean up your garden in the fall. In winter and early spring, till and solarize the soil to reduce nematode populations.
In spring, plant one of one of the recommended varieties of French marigold in solid patches or strips in the garden. Space the plants at seven inches apart. Let them grow for at least two months, then till the plants into the soil. Be sure to till the plants in or remove the flower heads of marigolds before they go to seed. Otherwise, they could become a weed in next years garden.
To prevent nematodes from returning to the garden, keep the soil free of weeds until the next spring.
