Milky Spore FAQ's |
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Due to the number of emails and conversations I get into about Grub damaged lawns, and Japanese Beetles damaged trees, and how Milky Spore can help, I thought I would collect all the Milky Spore Questions and put them here.
Note: Since I keep receiving good questions, and I'm trying to get all our shared Milky Spore information here, this page will be constantly changing. So don't be afraid to ask more questions, and check for more and better answers. Disclaimer: Just a Home Owner Collecting information in basic works and format. If you want more detailed, complex answers see your local biologist. |
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| What is Milky Spore? |
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Milky Spore is a common name of a disease that effects Japanese Beetle Grubs. |
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| How does Milky Spore work? |
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The Japanese Beetles in their larvae state, a white grub, become exposed to milky spore. The fatal bacterial multiples within the grub till the point where the grub dies. The grub's decomposing body releases more milky spore, for other grubs to become exposed to. |
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| Is Milky Spore Dangerous? |
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It seems from the literature, Milky Spore only seems dangerous to insects like Japanese Beetle Grubs. This is why you see no biological warnings associated with human contact. |
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| Where can I get the Milky Spore Product you used? |
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St. Gabriel Laboratories makes Milky Spore, in both powder and Granules(I used granules). Check with your local garden center, they should be able to help you. |
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| Will this complete eliminate my white grub problem? |
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We can only wish. My lawn as been treated for a few years now, and this year is the first year I see totally ZERO brown patches. So my grub problem seemed totally gone, but while digging to plant tree fertilizer spikes, I found a white grub. I asked around. It seems that a healthy lawn can tolerate a level of grubs, and have no sizes of the grub infestation. Since my yard was initially very sick, it seems that the lawn's health wasn't hiding the damage the white grubs were doing. So as I re-seeded, used Milky Spore, and fertilized, I've reduced the grub population, and increased the lawn's health to a point where you can't see any grub related damage. Although I had proof they were still there.
So, the simple answer, as far as I can tell, problems can be, but you might still have grubs.
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| If Milky Spore reduces my Grub Problem such I don't see it, should I ever care again? |
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As far as I can tell, no. I've heard of test showing that the spores were present in soil 20 years after their application. So if you get a few grubs, they will die, creating more spores to kill off any other future grubs. Note: I've only been a home owner for a few years, so I'll tell you in 20. ;) |
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| Will it get rid of my Japanese Beetle Problems? |
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This I wish was true. Milky Spore helps eliminate Japanese Beetle Grubs where applied, your lawn. I have a very small property, so I don't think my part in eliminating Adult Japanese Beetles even registers compared to all the fertile yards around me with Grubs. I guess theoretically, if all your surrounding neighbors used Milky Spore, you would be in a pocket of yards that have no emergence of Adult Japanese Beetles, and if far enough from untreated yards, the Japanese Beetles won't fly far enough to get to you. But this is all in theory, so the simple answer is "Unlikely". |
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| Can you put other products down with milky spore? |
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Yes. I put down fertilizer and seeds right at the same time I started using Milky Spore, since my yard was heavily damaged.
As for putting down bug killers, I wouldn't. If you kill the grubs, then they will not eat the milky spore, and will not increase the soil's concentration of Milky Spore. So, if you want to use grub killer do it, but do expect slower results from milky spore. My yard was so bad, with the combination Milky Spore, Good Grass Seeds, and Fertilizer, I saw my yard come back fast. |
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| How do I put down Milky Spore? |
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Some people use the powder. This requires putting a certain amount of powder every so many inches. I found granules, which is basically 'kitty litter' clay imbedded with the spores. You can use a spreader, and with watering, the clay dissolves releasing the spore into your soil. |
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| Do I need a special Milky Spore Dispensor [ Dispenser ]? |
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Need? Well no. If you use the Milky Spore power, the instructions say you can use a regular Tablespoon. For the granules, you can use your hands to spread them on to the lawn.
As for the granules, unlike fertilizer where you can see where you spread too much, or too little, the granules do not effect the grass growth. Showing your neighbors you are sloppy. ;) Since I didn't know exactly where the grubs were, I used a hand-held rotatory spreader, and tried to cover every foot of my yard evenly, maximizing me exposing the existing grubs to the Milky Spore. |
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| How long before Milky Spore Works? |
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Depends, my understanding, and experiences:
Time of Year: Grubs eat more in the Fall then Spring, so they are more likely to become exposed to Milky Spore, die and release even more Milky Spore bacteria. So, I guess my spring spreading, only got the soil ready for the Fall Feast.
Level of Infestation: My yard was so bad, you could grab one edge and pull it up all up in one piece (an exaggeration, but trying to convey how many grubs I had). My only grub defense at that time, was them running out of grass roots and starving to death. So when I was able to get some reduction in the grub population, and re-applied good seed, I saw results in about a year. I first applied Milky Spore in the fall, yard was damaged, the spring the grass grew(grubs eat slower in the spring), and the coming fall it seemed I had more green than the previous fall. :) |
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| What results should I see? |
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You should see your grass stay green, and not die. Unless you are the type to do grub surveys, digging up spots counting the number of grubs and guesstimating the overall population, the overall health of your yard should be a good indicator of the amount of grubs you have. |
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| How often did you apply Milky Spore, and how much did you use? |
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One twenty pound bag of Granulated Milky Spore from St. Gabriel Laboratories covers about 7,000 square feet. My property has about 4,000 square feet of lawn(grassy part). So I used half a bag in the spring, and early fall, for a total of four treatments. During the summer months, no grubs present I thought, why treat. In hind-sight, I should have purchased another bag( I only used two - 20# bags), and treated the summers also. It's a shot-gun effect, so if you cover more soil, and infect more grubs, faster you protect your lawn from white grubs. |
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| More To Come, Send Us Your Milky Spore Questions! |
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