chemical care
and landscape industries extension special at
Michigan State University.
Research tests during the past 25 years have
shown watering immediately after the application
is critical to obtaining good results, according to
Smitley, who is working on a journal article that
reports the results of a meta-analysis of 25 years
of his grub research trials.
"The single most important factor tied to failure
to control grubs is not irrigating immediately after
application. This is true for both sprayable and
granular formulations," Smitley says.
Even insecticides that don't specify watering
in on their labels will degrade from the ultraviolet
light in sunlight if not watered into the soil within
a few days of application by rainfall or irrigation,
according to the University of Illinois Extension
Service.
Both curative and preventive products are available for grubs, but your best bet for getting
consistent control is to use a preventive product
on lawns that have a history of grub populations.
Getting grubs in the larval stage makes them
much easier to control.
"If you had confirmed grub damage (meaning
you found lots of grubs) the previous fall or spring,
then you may want to use a preventive insecticide for one or two years to build a more dense
turf that will be tolerant of grubs," Smitley says.
"If you have treated for several years and you do
not see evidence of grubs in your lawn or in the
neighbor's lawn, it may be time to stop treating."
For prevention, Smitley recommends looking for
products containing imidacloprid, thiamethoxam or
chlorantraniloprole. These products, he says, work
well for newly hatched grubs.
While larger (older) grubs are harder to control,
there are products formulated to kill grubs in all
stages. Carbaryl and trichlorfon are both effective at getting grubs when you're too late for a
preventive treatment.
"Do not use products containing only lambdacyhalothrin, gamma-cyhalothrin, bifenthrin,
D E C E M B E R 2 013
Tot alL an dsc ap eC are.c om 13
Text INFO to 205-289-3796 or visit TLCrequest.com
Staying active
