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What can we say about grubworms?
They say the way to recognize grubworm damage is to pull up on the grass and if it lifts up like a piece of carpet, then the brown spot is caused by grubs. This is because they have eaten the roots so there is nothing to hold the grass down. I have seen this and it seems like that is a problem worth doing something about. Of course there are all kinds of chemicals that people use for this.
There are two organic remedies I know of - milky spore disease and beneficial nematodes. The milky spore seems to be a great solution - BUT - they say it does not work on the specific species of bug we have in Oklahoma. The grubs are from June bugs and related types of bugs. I guess it could be useful to sort out those species. The beneficial nematodes may be not quite as reliable of a treatment, I don't know. But there are other problems with them. Such as you can't buy them anywhere around here - you have to order them. And they have a shelf life. And they are expensive. And there are all different kinds and it may take some research to find out what kinds would be most effective. And they don't persist in the soil from year to year, whereas the milky spore supposedly lasts a few years (or longer?)
Besides the damage that the grubs do there is the damage done by critters digging for the grubs. Not sure what all animals do this, but I have seen the damage done by armadillos - in residential neighborhoods bordering on woods.
Most books say that you don't really have a problem unless you find X amount of grubs per square foot. (easy to dig out some sod and poke around and see them) So I guess it is normal to have some grubs and if there aren't many they won't do enough damage to notice. Not sure how many there needs to be before the critters start digging, so that may be a totally separate problem.
I have read that one defense against grubs is to just have a healthy lawn, so that the grass can withstand having its roots nibbled on a bit. It makes sense that the weaker and thinner the grass, the more it will be harmed by having grubs eating the roots. And this is a seasonal thing. They go deeper in the soil in the winter and eventually fly away, so at least the grass gets to recover.
Anyway, thats about all I know on the subject. Any comments on the above could be useful.
Are there other remedies?
Preventions?
Experiences with nematodes? Milky Spore?
What I am really interested in is why the grubs are more prevalent in one lawn than another. What conditons are they looking for? I think I read somewhere that they like lots of organic matter in the soil. So I hope that improving the soil organically is not going to make the grub problem worse. But it seems like I have seen this mainly in really poor lawns. What I would like to believe is that just developing a really healthy lawn will prevent the problem, but I don't know.
If anyone knows just what species we are talking about, that would be useful, especially why are they different in Oklahoma?
Grub talk anyone?
They say the way to recognize grubworm damage is to pull up on the grass and if it lifts up like a piece of carpet, then the brown spot is caused by grubs. This is because they have eaten the roots so there is nothing to hold the grass down. I have seen this and it seems like that is a problem worth doing something about. Of course there are all kinds of chemicals that people use for this.
There are two organic remedies I know of - milky spore disease and beneficial nematodes. The milky spore seems to be a great solution - BUT - they say it does not work on the specific species of bug we have in Oklahoma. The grubs are from June bugs and related types of bugs. I guess it could be useful to sort out those species. The beneficial nematodes may be not quite as reliable of a treatment, I don't know. But there are other problems with them. Such as you can't buy them anywhere around here - you have to order them. And they have a shelf life. And they are expensive. And there are all different kinds and it may take some research to find out what kinds would be most effective. And they don't persist in the soil from year to year, whereas the milky spore supposedly lasts a few years (or longer?)
Besides the damage that the grubs do there is the damage done by critters digging for the grubs. Not sure what all animals do this, but I have seen the damage done by armadillos - in residential neighborhoods bordering on woods.
Most books say that you don't really have a problem unless you find X amount of grubs per square foot. (easy to dig out some sod and poke around and see them) So I guess it is normal to have some grubs and if there aren't many they won't do enough damage to notice. Not sure how many there needs to be before the critters start digging, so that may be a totally separate problem.
I have read that one defense against grubs is to just have a healthy lawn, so that the grass can withstand having its roots nibbled on a bit. It makes sense that the weaker and thinner the grass, the more it will be harmed by having grubs eating the roots. And this is a seasonal thing. They go deeper in the soil in the winter and eventually fly away, so at least the grass gets to recover.
Anyway, thats about all I know on the subject. Any comments on the above could be useful.
Are there other remedies?
Preventions?
Experiences with nematodes? Milky Spore?
What I am really interested in is why the grubs are more prevalent in one lawn than another. What conditons are they looking for? I think I read somewhere that they like lots of organic matter in the soil. So I hope that improving the soil organically is not going to make the grub problem worse. But it seems like I have seen this mainly in really poor lawns. What I would like to believe is that just developing a really healthy lawn will prevent the problem, but I don't know.
If anyone knows just what species we are talking about, that would be useful, especially why are they different in Oklahoma?
Grub talk anyone?