Please someone help me the grubs are killing my grass I have tryed graduales and sprays and I still have them. I have brown like circles and patches of dead grass and when a plant dies I pull it up and there is a grub. I have St. Augustine with some Bermuda. My grass looks real pretty intil about the end of July and then starts turning brown. It still looks brown now and all the green grass is coming in. Can someone suggest something and how often to apply. Thank You B.Crosby

Last year I had a few patches in my lawn that I fortunately noticed before it got out of hand. I went and bought some beneficial nematodes and some cotton burr compost. I put out the nematodes as instructed, put the compost on top to encourage surrounding grass to move in, and then watered. The nematodes will attack the worm by crawling inside them and eating away and multiplying until they have consumed the worm, then they move on to the next one. Within one week, I had grass growing back in the infected areas to the point where I could hardly tell they were infected and had no further problems that season. Nematodes are not necessarily cheap, but they do the job if applied correctly. If you have a severe problem, I would probably double the suggested application rate. Nematodes will also eat other pests like termites and fire ants, and won't attack the good guys like earth rooms.

There is also something called Milky Spore that can be used on grubs. I do not know the effectiveness since I have never used it myself. However, it is supposed to last for years (7-10 years). It is grub specific in the fact that it doesn't attack other pests like termites or ants, but it would probably be good none the less. I am thinking of putting this out in my yard this year just as a safety measure since I had a slight problem last year.

Jody

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Read the following link, it will steer you in the right direction.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question.php?id=94

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The "soap" you use is normally chemicals, etc. Use real SOAP !!

If you have circles of dead grass, that is not caused by insects. Fungal disease is the problem for those. Ordinary corn meal applied at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet is the answer to that. Give it three weeks to work.

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David Hall
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Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum

I must add: only 10 percent of the grubs you see are bad. The rest are actually beneficial.

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Nadine Bielling
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Gardener Exchange Forum

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