Milky spore disease will do best when soil temperatures are between 60 and 70. In the North, milky spore disease does do very well in the cooler soil temperatures. So for milky spore disease to be effective you need to desire a high population of the grub you desire to get rid of, which is not very logical. In other words you want a large population of grubs to be happy with your results. It also takes a large population of grubs for the build up to occur and maintain an effective control measure. It takes time for milky spore disease to build up in the lawn to be an effective control. Often times European chaffer grubs are the major issue. While Japanese beetle grubs can cause major damage in your lawn there are other grubs that also cause major damage. Milky spore disease will only control Japanese beetle grubs. Researches have stated reasons why milky spore disease is not as effective as advertised in controlling Japanese beetle grubs. So let's answer the question, "if it has been available to the homeowner since 1948, and it is a product that will just multiply in your yard, why hasn't it eliminated the Japanese beetle problem? Why aren't more people applying it to their yard? Why isn't it more available?" That is why if you go to certain websites it is hawked as the only method to control Japanese beetle grubs. This sales pitch makes milky spore disease the greatest thing to hit the market since sliced bread. It is a biological means of control and so it is organically approved. Milky spore disease increases in the soil and so you just add it once and it will greatly increase and become more effective in years to come. Milky spore disease only kills Japanese grubs and so it will not cause harm to humans and their pets. This sounds like the perfect way to control grubs in our turf. This buildup of spores will affect Japanese beetle grubs for years to come. When the grubs die the spores will be released back into the soil and continue to build up for the next 2 to 4 years. The spores will build up to between 1-2 billion spores causing Japanese grubs to die. The buildup of the spores in the grub gives a milky appearance of the grub. The grubs digest the spores of the disease and once the spore gets into the grub's stomach it will enter the blood stream and multiply. Milky spore disease is a biological means of control for Japanese beetles and was first registered for control of grubs on turf in 1948. This publication states that milky spore is the common name for the bacterium Bacillus papillae. The USDA publication, "Managing the Japanese Beetle: A Homeowner's Handbook," relates the mode of action in killing Japanese beetles. One product that has disappointed the gardener for many years is the use of milky spore disease in the control of Japanese beetles.
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