Sept 20 Update - No signs of Life

[ken-n-nancy]

Looks like my KBG lawn didn't die or maybe some parts of it. I still can't tell how much. Blades are coming out, LOL! Though in front, on bare dirt, I did see fine grass blades about half inch coming out too but not a lot. I can't tell how much are dead or alive. I still dropped TTTF today though.

Great news!

So it's not drought that killed my lawn. It's grubs. It's 5-6 of them every 1 square foot. Can these grubs still be killed since they're matured?

Did you also purchase and apply a curative grub-killing product?

For anybody with a grub problem, I highly recommend reading the annual article from Michigan Statue University on grubs. (follow the link!)

[s1mpl3k1d]

Did you also purchase and apply a curative grub-killing product?

For anybody with a grub problem, I highly recommend reading the annual article from Michigan Statue University on grubs. (follow the link!)

Yes I did. I was looking for Sevin but it wasn't available. I purchased 24 hr grub killer from Bayer. It is listed as one of the options to kill mature grubs in the article you linked. I made a good choice. We had a good rain yesterday from 7pm till 5am. It wasn't strong but it was continuous. I'm pretty sure we got more than half inch of rain.

[s1mpl3k1d]

What I will do next year is watch japenese beetles. I should have done something this year because I saw tons of them on my plants. I was really shocked because they vanished in 2013 but came back this year. Once I see them(I think it was June), I'm going to drop down grub preventative products like any products from the screenshoot(link you shared)

[MorpheusPA]

Most preventatives should be applied earlier, in May, to have sufficient time to work in. June may be too late.

In my case, I also bag them since my property is always toxic to them, I kill 'em in the bags, and I render the rosebushes very specifically toxic.

If I could invent a laser that detects their wing beat pattern and zaps them out of the air...

[s1mpl3k1d]

Most preventatives should be applied earlier, in May, to have sufficient time to work in. June may be too late.

In my case, I also bag them since my property is always toxic to them, I kill 'em in the bags, and I render the rosebushes very specifically toxic.

If I could invent a laser that detects their wing beat pattern and zaps them out of the air...

That would be a cool project! HAHAHA!

[ken-n-nancy]

Did you also purchase and apply a curative grub-killing product?

For anybody with a grub problem, I highly recommend reading the annual article from Michigan Statue University on grubs. (follow the link!)

Yes I did. I was looking for Sevin but it wasn't available. I purchased 24 hr grub killer from Bayer. It is listed as one of the options to kill mature grubs in the article you linked. I made a good choice. We had a good rain yesterday from 7pm till 5am. It wasn't strong but it was continuous. I'm pretty sure we got more than half inch of rain.

Glad to hear that you got a curative product down. That will give the recovering grass a chance! The showers also sound like the right amount to have washed the application down into the soil. Maybe it's time for things to go your way for a bit? That would be nice!

[ken-n-nancy]

What I will do next year is watch japenese beetles. I should have done something this year because I saw tons of them on my plants. I was really shocked because they vanished in 2013 but came back this year. Once I see them(I think it was June), I'm going to drop down grub preventative products like any products from the screenshoot(link you shared)

Personally, my preferred grub preventative is one with chlorantraniliprole, which is really only Scotts GrubEx at the current time unless using professional products. For human impact, chlorantraniliprole is in the safest category of pesticides (category 4), is much less likely to harm bees or earthworms, and has a long residual. The one drawback is that chlorantraniliprole has to be applied further in advance for best effectiveness, as mentioned in the MSU article. What I have in my notes is that the preferred application timing is right around April 30 for maximum effectiveness. (It's worth noting that April 30 is also exactly in the middle of the recommended MSU timing for applying chlorantraniliprole.)

The traditional standby for grub prevention is imidacloprid, but there is concern that it is harmful to bees and earthworms. I used to use it before GrubEx changed their formulation. It should be applied a little later in the season.

I haven't had a grub problem at all since regularly applying a preventative. This is definitely a case where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I should also note that neither imidacloprid or chlorantraniliprole will kill the adult japanese beetles that you will see flying around next June. Rather, these preventatives will kill the baby grubs that hatch from the eggs that the adult japanese beetles deposit in the soil in your lawn. The adult beetles don't actually hurt your grass. If you have a vegetable garden or ornamentals, well, that's a different issue...

[s1mpl3k1d]

What I will do next year is watch japenese beetles. I should have done something this year because I saw tons of them on my plants. I was really shocked because they vanished in 2013 but came back this year. Once I see them(I think it was June), I'm going to drop down grub preventative products like any products from the screenshoot(link you shared)

Personally, my preferred grub preventative is one with chlorantraniliprole, which is really only Scotts GrubEx at the current time unless using professional products. For human impact, chlorantraniliprole is in the safest category of pesticides (category 4), is much less likely to harm bees or earthworms, and has a long residual. The one drawback is that chlorantraniliprole has to be applied further in advance for best effectiveness, as mentioned in the MSU article. What I have in my notes is that the preferred application timing is right around April 30 for maximum effectiveness. (It's worth noting that April 30 is also exactly in the middle of the recommended MSU timing for applying chlorantraniliprole.)

The traditional standby for grub prevention is imidacloprid, but there is concern that it is harmful to bees and earthworms. I used to use it before GrubEx changed their formulation. It should be applied a little later in the season.

I haven't had a grub problem at all since regularly applying a preventative. This is definitely a case where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I should also note that neither imidacloprid or chlorantraniliprole will kill the adult japanese beetles that you will see flying around next June. Rather, these preventatives will kill the baby grubs that hatch from the eggs that the adult japanese beetles deposit in the soil in your lawn. The adult beetles don't actually hurt your grass. If you have a vegetable garden or ornamentals, well, that's a different issue...

April 30 is an excellent date and there's a chance I won't forget it. It's my birth date! Thanks for the tips!

[dan10]

Hopefully your lawn will recover nicely:

https://biglakesodfarm.com/wp-content/u ... rticle.pdf

[s1mpl3k1d]

Hopefully your lawn will recover nicely:

Very interesting article! It will be a month in few days, some areas at the back are still dead. I went out and took pictures. OMG, why is the dirt so bumpy? It's like thousands of tiny hills. Why did that happen? What could have caused those?

[s1mpl3k1d]

In that case, I will have a TTTF/KBG lawn in front yard.

[s1mpl3k1d]

Update - seed test on wet paper towel

[s1mpl3k1d]

My math is wrong. It should be "after 62 hours"

[s1mpl3k1d]

This is awesome news for me! Second half of October will be warmer. It's just a forecast and I'm hoping they're right. For the last 3-4 years, it's been warmer. However, this pattern sometimes also makes extremely cold temperature around 3rd week of January to 2nd week of February called Polar Vortex.

[MorpheusPA]

I think I dated Polar Vortex. Emotionally distant, often cold? Yeah.

[s1mpl3k1d]

I think I dated Polar Vortex. Emotionally distant, often cold? Yeah.

haha, she's always cold

I'm hoping the warm weather extends to November. I remember there was a year where temp for a week around November reached 60s. Then the following year, it happened in February again. Snow melted.

[MorpheusPA]

I was looking quizzically at that statement and then realized you're in Illinois. In eastern PA, you've just described normal weather. Recently, anyway. I have to pull my tropical and equatorial plants in on Friday, but they shuffle back out again on Sunday as temps happily rebound right back to lows of fifty and highs in the sixties and seventies.

Lately, the poinsettias grace the patio year in, year out. They even rebloom every March (as they would in nature).

[s1mpl3k1d]

Are you liking our weather? I do

[s1mpl3k1d]

TTTF Update. This is a pic from October 10. I'm really thankful for almost more than a week of warm weather! Today, the height of the grass is close to 2 inches tall. She's 15 days old today. I'm hoping it won't die in winter since roots will be shallow. The new grass in the hell strip covers 98% of it. I was so tired yanking out the dead grass.