Is it too late to treat for Grubs....

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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northeastlawn
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Is it too late to treat for Grubs....

Post by northeastlawn » June 17th, 2021, 8:46 pm

My little mini reno in front took longer than I thought to establish. I never got any grub-ex down this spring.

I realize it might be too late for grub-ex, Is it too late to get anything down now?

Watering it in an 1" by hand won't be a problem.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Is it too late to treat for Grubs....

Post by MorpheusPA » June 17th, 2021, 9:55 pm

GrubEx really does take 60 to 90 days to work, depending on how much it waters in and how fast. So application now would mean it doesn't even make it down enough to start to work until August 15th or so at the minimum.

If you're irrigating that mini-reno (as you probably need to be doing pretty consistently this summer), I'd say yes, you can still apply it if you go right now. Your consistent watering will carry in the GrubEx fast enough for long enough to activate it.

If not, then no. Natural levels of summer rainfall in MA (similar to PA) probably wouldn't do it, particularly if we get our typical July/August pause and normal dry spell.

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Re: Is it too late to treat for Grubs....

Post by JeffreyLebowski » June 18th, 2021, 11:08 am

Morph do you apply Grubex every year as a rule?

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Re: Is it too late to treat for Grubs....

Post by Green » June 23rd, 2021, 5:20 pm

I applied mine on a forthcoming Reno area 3 weeks ago, and that was late. Luckily, the area is traditionally shaded much of the year and the latest to green up. So not terrible.

But it really should be put down in April in our climate. Before mid May at the latest. I was always diligent when I used it to get it down on time, just like with a pre-M.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Is it too late to treat for Grubs....

Post by MorpheusPA » June 24th, 2021, 11:52 am

I do, yes. I had a year where the grubs were so bad several thousand square feet of turf floated and I needed to apply Merit across the entire property. Since I'd rather not use anything that hefty too often, GrubEx it is.

Over the years, between that and traps, the number of beetles has gone way down. The season is just starting...and there really aren't that many.


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Re: Is it too late to treat for Grubs....

Post by ruth_mi » July 1st, 2021, 10:46 am

I think I have a problem. I had a HUGE issue with grubs last year, and unfortunately, I didn't diagnose it until way too late, meaning they'd already destroyed huge areas of my lawn. I used Bayer Advanced Grub Killer plus which seemed to take care of them (based on digging and reinspecting).

The "good news" is that I finally did a total reno, which I'd wanted to do back years ago before I got a dog and other life stuff got in the way. I dormant seeded (after killing what was left of the grass) and it worked unbelievably well considering next to no prep. Have some areas of prostrate knotweed along the street and driveway where the snow was piled (separate post coming on that), but the rest did much better than expected.

I didn't get Grub Ex down until June 7 this year (I'm in Michigan). Sounds like that's late, and apart from putting it on the calendar to do earlier next year, should I do something else this year?

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Re: Is it too late to treat for Grubs....

Post by MorpheusPA » July 1st, 2021, 8:44 pm

Ruth, you might want to start a new thread.

Yep, it's late. But good news, it's probably going to still work. Most people drop their GrubEx pretty late and it does still manage to do the job. If rainfall stops, I'd suggest watering the lawn--that keeps the active material working down and into the lawn, where the grass can pick it up and integrate it. If it keep raining and there's no dry spell, you don't need to worry about it.

Do keep an eye out in September when the grubs start. The beginning of the season will be your danger period when you might have to do an emergency treatment (the Bayer product being a great choice). Dig and inspect in late August, again around Labor Day, and maybe a week later in areas where you had problems. If nothing shows, you're probably going to be fine.

Then next year, just drop the GrubEx in late May, around Memorial Day.

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Re: Is it too late to treat for Grubs....

Post by ruth_mi » July 2nd, 2021, 5:45 pm

Morph - thank you so much - just what I needed to know! Will put those on my calendar today. Also, as an aside, you were very helpful years ago when I posted soil test results on another forum. I saved those posts and others with good lawn care input from you and still use them.

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MorpheusPA
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Re: Is it too late to treat for Grubs....

Post by MorpheusPA » July 2nd, 2021, 11:07 pm

I'm glad! I'm no longer on said forum (Houzz; you can say it here). Let's just say it didn't work out.

Feel free to ask any questions you want here as well; we're all happy to help.

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