 | Since we've been having unseasonably warm weather here in the mid-Atlantic, I decided to put some Milky spore that I've been meaning to spread for a while. Milky spore is a bacteria, bacillus thuringiensis, which will cause the grubs in my soil, and in particular Japanese beetle grubs to be killed. I've had a pretty bad infestation of Japanese beetles every year on my raspberries where they attack the leaves and the flowers, cherry trees where they skeletonize the leaves, and roses where they attack the flowers. Since they're a non-native pest to begin with, I don't feel any remorse on killing them off. If I understand the issue, Japanese beetles taste bad to most animals in North America, so their population is out of control. |
| One question is how will it affect native grubs such as June Beetles. None of them are particularly good for plants, but they are native, as far as I am aware. However, milky spore or 'bt' as it is often known, has been used for a number of years on various insect species, and I don't know that it has endangered any of them. There is a controversy regarding bt corn and Monarch butterflies (whose populations in my own observations, have dropped significantly), but that is different application and a shuffling of genes that my application does not rely on. I'll have to see if it actually reduces my observable level of Japanese beetles. |
Comments
I understand the correct dosage of milky spore is one teaspoonful for every four feet. How accurate does this dosage have to be ? Using the dispenser tube I am not quite sure how consistent the amount applied is. If it is less than the one teaspoonful is the treatment useless or just take longer to spread?
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely
Posted by: Curtis a. Mitchell | July 11, 2006 02:16 PM
I am not an expert on Milky Spore, but from my prior observation at another location, I would say that neither distance or amount would need to be exactly accurate to be effective, as long as you're 'close'. I spread my by taking two '2 ft.' paces).
I formerly put this down the center lawn strips between rows of grapes and not in the grape rows themselves. Thus I put my rows twice as far apart as recommended. I seemed to get great control.
Two things:
1) I have tons of Japanese Beetles this summer, so thus far the Milky Spore hasn't accomplished anything (or not much).
2) I believe there is now a type of Milky Spore available in stores that can be spread using a drop spreader.
Posted by: Chris | July 12, 2006 03:54 PM