You will need 4 of the 40 oz boxes of the Milky Spore Powder for a 40,000 sq ft area. You should use the Milky Spore Lawn and Garden Dispenser for the correct application method. You will apply one shake of the dispenser in spots every four feet in rows four feet apart. This is considered a checkerboard pattern.
Milky Spore Powder is a one time application put down in spots in measuring teaspoon amounts every four feet apart creating a checkerboard pattern of spots throughout your yard. Each spot contains 100 million spores.
Milky Spore Spreader Mix in bags is applied with a drop spreader over every square foot of grass and requires six applications usually Spring and Fall for three years to build the number of spores in any one area to millions of spores.
Some folks find the spreader mix easier to apply because the application is done with a spreader so that is the method they choose. It is simply a personal decision based upon what you feel comfortable doing.
Yes, Milky Spore is safe to use around areas where people and animals frequent, as well as around ornamental and edible plants and turfgrass. We recommend that you keep pets out of the area until after your application has been watered in so that they do not disrupt your treatment.
Milky Spore Powder, per the manufacturer, has no effect on water wells or other water sources.
No, Milky Spore is not affected by freezing or other adverse environmental conditions.
Neither the Milky Spore Powder nor the Milky Spore Spreader Mix should be mixed with water and sprayed. The Milky Spore Powder should be dispersed with the Lawn and Garden Dispenser Tube. The Milky Spore Spreader Mix can be with a drop spreader such as the Scotts Turf Builder Classic.
One 40 oz. container of Milky Spore Powder will treat about 10,000 square feet, so if you need to treat just over 1 acre you would need five 40 oz. containers.
No, Milky Spore Powder will not affect your grass seed. It is not a poison of any kind.
For Milky Spore Powder to work, live grubs have to ingest it. For long term treatments, we would recommend using Milky Spore Powder. This is a slower acting product, but it will last about 15-20 years in the soil after one application. It is a one time application put down in spots in measuring teaspoon amounts every four feet apart creating a checkerboard pattern of spots throughout your yard. Each spot contains 100 million spores. Right now the grubs are not actively feeding and going deeper into the soil.
Milky Spore Powder can be applied at any time the ground is not frozen, the powder only needs to be applied once and takes up to 2 years for you to see results. The spore will reproduce and spread when grubs eat it. If you're using Milky Spore Lawn Spreader Mix, you will need to do one treatment in the Spring, one in the Summer and one in the fall this year and next year, the effect will be the same. The product will only work on grubs that are actively feeding and not on the actual Japanese Beetles.
Milky Spore Powder does need to be watered into the soil with rainfall or irrigation after application, so rainfall actually helps the Milky Spore to reach the grubs in the soil. If you has so much rain and flooding that the soil was physically removed from the area and needed to be replaced, then we would recommend reapplying in those areas.
Milky Spore Powder only needs to be applied once. It begins working as soon as it is applied as long as grubs are feeding. Once grubs are infected they will multiply the spore by several billion times and spread it further. In warm climates, good control can occur in one to three years. In colder areas like New England, it will take up to three to five years. Once established in a lawn, Milky Spore has been known to last 15 to 20 years.
Milky Spore is not for sale to all states because these states do not have Japanese Beetles, the only insect this product will work for. White grubs can be other insects as well and other products are needed. Please refer to our White Grub page for the complete product listings and further information to help identify your pest.
No, Milky Spore Powder and products such as Dylox 6.2 Granules and Merit Granules should not be used together. They will counteract each other.
For Milky Spore Powder to work, live grubs have to ingest it and Dylox 6.2 Granules and Merit Granules will kill them. For long term treatments, we would recommend using Milky Spore Powder. This is a slower acting product, but it will last about 15-20 years in the soil after one application.
With Merit Granules, it is most effective when applied prior to, or just after, egg lay. In most cases, adult emergence occurs in early summer, often after significant rainfall or irrigation, followed by mating and egg laying. This usually continues for four to six weeks. Under normal circumstances, Merit will provide residual white grub control for four months or longer in turf.
