Turf Toughie: White grub control

Photo courtesy NC State University

Rick Brandenberg, professor of entomology, can almost guarantee that his students at North Carolina State University will screw up this simple pest control question. Will you?

Your course has a white grub problem, he states. You know you have to get treatment out before the white grubs lay their eggs to get 60 full days of control. So, you make a timely application on June 1 with good results. When should you make your next application?

ANSWER: Getting this one wrong is costly…expensive costly. The correct answer is not “60 days later” or “by August 1,” but “next June 1.” This assumes that a student – or superintendent – is aware that the vast majority of white grubs have only one generation per year. It requires understanding the difference between single and multiple generation pests. And it gives the student the chance to figure that, if they knock down that one generation on the course, they don’t have to worry about that particular problem again until next season.

Did you get it right?