How Late Can I Put Down Grub Control?
When Can I Put Down Grub Control?
There are two main types of grub control treatments, preventative grub control and corrective grub control. If you are asking this question in Spring or early Summer, you’ll need to direct your attention to the preventative materials. These materials are applied well before grubs hatch in late Summer and can provide several months of control. Preventative products remain ready to kill grubs after they first hatch and start to feed.
If you are asking this question late in the Summer or Fall when you have found grubs in your lawn, you will need a corrective control. This material provides good control when watered into turf with feeding grubs and has very little residual activity. It’s basically a “quick-kill” product.
What Material Should I Use for Grub Control?
For the past decade or so, there remain a few consistently well-performing materials used for grub control. Some of our lawn care programs have included preventative grub control treatments of Merit ® (imidacloprid), Allectus ® (combination of imidacloprid and bifenthrin), or Acelepryn ® (cholrantraniliprole). These have consistently been the industry standard materials to prevent grub damage. There are other materials that can be used, but our experience tells us to stick with the tried and true. If a corrective grub control is needed after grubs have been found feeding on a lawn, we have most frequently used Dylox ® (Trichlorfon, Dimethyl) to provide a quick method to kill grubs in lawns.
The Answer?
Read the label of the material you intend to use. We’d like to say there is an easy answer, but manufacturers have varied in recommended timing of their materials. This has changed over the past decade as continued research has changed their stance.
If you put a preventative grub control treatment down sometime in June through mid-July you’ll be fine. This range slides slightly based on temperatures from the beginning of the year until application time. Each year can slightly vary.
If you’re applying corrective grub control, your answer is “The sooner the better.” This material won’t work until it reaches the grubs. The quicker you kill grubs, the less damage they can do. Whichever material you go with, the material will need to be watered in soon after applying. The sooner that it can get under the turf to where grubs feed, the faster it will work. Consult with the material’s label for these recommendations.
