Question
I want to buy some beneficial nematodes fo my acre yard. I want to follow Jerry bakers concoctions for the lawn and garden, and he recommends sugar and mollases along with beer, epsom salts, and fertilizer at half strength. Will any of this cause the nematodes to die. I am trying to get rid of the grubs. The japanese beetles are stripping everthing I have. My yard this past summer looked like a horror movie. The attack of the japanese beetles. I have to get rid of them. I really cant afford to buy enough milky spore for the size yard I have. I may concider trying. I just need help finding out what I can do.

Answer
Hi Marie,

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I can't agree with anything you are doing here.

1) Milky Spore doesn't work. This has been proven time and time again. It's almost better that you cannot afford it, because you won't be able to waste any more of your money on it. This is one of those products that has hung in there for years, despite being pretty much pointless.

2) Beneficial Nematodes have shown some promise, but give sporadic results at best. If you want to give them a try, go for it, but understand that you may again be in for some serious disappointment,

3) The sugar, molasses, beer, etc. is more in the latest of a string of nice sounding home remedies that are based on concepts that haven't been tested, or have been tested and shown to not have any effect. These things will feed the soil microbes VERY temporarily, and will really have no real effect on your lawn for the rest of the season.

4) You mention that the Japanese Beetles are stripping away everything.  Are you talking about the grubs or the adult beetles? If it's the grubs in the lawn, then okay. If it's the adult beetles, keep in mind that they will fly in from anywhere, and eliminating the grubs from your own yard will not slow down the adult beetles. Unless you eliminated the grubs from everywhere within 20 miles of your house, you'd see no real reduction of beetle damage.

Jerry Baker's basic approach is to pitch "feel good" ideas to people who want to do the right things. A brief look at his website seems to show that he's offering up pretty much any and all organic choice that is available. Most of these are pure snake oil that benefit from the fact that there is no government control over products that are pesticide free. The government only controls holistic, organic products to the point of banning those that are proven to be dangerous. Otherwise, they could be completely useless, and still be sold widely. This is one industry where these things are rampant, and incredibly frustrating. If somebody like me points out that these things don't work, the purveyors of this garbage just claim that we're in the back pocket of the big chemical manufacturers. Trust me, I wish I WAS receiving big "hush money" checks form somebody. My life would be a heck of a lot easier.

I truly don't know much about controlling adult Japanese Beetles, as they tend not to be a pest on home lawns. They're more of a pest on ornamentals, which is not my area of expertise. I know that controlling the grubs is as simple as applying one dose of "Grub X Season Long" control in June. That's it. If you're concerned about applying toxic materials, keep in mind that this one is considered to be very low in toxicity. That said, I do understand if you want to keep things organic, and I actually applaud your efforts.

http://www.organiclandcare.net/files/LTHandbookflyer.pdf

The link above will bring you to an order form for the NOFA Organic Lawn and Turf Handbook.  They are unbiased, and conduct extensive research on everything they teach. I highly recommend you use this as a guide for your organic efforts. It is solid, and reliable.

Good luck Marie. Sorry to be such a wet blanket.

Sincerely,.
C.J. Brown
www.TheLawnCoach.com