Control of Japanese Beetle and Masked Chafer Grubs in Turfgrass Using Pre-Seeding Application of Bifentrin, 1993

The objective of this study was to determine if soil application of bifentrin (Talstar T&0 0.2G) at the time of turfgrass establishment would provide residual protection against root-feeding white grubs during the following year. The test was conducted in a newly-seeded stand of tall fescue at Elkhorn Springs Sod Farm, near Frankfort, KY. The soil was a Maury silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, mesic Typic Paleudalf). Soil texture was 23% clay, 74% silt, and 3% sand, with 8.8% organic matter and pH = 6.4. There was no thatch. Plots (9 × 15 ft, with 9 ft untreated boundaries) were established in a RCB with six replications. Treatments were applied to bare soil with a Gandy spreader on 11 Sep 1992. The soil was then cultimulched and seeded the following day. The grub population was assessed on 14 Sep 1993 by cutting a strip (48 × 18 inches, 2.5 inches deep) from the center of each plot using a motorized sod cutter. The sod strips were broken apart and examined for grubs, which were collected, identified, and counted. Data were analyzed by ANOVA followed by Fisher’s protected LSD test to separate treatment means.