Bug control on St. Augustine Lawn

17 years ago

What is the best time to use a bug control on St. Augustine Grass in Central Florida? Also has anyone had a good experience with a particular product. I have used Bayer and others with no noticable difference. Any ideas or opinions would be appreciated as I recently put down 3000 sq. ft. with some Scotts Bonus S

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Comments (6)

lou_spicewood_tx
17 years ago
What bug problem do you have? If it's fire ant that is really bothering you, take a look at Over N Out. One time application for the year. It's same stuff that you use on pets for flea and tick control.
ronalawn82
17 years ago
transplantsteve, the short answer is "Whenever you have a bug infestation that you cannot accept". When all appears well, soap flush the lawn in a few random locations to determine if a problem exists. If problem areas appear, soap flush those to determine that insects are the cause. Fipronil appears to be a very effective insecticide; commercial applicators favored it when I worked at Lesco.
While it is comparatively safe for mammals, it does have its hazards as I found at this site:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15641641
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transplantsteve
Original Author
17 years ago
Had chinch bugs which destroyed alot of lawn. Used "Bayer" but still think I have bug issues although I'm not sure with what. Want to put something down now to prevent any other crtitters from attacking my lawn.
lou_spicewood_tx
17 years ago
I get chinch bugs but they never seem to damage my st augustine lawn. i think it has more to do with proper maintenance such as mowing high (3-4 inches) and watering very deeply but not very often (every 2 weeks during summer). I also practice organic so I don't use synthetic pesticide which allows for natural predators to come (toads, lady bugs, wasps, etc) to keep pests under control.
dchall_san_antonio
17 years ago
...still think I have bug issues although I'm not sure with what. Want to put something down now to PREVENT any other crtitters from attacking my lawn.

The chemical companies thrive on people who want to prevent future infestations of [fill in your favorite pest here]. You will always see advertising trying to sell you products you probably don't need. Lou is suggesting the approach of letting nature do the work for you. If you stop using poisons, the natural predators will do what you cannot do (out fox the insects).
transplantsteve
Original Author
17 years ago
Unfortunately the natural way will not work at this time for me. My neighborhood as a whole is suffering from much of the same problem. It is believed it was caused by lawn services who went from home to home never washing out their equipment in between. Got rid of my service, got myself a John Deere and now want to get things so that I can control my lawns destiny. Need to kill off what I have first before the whole lawn is effected and eaten away. Then I would love to go organic.