We got the beneficial nematodes in the mail yesterday. My husband immediately brought them inside so they could cool down. They need to stay below 85 degrees Fahrenheit or you risk killing them, I had paid for expedited shipping and yesterday was our coolest day of the week at 82 degrees.
On the back of the insert they list a lot of the insects the beneficial nematodes are supposed to be affective against their larva, and the big one for me is flea beetles. They won't do anything for the adult flea beetles but it's supposed to kill off their young. And hopefully these nematodes will reproduce in the garden and maybe help eradicate flea beetles.
It actually came with 2 packages of sponges but I'm only showing one here. The sponges themselves smell like death. It's really awful. The application is easy though, water the area you're going to treat first, then squeeze the sponge into a big water-filled watering-can and they apply the nematodes over the wetted area, and then water the area again after application. It's like you're watering your garden three times. Each sponge is supposed to do 2 applications, for a total of 4 applications from two sponges. I went ahead and applied the nematodes yesterday once the sun had passed the house and the garden was in shadow.
I've seen little white cabbage moths flying about already so had also ordered some Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis). I'm planning on giving the beneficial nematodes 4 days to penetrate the soil before applying the Bt on Sunday. The rest of this week is supposed to be blazing hot with the weekend getting close to a 100 degrees (38 Celsius). It seems overly hot already, but luckily the humidity isn't as awful as it can be.
