Customer Reviews

Dr. Pye's Scanmask 7 Million Live Beneficial Nematodes-Kills Over 230 Bugs

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

We have a German Wire Haired Setter named Maxwell Quincy (Max for short) who is allergic to fleas and flea control products. Max is 11 years old and has had to be medicated every summer for this problem. While doing research on flea control I read about nematodes and decided to give them a try. They have worked wonders for Max, this is the first summer he hasn't had a severe reaction to fleas!

After seeing how well they worked to control the fleas I bought some for the cabbage cut worms in our garden. I am pleased to say that in the 25 years we have had a garden this is the first year we haven't lost one head of cabbage yet.

Plus, if you are worried about this, we have checked a small specimen from each shipment with a microscope and found the nematodes to be alive and well upon receipt. Our grandchildren love watching them and get excited everytime we get a package.

Nematodes prey upon more than just fleas and cut worms so I suggest checking out the list of things they kill. If you have trouble with any of the pests on the list purchase some for yourself and I am sure you will be pleased with the results. Nematodes are microscopic wonders!

I don't know if this product alone did it to solve the problem, but it must have contributed. I had a major flea problem after bringing in a new huge fluffy puppy dog, ridden with fleas. I thought we had the flea problem resolved with my previous dogs, but this one was much tougher. None of the typical things worked = frontline, heartworm pill with flea control, carpet cleaning, washing the dog beds regularly etc. etc.

We ended up having two dogs with fleas and worms, and my vet commented that it's a bad flea season, when I asked him what else I could do.

I decided to research the subject a little more.

I ended up treating the carpets with borax and ordered the Beneficial Nematodes for the yard. I don't like harsh chemicals, so these were both good alternatives. Whatever worked in the end, I don't know, it may have been the combination of everything I did, but the fleas were gone a month later after we treated the yard with Nematodes and after I treated the few areas of carpet we have, with borax.

Considering the money I spend curing my dogs from worms, their agony of constant itching and associated skin problems - spending a few dollars to actually get rid of the fleas for good, was money well spent.

I bought another box of Nematodes recently, since we put new sod down in our yard and I don't know if the little critters survived that change. Better save then sorry...

For a year I had tried everything to get rid of the fungus gnats in my houseplant soil. I had purchased a bag of soil that was infested with the larvae, and they took over ALL of my plants, killing a number of them. They were out of control. Pesticides and fumigation would only kill the adults, and in another week I'd be right back where I started. Finally I did some research on the internet and read that nematodes were one of the best means of controlling fungus gnat larvae long term, but none of the local garden centers carried them. Hirt's was the only place I could find that carried Scanmask. The product arrived promptly and has worked beautifully! No more bugs!

It kinda creeped me out at first to think of putting worms in the soil of my house plants, but they are microscopic and not harmful to people or pets. Besides, I'd rather have microscopic worms than fungus gnats flying in my face all day.

There were a few things I wish the package instructions would have included: How to make up a smaller batch if you are only using part of the carton (it says it will treat 1050 4" pots!) and how much of the mix to put in each pot. I think I over did it, because it didn't go nearly that far, but it worked either way so I'm happy.

I tell everyone I know that has houseplants and has noticed little bugs that look like fruit flies flying around to use this product. It is the only thing that works!

I was a little uncertain how ordering this would go, since the reviews had been varied, and the product looks a little shady (e.g. the pastoral cover drawing). Still, this was the only place I could find that sells beneficial nematodes in small quantities and thus for less than $50/pop - we did not need much, since all we were dealing with was our fruit-fly-infected worm bin - so I took a chance. Long story short, the nematodes worked a small miracle and about two weeks after applying the mixture to our worm bin, we are fruit fly free. For those interested, the worms did not appear negatively affected by this nematode mixture, either.

I purchased these to rid my lawn of grubs. When they arrived in a large canister I was a little surprised since nematodes I've purchased before came in a plastic envelope on a small sponge. When I opened the canister it was filled with a stone like substance that act as the medium. I followed the directions and filled my pump sprayer. Unfortunately the medium residue clogged the sprayer so often that I couldn't apply the nematodes effectively. I tried another pump sprayer and the same thing happened. I was only able to properly spray 20-25% of the solution.

When I contacted Hirt's Gardens, Alan Hirt responded by asking what brand and model sprayers, how much water I used, exactly what I did, etc. It was like getting the third degree. I explained I followed the directions on the box. After a few weeks I received an email from Mr. Hirt that he contacted the owner of Scanmask, Dr. Alan Pye, who he claims is the foremost authority on nematodes in the world and Dr. Pye says, "that a pump spayer is not recommended for nematodes." Well this doesn't help after the fact when the description on this site and the side of the box gives directions for pressure or hand pump sprayers.

I have given Mr. Hirt an opportunity to make this better but he refused. At no point has there been a solution suggested, an offer to resolve my problem, etc. Instead I'm told that I'm wrong and shouldn't have used a pump sprayer, even though it's in the directions.

I'm very disappointed and will never consider Hirt's again for a purchase.

Okay. Wierd review title that has you [...] wondering, but allow me to explain. Just recently our garden and front yard has had holes in the fertile garden soil. The holes would be anywhere from an inch deep to 6 or 8 inches deep, big enough to put your hand inside. Animal(s?) have been digging all around the yards between plants, so luckily nothing was damaged. And these holes would be changing all the time, like one day what was freshly dug up would be covered by the dirt of a newly-dug adjacent hole. What I've noticed is that we have these big grubs(not sure what kind) that I've never noticed until recently. I usually take my baby daughter out in the backyard and lift up all the potted plants sitting on the soil, and she likes to look at the bugs. Ever hear a newly-talking baby say "potato bug" or "centipede" or "chupacabra"? It's the cutest thing.. Anyways every once in a while we'd notice these big grubs about 2 or 3 inches long. After reading about mysterious holes, it turns out that animals(cats, mice, chupacabras) might have been digging around looking for these grubs, and that the solution was not a sling-shot or firecrackers, but to use beneficial nematodes. I figured I'd give it a try, and the Scanmask happened to be one of the cheaper ones, plus it seemed to be "name brand" as opposed to others that looked generically packaged. I sprinkled the chunks before nightfall, gave everything a good water, and waited to see what happened. Viola! That was 3 weeks ago. No new holes in the ground! Pretty amazing. I had to rake the areas flat again to make sure, but there has not been one new hole dug up at all. Now I can't prove that the grubs were the reason that things were digging holes in the yard, and I can't prove that the beneficial nematodes killed all of the offending grubs, but I can say that before applying I had a lot of new holes dug up pretty much every night, and after applying there hasn't been one, for already 3 weeks! Coincidence? Placebo effect due to weather changes? Change in atmospheric conditions? I don't know. But next time I ever have holes in the yard, I'm spending the $[...]+ on this again!

My plants were alive but never thrived. Every time I would dig in my garden I found at least three grubs --not good. Since Milky Spore only works on Japanese beetle grubs and these grubs refused to identify themselves ever after hours of intense interrogation, I decided to go Nematode on them. IT WORKED! No more grubs. It went to work within 48 hours. Hirt's was the best. They immediately notified me by email that they received my order and followed-up the same day with another email to tell me that my order shipped. I received my order much earlier than I anticipated. Nematodes and Hirt's - ROCK!

I was desperate to fix my fungus gnat problem due to massive infestations at home and at work. The gnats were everywhere - it was so bad that one flew up my nose and I breathed it in before I realized what was happening. So gross! I tried changing out the soil in all my potted plants and using various bug sprays, all to no avail. I had heard about Scanmask but the idea of microscopic worms in my house scared me. In desperation I called Hirts, who I had ordered from before (ladybugs - extrememly effective for my hibiscus) and grilled the woman who answered on whether Scanmask nematodes were safe. She was extremely helpful and convinced me that it was safe to use in the house. I purchased it and used it in all my house and office plants. Within a week, all my gnats were gone. It totally works!

The last 3 years, I have had a terrible time with all sorts of non-beneficial insects in the garden. Last year, I lost all of my cucumber plants to striped cucumber beetles and the wilt disease that they brought to my cucumbers. There were more squash bugs than I knew what to do with and nothing seemed to help. I tried to get rid of the cuke beetles with Neem among other organic methods, but they won the battle each year. This year, it's already July. My one cucumber plant is about 8 feet tall and no sign of any bad bugs yet.

I think I will buy and apply these every year to my garden. They were easy to use and so far, so good. Highly recommend trying them yourself.

For 14 years I have tried everything to get my scraggly front lawn looking good. I garden with organics as much as possible. But on this patch of lawn I even tried chemical fertilizers and nothing I used was helping my lawn. I noticed a lot of ant hills so I thought I'd give the nematodes a try. Am I glad I did. My lawn looks so healthy and green. The ant hills are gone and so are most of the weeds. It took about a 3 week period to notice the gradual but amazing difference.