AusBonsai

gday all

would like to get some opinions on spraying regimes ie when using pest oil how often? what sort of intervals in between spray sessions.am trying to treat what i think is a mite prob on jbp but dont want to overdue.also comments on regularity of other sprays etc would be of great help.



cheers michael

I spray as needed do not use pest oil on anything except Ficus. I use Confidor or Rogor as I said as needed.
Do not use these products on Ulmus ( elms ) of any cultivar.

I also use at full strength, as I want to kill the little buggers, not give them a headache. Or help them build up a resistance to them.

I hope this helps.
Pup

Hi Michael,
I agree with Mr Pup. Use the directed strength, use the correct insecticide for the pest and protect yourself and the surrounding environment.
I operate a fern/orchid/native plant nursery and do not routine spray- I spray the very first instance I see the pest, or for mites, spray at the mitey time of year which is when the air is dry. Get a lense- have a look under leaves. Mites are evil incarnate.

For mites (probably Diopthalmus urticae= two spotted/red spider mite) I would recomend a mite specific insecticide such as Torque, Procide Mitefolec or Stealth. They are uncommon miticides and you may have to obtain them from a specialist distributor, I bought mine from Elders/Primac/NuLeaf. I have had no experience with toxicity to plants with these sprays. To fully eradicate a mite colony you will have to do a repeated spray 10-12 days after the first spray. Maybe even do it three times. This gets all the life stages and eggs. Common garden Kelthane is also used and may be effective for you. You can buy it at many Mitre 10 or Bunnings. But mites quickly develop a resistance to Kelthane and to some it is just 'under arm deodorant'.

I do not use any oil on plants. The idea behind oil as a pesticide is to clog the insects breathing pores and suffocate them. Plants are one big 'external lung' covered in breathing pores- do you really want to be suffocating your plant? And with the price of oil these days....

Ash

I agree with Pup (and that's not because he is judging the Literati contest - trustr me) and also use Confidor and/or Rogor depending on what I have at hand, but I do use pest oil (white oil) on apples. I do not believe that a routine spraying program is of benifit as you could quite easily miss the little begger that you are trying to prevent. Use the minimum spray and only when needed.

WIth problem trees I spray every fortnight. The directions will specify the time delay.

Pest Oil does not kill a tree [the way White Oil did] but Ecco Oil is totally natural and safer. I have to spray several olives that like to collect scale and I use Ecco oil and slather the tree after I pick off as many scale as I can find. And dose for ants at the same time. I have been doing this for a couple of years and have not had a problem as long as I remember to keep the tree in shade for a day or so if the sun is hot.

Unless I'm not remembering correctly, Rogor is death for ficus.

What about pyrethrum

Maybe i got the advice wrong but I believe Grant uses confidor on everything as well as pest oil. Thats what I did after talking to him anyway?

I like the sound of econeem but I have read oil on new shoots is not good. Tricky considering that is what pests like to eat?

Hi Pup
I note your comments about what to use or not use on certain trees.

I have heard that you should not spray anything on Liquid Ambers.
I am not sure whether this is an old wives tale or whether it is sound advice. So far I have refrained from sparying mine for the psat 8 years just in case and would be interested in your opinion.

Similarly, any advice on English elm which seem to attract scale the same colour as the bark and near impossible to spot and squish
Regards
Steve

sreeve wrote:Hi Pup
I note your comments about what to use or not use on certain trees.

I have heard that you should not spray anything on Liquid Ambers.
I am not sure whether this is an old wives tale or whether it is sound advice. So far I have refrained from sparying mine for the psat 8 years just in case and would be interested in your opinion.

Similarly, any advice on English elm which seem to attract scale the same colour as the bark and near impossible to spot and squish
Regards
Steve

Steve I use the strong water jet on Elms as I have had bad reactions to pesticides. I would welcome any suggestions. They are very susceptible to systemics.
I have never had a problem with Liquidambars though.

Pup