I use it at a little weaker than on the directions. It is very effective.

hello, Richard, thanks for the response.
sue

hi, more questions since i have been doing more research on this product: can it be used indoors on orchids in pots? thanks again.
sue

I did. It states that if you use it on potted plants, water well and let dry before bringing in the house. Because it is winter here, I stuck some outside, one at a time, watered well, let them drain and brought them back in. About 5 mins each total outside.

I had a bad scale infestation and had no choice. Did this about a month ago and they are fine as am I.

Jane

Sue you can pour it over the plant inside if you are afraid of spraying it. It does kill the pest on contact. You also need to drench the potting media with the solution for it to be systemic. It isn't truly systemic unless the roots absorb it.

Water the media, let it drain, then saturate the media with the solution. Repeat the process after the container has been watered a couple of times. Also check the plant daily and if you still find newly hatched pests, use it as a contact insecticide.

Brooke

If you have visible bugs, treat them separately with alcohol and wash off all the bug bodies. Often I use the ready-to-use insecticide on the plant itself, but the all-in-one gets applied once a week to the medium and roots after watering in a pump sprayer. I don't use a lot of it but do it every week. I have seen no mealy or aphids all year. Works well for scale too, once the insecticide has built up inside the plant.

I do this all outdoors and I don't have pets and small children to worry about.

I switched over the Bayer 'Azalea & Camellia' formula about three years ago when the bugs started getting resistent to Cygon. I buy the concentrate and mix my own to full strength. Some orchid growers say they have not had as much success with the pre-mixed type of Bayer (I've never tried it). And best of all, it doesn't stink like so many other pesticides.

Mostly, I use it as a drench but will spray new infestations as well; which are rare nowadays. Bayer really cleaned up the bugs in the greenhouse! It hasn't hurt any of the GH residents; frogs, lizards, tiny toads, etc.

The one thing it will not kill and, by removing competition, it will will often increase is mites; which will need to be treated with a miticide.

The Bayer All-in-One product contains 3 systemic products in one:
Fertilizer
Insect control
Disease control

I am uninterested in the fertilizer component. I prefer to have complete control.

Disease control by Tebuconazole? Specifically, which pathogens affecting orchids are targets?

Are there imidacloprid products only which provide long-term, systemic protection against sucking insects (scale!)? Please, a "name" for recommended product(s)?

My goal is to begin using in Spring as I put the plants outside. I hope that this product will have no effect on predatory and pollinating insects. I prefer to use the product until the plants come indoors. Ideally, there will be no scale insects on the plants in autumn and I won't need to treat any further through the late autumn/winter.

I recognize that a few insects may "escape" the effects of imidacloprid. I am always watchful with my bottle of alcohol and a little paint brush.

Is my dream realistic?

--Stitz--

I began writing the previous post before cjwatson's post :)

Ok, the Dual Protection Azalea, Camellia & Rhododendron Insect & Disease Control Concentrate does not contain fertilizer. I'm closer to finding a suitable product.

A recommendation for a good miticide(s), please? Source? I purchase supplies during winter so that I can concentrate on plants while they're growing! :)

Thanks, cj!

--Stitz--

Howard, the Bayer Azalea formula has no fertilizer. It has the Merit and the tebuconazole (which is for misc disease stuff like powdery mildew, leaf spot, fungus infections) I've been delighted with how well it works on scale! Two drenches a few weeks apart killed every scale insect in my GH a few years back and seems to have a longer-term residual systemic effect, more than the label suggests for ordinary outdoor plants which are constantly exposed to new infestations. If you don't bring new bugs in, you will remain scale-free. I drench all new orchids with Bayer and hold them a few weeks before they go into the greenhouse. About once a year I do the whole greenhouse as a preventative.

wow, thanks alot, everyone, for the great detailed input. I don't have an insect problem but a few of the catts seem to have fungus problems from having been outside and i have used physan which did not seem to have been effective. i don't have small children or pets: so i guess i need not worry.
cjwatson: when you say you do the whole greenhouse once a year, do you mean that you spray the green house structure itself/ benches, shelves etc as well as the plants?
thanks for all your help.
sue

Sue, I just spray the plants heavily, which ends up drenching them as well. A greenhouse will always naturally harbor all types of microrganisms, good and bad. The only cleanup I do is to sweep the floor and bleach away mold and algae on the roof so the sun can come through.

I don't use the Bayer as my principle fungicide. I use Neem Concentrate for that, which also clobbers any mites. But I don't have much of a fungal or bacterial problem anyhow since the ventilation and air circulation are good.

Sue if you don't have an insect problem just use a fungicide. I don't know what is available in Canada but you should be able to find an adequate product at a big box type store.

Stitz check Rosemania for Floramite. It kills spider mites AND their eggs in one application. Be prepared to open the wallet but it really works.

Brooke

I was talking about Bayer Systemic time release. I use Tree & Shrub and it does have fertilizer and insecticide, Imidacloprid. I have only used it outside in late summer but this year sprinkled it on the plants most infested with scale. I am very cautious using products designed for outdoor use. A greenhouse is not a living area and you should be careful to use safe products inside your living areas. I have always managed to treat insect problems indoors with simple methods such as soap or oil treatment by hand. This year my plants were neglected and scale got ahead of me.

Richard is correct. Treat any visible insects by hand. Then you can add some systemic to keep them away.

Jane

thanks, everyone, for all your good advice.
Brooke, i will look for a fungicide for the problem i have.
cjwatson, i asked you the question about spraying the greenhouse because of this experience i had: one of the windows in the family room: no matter what plant i put there it would get scale and spider mites. until i cleaned the whole frame and glass with physan a couple of times - now there is no more problem.
sue

Sue, I have never had that happen, even on the orchids I grow indoors at the kitchen window -- I guess because they didn't have bugs when I brought them in. But when you have had infested plants of any type in an area, you do need to do a cleanup of the space as well or the plants will just get reinfested. As for Physan, it doesn't kill bugs. But whatever works is great!

Most of us grow other types of plants often alongside our orchids on windowsills and in sun rooms. Those plants often harbor all types of infestations: mites on African violets, mealies on aroids, aphids on citrus, white fly on gardenias, scale on palms and scheflerea, etc. They need to be sprayed or drenched as well as the orchids. Bayer's Azalea formula has worked wonderfully well on these plants as a drench -- except for mites.

I'm also a huge fan of the Bayer line.
Wary of outdoor products indoors
The fert. is low dose. I prefer the systemic over the spray
(except with a mite infestation)
But dish soap and alcohol is better for mites

I use it in weaker strength. It works amazingly well on Boitrys
MegA