Good Job!

Mealies are from Satan...

What a helpful thread!

Aegis, I sometimes watch "Miss Orchid Girl" videos on YouTube. And somebody there, in a comment thread on a video about thrips in AVs (she likes AVs as well as orchids and has quite a collection), mentioned using the pet flea/tick medicine, Advantix, in plants. It too has imidacloprid as its active ingredient, and must disperse pretty well since you only apply it in a couple of places on your dog and then anything that bites your dog gets killed. Anyway, that commenter said she used only one drop of this stuff per pot of AVs and control was total.

I dislike Advantix for my pets, I've found it less effective than what my vet recommends, but I had some around here and I've applied it to all my pots, prophylactically. I'm not swearing by it, it's just another option, and I also bring it up because anybody can get it at any Walmart or Fleet Farm, and maybe lots of other places too, and it doesn't cost a mint compared to how many plants you can treat per vial.

You say you applied a weak solution of Bayer. What product exactly did you use (was it this? https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-701810-Protect-Concentrate-32-Ounce/dp/B004TT36D6/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?crid=K9NB26TW835H&dchild=1&keywords=bayer+tree+and+shrub+systemic+insecticide&qid=1618781317&sprefix=Bayer+tree+and+shrub%2Caps%2C187&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFZMzlFOEVTWDA4U1cmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAyNjI4NjNQN0NOUzEyNEo5MkgmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDYyNzY5MjFOSFlMR0NFMVIwS0Emd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl), and what dilution, and what method of application?

Joan

Joan,

That's the product (at the link), though I typically use the granular variety. I've got Birches in the backyard, and this product will keep away the dreaded Bronze Birch Borers away, when applied annually.

Anyway, I dissolve about a half capful (maybe 1/4 cup) in a gallon of water ... and use this mixture for the drench.

The Advantix sounds like a good thing to try as well. It's the imidacloprid that makes the difference ...

A few years ago I had a thrips outbreak, and I used the liquid Bayer Tree & Shrub - 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water (1.47% Imidacloprid), and sprayed all the plants on three successive weeks. I can't quite remember, but I think I also watered them with the solution. In any event thrips were gone and haven't been seen since. But I keep my fingers crossed.

Works well. And since Imidacloprid is a systemic - you sure eradicated all stages of them.

The only thing - there are zillions of them outside in summer... always a good chance to get some uninvited guests every time you open the door... Darn pests...

Aegis and Judy, thanks very much for the useful tips on how much to use per gallon of water. Aegis, half a capful is a whole 1/4 cup?

I know I've said this elsewhere, before. But if at all possible, I would avoid using imidacloprid outside. It is known to travel through pollen and no doubt through nectar as well - it is a systemic after all - and to be toxic to the pollinators on which plant life, and therefore our food sources, depend. I think it's only justified in rare circumstances.

My maples are blooming these days. They're being swarmed by all kinds of bees; not honey bees, but other kinds much less recognizable, and maybe even non-bee insects. Are they flies or something? Anyway, whatever it is, is after the pollen; and at the same time, I've had a lot of songbirds hanging around in the yard, and it's not because I'm leaving birdseed out. It's the insects they're after.

When people ask me - and nobody here is, but still, I just feel duty bound to say this - I always advise to identify the problem and try to find some way to deal specifically with that pest, if at all possible, without going broad-spectrum. Bt, or cultural practices, or just putting up with a certain amount of damage, as long as it doesn't really harm the plant's health.

The only plant I have where I WISH SO BADLY that I could use a systemic is a hardy rose. I love this rose; but every year, just as it's in its full glory, it gets wiped out by Japanese beetles and rose chafers. But of course I can't use a systemic, because where do bees go?? Roses! I'm considering roguing it out, rather than see it suffer every year through the beetle/chafer depredations.

Oh, Aegis, one more thing: I totally understand the need to fend off the dreaded birch borer; losing such a valuable tree, if you can prevent it, is hardly an option. I'm in birch country too. A recommended resistant variety of birch is River Birch. There are new ones of those, even; 'Heritage' is one.

My goodness we're going far astray here... sorry... But this does feel a bit like a virtual pub.

Joan

Joan,

I have three River Birch (two Heritage and one species), ... and I also have a "Whitespire" Gray Birch. I really only use the systemic on the Whitespire, to enhance its resistance to Bronze Birch Borer.

These are all beautiful trees ...

Yep. Dang that Bronze Birch Borer.

If I had any more tree space in my yard, it would be devoted to a birch. :)