Have had brugs for 2 years now. Realized that they had mites and bought Forbid last year.....This year I was out of town and nanny called hysterical describing whiteflies on them. She read label to me and it did say it covered Whiteflies so I had her spray them. Due to her being a non gardener and doubts that leaf undersides got sprayed I re-sprayed when I got home 10 days later. O.k. I'm freaking because my whole grow room is filled with multiple pests and I want them gone...NOW... Was reading old posts about Brug pests and looks like Bayer Advanced has been used by several posters but I can't find the dose that would be appropriate for Brugs and am afraid I'll kill them all LOL
Thanks for any advice..
Addicted and currently sitting with twenty different pesticide bottles around me....
Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub(Imidacloprid) dosage for Brugs
I've only used the Bayer's 2 in 1 Rose granules, but I found a Bayer site with instructions on how to use their Tree and Shrub concentrate.
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/Tree-Shrub-Insect-Control/concentrate.html
You didn't mention whether you had spidermites, broadmites or both. If you are having spidermite problems, save the Forbid for use on broadmites only. If among those pesticide bottles you have Neem Oil, you might consider using it. There is an advantage to using Neem Oil. Pests don't develop a tolerance to it the way they do to pesticides like Forbid. Neem Oil is more user friendly and is a contact pesticide which kills by smothering the insects. It should take care of the spider mites and white flies. If the daytime temperatures are above ~ 85ºF, use it in the evening when the temperature is cooler. Neem Oil will scorch the leaves when sprayed during a hot day. It didn't take care of the broadmites I had. Remove and bag as many of the leaves as possible to be sure that you get all surfaces covered. The Brugs will recover and grow new ones.
I believe the re-spray has to be done 7 days apart or the eggs will have hatched with sufficient time for the mites to have started a new generation.
Bettydee,
I read the insert attached to the Bayer but it seems to be tree and shrub specific. My biggest Brug is maybe 3 ft tall and 1/2 to 3/4 inch diameter trunk. When I searched the past posts for Brugs the posters said they had used Imidacloprid but I didn't see a specific dose for Brugs.
I actually have the Neem Oil but am not really good at regular spraying ( mainly because I'm afraid my anal personality will take over and I'll be inspecting them daily LOL) and it seems like by the time you actually see a problem then it takes me half the summer to get the leaves to recover. I did use Messenger about every 3 weeks all winter. It seems like the problem must be relatively dormant during the cooler winter. I bring them inside and winter them in west facing basement. They drop leaves but in Feb-March I put them in grow room with grow lights and start increasing fertilizing, water etc. I got REALLY good results till I went out of town, but it was not the poor nanny's fault LOL I was hoping that if I used a systemic control before the initial growth spurt that it might give me a little wiggle room to beat the little pest buggers next year...or salvage my plants/blooms this year.
I know that I'm not going to get out of thinking-diagnosing a problem but is there a good basic plan to start with to keep them basically pest free, so I can then focus in on an occasional flare up? What on earth do the commercial green houses do in a closed situation?!
I use the Bayer's Tree & Shrub every year.. I do not measure.. I just pour some in the watering can till it's milky white water.. I have never had a brug show any signs that I even used it other than all the bugs are dead in about a week. You won't have whiteflies or aphids for a year! If you don't use it strong enough, you will know.. just use it again.
I use it on 6" seedlings and full grown brugs.. same strength.. just a couple glugs per 2 gallons of water!
I can tell you I've had several brugs develop what looked exactly like broadmite damage 2 years in a row and I am sure it was from using Messenger.. they did not recover after stripping all the leaves off.. (twice) treating for broadmites and using Neem.. I will never use Messenger on anything anymore..
ZZsBabiez,
The plants were doing well until the white flies showed up. Also had some that were either immature white flies or aphids. The leaves were great. They still looked good after the two sprays of Forbid...except I couldn't really tell if the pests had died. I still had a good number flying around. Then I got impatient and used a pyrethrin based aerosol...within an hour the leaves had areas of dark green necrosis and today are splotchy light brown areas....I won't do THAT again LOL
I am interested in how and when you applied Messenger... Since mine drop all their leaves in winter we use it in a soil drench. I figured it's somewhat wasteful but I seemed to get good results. Now I'm thinking of doing a control group comparison.
Forbid is a miticide.. it's meant to be used for mites.. not whiteflies or aphids. You can use Neem for those as a temporary fix. Neem works by suffocation, so it will kill anything..(bug) if you cover it with the spray. The liquid Tree & Shrub stuff takes about a week to work.. it's a systemic.. not a contact kill like Neem.
The first year, I used Messenger on all my brugs in late winter and early spring hoping for more vigorous growth.. it will make a young seedling Y at an early age, but it's not a true Y that indicates that the plant is mature and ready to bloom.. it ended up only a forked branch. I had a few seedlings that I thought didn't recover from a broadmite outbreak.. so I didn't stop using Messenger..
The next year.. Same thing.. then Butterfly and about 6 seedlings (from the same seed pod) all had the same symptoms soon after being sprayed with Messenger in early Fall spraying to encourage blooming.
It didn't happen to ALL my brugs, but it happened enough to make it not worth the gamble, hassle and expense. I think it's better to just use more natural means.. JMHO
I have great growth now and plenty of blooms without it.
ZZ
Thanks for the info re: Bayer Tree and Shrub- you said just what I want to hear! Doesn't even hurt 6" seedlings- yes!!!
Joyce, how does Bayer Tree and Shrub compare with Bayer's 2 in 1, which can't be used safely on small Brugs?
I use Bayer T & S on ALL my plants with no problems whatsoever.
Are you all using the Bayers on brugs in the ground or in pots? I have been afraid to put it on the potted ones because someone told me they would burn... what has been others experience with Bayer and potted brugs?
The liquid stuff doesn't have any fertilizer in it. The 2 in 1 has fertilizer and it is granules.. that is the stuff that will burn plants. I've never had any burn from the liquid.. in pots, or not..
Okay thanks ZZ, maybe I was thinking of the other one? I am gonna put it on the potted ones next time whiteflies show up.
I've used a product called safer and it has not burned the leaves. Clem