I'm calling attention to a new thread on the IBC Gallery:
"Pests, Let's See Yours" in the "Not Strictly Bonsai" Forum.

It was Kev Bailey's _excellent_ idea, and for all of you who
worry excessively every time you see something with six legs
near your trees, it will become a place to go for critter ID.

We've just started, so have many critters to add as they
show up over the summer, but I invite those of you who can
take GOOD macro shots (NO out-of-focus images, please!) to
add to the list. We need pics of pests that aren't there
yet, pics of a few varieties of some pests (if they're
significantly different from those pictured -- an example
might be various of the Hemiptera (true bugs)or aphids.

We probably need a companion thread on "good bugs," too just
to ensure we don't practice warfare on our allies.

I hope the pictures eventually will be accompanied by BMP
control measures. In the meantime (shameless plug) see my
"Bugs and Bonsai" article on the IBC web pages' "Knowledge
Base." We'll probably download and edit the pictures to go
into the Knowledge Base when we get a fairly complete roster
gathered together.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature
encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Kevin and Jim:

This is a great idea. While it is true that practitioners often "worry excessively" about their trees, some pests do pose a lethal and sometimes rapid threat to our trees. I remain amazed at how quickly a large number of Eastern Sawfly Caterpillars destroyed a valuable Japanese black pine of mine over night.

Preventative maintenance has its place in the art of bonsai, and we clearly need to differentiate harmful from harmless pests. The gallery is an excellent vehicle to support this awareness. However, there are times when the use of chemicals is not only warranted but essential.

All of this is said in the context of preserving styled bonsai of both personal and monetary value to the practitioner.

Cordially,

Michael Persiano
http://members.aol.com/iasnob

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Lewis
To:
Sent: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 09:21:59 -0400
Subject: [IBC] Pests on gallery


I'm calling attention to a new thread on the IBC Gallery: "Pests, Let's See Yours" in the "Not Strictly Bonsai" Forum.

It was Kev Bailey's _excellent_ idea, and for all of you who worry excessively every time you see something with six legs near your trees, it will become a place to go for critter ID.

We've just started, so have many critters to add as they show up over the summer, but I invite those of you who can take GOOD macro shots (NO out-of-focus images, please!) to add to the list. We need pics of pests that aren't there yet, pics of a few varieties of some pests (if they're significantly different from those pictured -- an example might be various of the Hemiptera (true bugs)or aphids.

We probably need a companion thread on "good bugs," too just to ensure we don't practice warfare on our allies.

I hope the pictures eventually will be accompanied by BMP control measures. In the meantime (shameless plug) see my "Bugs and Bonsai" article on the IBC web pages' "Knowledge Base." We'll probably download and edit the pictures to go into the Knowledge Base when we get a fairly complete roster gathered together.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

keeping track of pests is a great idea. As long as we are using poper remedies and not destroying beneficial insects. Also have to keep in mind that some remedies are not good for certain trees. So dicression is a good idea when we use this data

SteveW
Long Island NY


-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Persiano
To:
Sent: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 11:14:06 -0400
Subject: [IBC] Pests on gallery


Kevin and Jim:

This is a great idea. While it is true that practitioners often "worry
excessively" about their trees, some pests do pose a lethal and sometimes rapid
threat to our trees. I remain amazed at how quickly a large number of Eastern
Sawfly Caterpillars destroyed a valuable Japanese black pine of mine over night.

Preventative maintenance has its place in the art of bonsai, and we clearly need
to differentiate harmful from harmless pests. The gallery is an excellent
vehicle to support this awareness. However, there are times when the use of
chemicals is not only warranted but essential.

All of this is said in the context of preserving styled bonsai of both personal
and monetary value to the practitioner.

Cordially,

Michael Persiano
http://members.aol.com/iasnob

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Lewis
To:
Sent: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 09:21:59 -0400
Subject: [IBC] Pests on gallery


I'm calling attention to a new thread on the IBC Gallery: "Pests, Let's See
Yours" in the "Not Strictly Bonsai" Forum.

It was Kev Bailey's _excellent_ idea, and for all of you who worry excessively
every time you see something with six legs near your trees, it will become a
place to go for critter ID.

We've just started, so have many critters to add as they show up over the
summer, but I invite those of you who can take GOOD macro shots (NO out-of-focus
images, please!) to add to the list. We need pics of pests that aren't there
yet, pics of a few varieties of some pests (if they're significantly different
from those pictured -- an example might be various of the Hemiptera (true
bugs)or aphids.

We probably need a companion thread on "good bugs," too just to ensure we don't
practice warfare on our allies.

I hope the pictures eventually will be accompanied by BMP control measures. In
the meantime (shameless plug) see my "Bugs and Bonsai" article on the IBC web
pages' "Knowledge Base." We'll probably download and edit the pictures to go
into the Knowledge Base when we get a fairly complete roster gathered together.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature encourages no
looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

************************************************** ******************************

++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************

-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Michael Persiano wrote:
Kevin and Jim:

This is a great idea. While it is true that
practitioners often "worry excessively" about their
trees, some pests do pose a lethal and sometimes rapid
threat to our trees. I remain amazed at how quickly a
large number of Eastern Sawfly Caterpillars destroyed a
valuable Japanese black pine of mine over night.

Preventative maintenance has its place in the art of
bonsai, and we clearly need to differentiate harmful from
harmless pests. The gallery is an excellent vehicle to
support this awareness. However, there are times when the
use of chemicals is not only warranted but essential.

All of this is said in the context of preserving styled
bonsai of both personal and monetary value to the
practitioner.

Cordially,

Michael Persiano http://members.aol.com/iasnob

Don't thank me, it was Kevin's idea. I'm just promoting it.
;-)

And I couldn't agree more, Michael. Chemicals are often
warranted. It is which ones people use, and how they use
them that should be up for discussion.

Too many people select the nuclear option when conventional
warfare is just as effective -- and is safer for the user,
the user's family and pets, and the environment around them.

One of the basic tenets of pesticide application is to use
the least toxic alternative THAT WORKS. This is opposed to
using a pesticide that kills everything in sight and keeps
on doing it for some time. Thankfully, many of these kinds
of pesticides no longer are easily available to those of us
without a professional pesticide applicator's license.

Your place must be in the midst of or near a pine woods,
Michael. I can't think of another way you could have gotten
sawflies (unless the tree was a new arrival (or near a new
arrival) and the larvae came in the soil of one of them????)
You pretty much need a LOT of pines to support a dangerous
level of sawflies. Anyway, so sorry. (I've had the azalea
caterpillar defoliate several azalea overnight and it can be
a shock -- though for the azalea seldom fatal.) There's no
prevention for sawflies other than constant vigilance, and
spraying with pyrethrins, if found. These things are so
voracious that Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) the normal spray
for caterpillars may be too slow.

Unfortunately, there is no benefit at all to spraying "just
in case." Today's pesticides don't last long enough after
use to act as preventatives. The best preventative is in
plant and facility management.

1. If you have many trees of one (or similar species), such
as pines or azaleas, do NOT grow them all in the same area.
Bugs and ailments spread easily from tree to tree of
plants of the same kind.
2. Keep leaf litter, old soil, empty pots, etc. off your
tables. These all provide hiding places for various kinds
of critters -- nighttime feeders hide there during the day
and datyime feeders hide there at night.
3. Immediately isolate sick or infested trees. By
"infested" I don't mean a tree with a few aphids, but I
would mean one that is covered with them, or with scale or . . .
4. Try not to allow your tables to be perpetually damp.
This is one reason why off-and-on misting thoughout the day
is a very bad idea in most environments. Dampness
encourages fungus AND various critters such as slugs and snails.

Thanks for the chance to preach, Michael. ;-)

Jim Lewis - - This economy is a wholly
owned subsidiary of the environment. - Gaylord Nelson

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Jim:

I honestly cannot explain the small plague that attacked the tree. The tree had been potted and under design work for nearly 7 years, so I doubt that they were in the soil.

I failed to mention that PA had a problem with the buggers that year, so my black pine was undoubtedly in the wrong place at the right time.

My new concern is over the potential damage from the Woodwasp sighting in New York. Do you think pyrethrins would be of any value?

Cordially,

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Lewis
To:
Sent: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 15:04:21 -0400
Subject: [IBC] Pest management (was:: [IBC] Pests on gallery)


Michael Persiano wrote:
Kevin and Jim:
This is a great idea. While it is true that
practitioners often "worry excessively" about their
trees, some pests do pose a lethal and sometimes rapid
threat to our trees. I remain amazed at how quickly a
large number of Eastern Sawfly Caterpillars destroyed a
valuable Japanese black pine of mine over night.
Preventative maintenance has its place in the art of
bonsai, and we clearly need to differentiate harmful from
harmless pests. The gallery is an excellent vehicle to
support this awareness. However, there are times when the
use of chemicals is not only warranted but essential.
All of this is said in the context of preserving styled
bonsai of both personal and monetary value to the
practitioner.
Cordially,
Michael Persiano http://members.aol.com/iasnob

Don't thank me, it was Kevin's idea. I'm just promoting it. ;-)

And I couldn't agree more, Michael. Chemicals are often warranted. It is which ones people use, and how they use them that should be up for discussion.

Too many people select the nuclear option when conventional warfare is just as effective -- and is safer for the user, the user's family and pets, and the environment around them.

One of the basic tenets of pesticide application is to use the least toxic alternative THAT WORKS. This is opposed to using a pesticide that kills everything in sight and keeps on doing it for some time. Thankfully, many of these kinds of pesticides no longer are easily available to those of us without a professional pesticide applicator's license.

Your place must be in the midst of or near a pine woods, Michael. I can't think of another way you could have gotten sawflies (unless the tree was a new arrival (or near a new arrival) and the larvae came in the soil of one of them????) You pretty much need a LOT of pines to support a dangerous level of sawflies. Anyway, so sorry. (I've had the azalea caterpillar defoliate several azalea overnight and it can be a shock -- though for the azalea seldom fatal.) There's no prevention for sawflies other than constant vigilance, and spraying with pyrethrins, if found. These things are so voracious that Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) the normal spray for caterpillars may be too slow.

Unfortunately, there is no benefit at all to spraying "just in case." Today's pesticides don't last long enough after use to act as preventatives. The best preventative is in plant and facility management.

1. If you have many trees of one (or similar species), such as pines or azaleas, do NOT grow them all in the same area. Bugs and ailments spread easily from tree to tree of plants of the same kind.
2. Keep leaf litter, old soil, empty pots, etc. off your tables. These all provide hiding places for various kinds of critters -- nighttime feeders hide there during the day and datyime feeders hide there at night.
3. Immediately isolate sick or infested trees. By "infested" I don't mean a tree with a few aphids, but I would mean one that is covered with them, or with scale or . . .
4. Try not to allow your tables to be perpetually damp. This is one reason why off-and-on misting thoughout the day is a very bad idea in most environments. Dampness encourages fungus AND various critters such as slugs and snails.

Thanks for the chance to preach, Michael. ;-)

Jim Lewis - - This economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment. - Gaylord Nelson

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

wrote:
Jim:

I honestly cannot explain the small plague that attacked
the tree. The tree had been potted and under design work
for nearly 7 years, so I doubt that they were in the
soil.

I failed to mention that PA had a problem with the
buggers that year, so my black pine was undoubtedly in
the wrong place at the right time.

My new concern is over the potential damage from the
Woodwasp sighting in New York. Do you think pyrethrins
would be of any value?

Cordially,

Michael

The curse (and blessing) of pyrethrins is that they kill on
CONTACT. But spray a leaf or branch, etc., and then a
critter walks across it a half-hour later and dies? Nope.
The pyrethrin (made from chrysanthemum extract) decomposes
into natural, harmless products very quickly. But fewer and
fewer inorganic pesticides do that (last) anymore, either
because of the fear of long-lasting residual poisoning.

If you can hit a wood wasp with pyrethrin, it'll likely kill it.

But I didn't get the impression that the wood wasp had
necessarily established itself "in the wild."

But everyone needs to brace themselves for more contacts
with exotic, damaging critters (and diseases). The world is
getting too small, and there are too few people checking
stuff that comes in to this (or any other) country --
especially containerized stuff. Critters can come in on the
goods themselves, the packaging around the goods, in the
materials in which they were transported from point of
shipment to point of arrival and in a myriad other ways.
And all we're necessarily talking about is a batch of tiny
eggs laid on the underside of a box, or a worm or two boring
into the wooden container that the farm tractor is boxed in,
or a "moldy" bit of some stevedore's left-behind lunch.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Nature
encourages no looseness, pardons no errors. Ralph Waldo Emerson

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Hey Mike,
the answer might be simpler than expected. Yoshimura used to say, " Trees
lose vigor when potted. Take them out of the pot every five years and plant
them in the ground for a year. That way they will recover vigor." I
subscribe to that. Of course, there are many who disagree; but I'm a
Yoshimura fan.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Persiano"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 4:35 PM
Subject: [IBC] Pest management (was:: [IBC] Pests on gallery)


Jim:

I honestly cannot explain the small plague that attacked the tree. The
tree had been potted and under design work for nearly 7 years, so I doubt
that they were in the soil.

I failed to mention that PA had a problem with the buggers that year, so
my black pine was undoubtedly in the wrong place at the right time.

My new concern is over the potential damage from the Woodwasp sighting in
New York. Do you think pyrethrins would be of any value?

Cordially,

Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Lewis
To:
Sent: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 15:04:21 -0400
Subject: [IBC] Pest management (was:: [IBC] Pests on gallery)


Michael Persiano wrote:
Kevin and Jim:
This is a great idea. While it is true that
practitioners often "worry excessively" about their
trees, some pests do pose a lethal and sometimes rapid
threat to our trees. I remain amazed at how quickly a
large number of Eastern Sawfly Caterpillars destroyed a
valuable Japanese black pine of mine over night.
Preventative maintenance has its place in the art of
bonsai, and we clearly need to differentiate harmful from
harmless pests. The gallery is an excellent vehicle to
support this awareness. However, there are times when the
use of chemicals is not only warranted but essential.
All of this is said in the context of preserving styled
bonsai of both personal and monetary value to the
practitioner.
Cordially,
Michael Persiano http://members.aol.com/iasnob

Don't thank me, it was Kevin's idea. I'm just promoting it. ;-)

And I couldn't agree more, Michael. Chemicals are often warranted. It is
which ones people use, and how they use them that should be up for
discussion.

Too many people select the nuclear option when conventional warfare is
just as effective -- and is safer for the user, the user's family and
pets, and the environment around them.

One of the basic tenets of pesticide application is to use the least toxic
alternative THAT WORKS. This is opposed to using a pesticide that kills
everything in sight and keeps on doing it for some time. Thankfully, many
of these kinds of pesticides no longer are easily available to those of us
without a professional pesticide applicator's license.

Your place must be in the midst of or near a pine woods, Michael. I can't
think of another way you could have gotten sawflies (unless the tree was a
new arrival (or near a new arrival) and the larvae came in the soil of one
of them????) You pretty much need a LOT of pines to support a dangerous
level of sawflies. Anyway, so sorry. (I've had the azalea caterpillar
defoliate several azalea overnight and it can be a shock -- though for the
azalea seldom fatal.) There's no prevention for sawflies other than
constant vigilance, and spraying with pyrethrins, if found. These things
are so voracious that Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) the normal spray for
caterpillars may be too slow.

Unfortunately, there is no benefit at all to spraying "just in case."
Today's pesticides don't last long enough after use to act as
preventatives. The best preventative is in plant and facility management.

1. If you have many trees of one (or similar species), such as pines or
azaleas, do NOT grow them all in the same area. Bugs and ailments spread
easily from tree to tree of plants of the same kind.
2. Keep leaf litter, old soil, empty pots, etc. off your tables. These all
provide hiding places for various kinds of critters -- nighttime feeders
hide there during the day and datyime feeders hide there at night.
3. Immediately isolate sick or infested trees. By "infested" I don't mean
a tree with a few aphids, but I would mean one that is covered with them,
or with scale or . . .
4. Try not to allow your tables to be perpetually damp. This is one reason
why off-and-on misting thoughout the day is a very bad idea in most
environments. Dampness encourages fungus AND various critters such as
slugs and snails.

Thanks for the chance to preach, Michael. ;-)

Jim Lewis - - This economy is a wholly owned
subsidiary of the environment. - Gaylord Nelson

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++


************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Kevin Bailey++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++