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Systemic pesticide for roses
On 5/5/2009 6:30 PM, Freckles wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message et... On 5/4/2009 10:08 PM, Freckles wrote: I would like to use a systemic pesticide on my roses. I've heard systemic pesticides can be very dangerous. I've tried several different sprays and am not satisfied with the results. Can anyone recommend a brand of systemic pesticide that is not so dangerous to humans and pets? Thanks, Freckles I use Bayer's Rose & Flower Care, which combines fertilizer and systemic insecticide in a dry granular form. Although I feed my roses every month from March through October, I use this product only every-other month to get excellent results. In the alternating months, I feed my roses with ammonium sulfate. You might instead consider using Bayer's 12 Month Tree & Shrub Insect Control, which is a systemic applied as a soil drench. I used this very successfully to control leaf miners on citrus. It is considered non-toxic to vertebrates (humans, other mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, etc) and is thus safe on edibles. It controls such rose pests as aphid and white fly. I haven't tried this on my own roses. You might call your local agricultural extension to ask about using it. I will be calling my county's agricultural extension when I replace my peach tree to determine if it will control flat-headed bark borers since Lindane is no longer available. NOTE: 12 Month Tree & Shrub Insect Control can be quite expensive; it cost over $20 to give one treatment each to a dwarf lemon and a dwarf orange. -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19) Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary Thanks for the information. I just order some Bayer insect control plus fertilizer plant spikes which seem to be just what I want. I've been watching the organic vs. chemical debate for years. I have tried to go organic, but with very limited success. The plant stakes I've ordered seem safe enough and they are not too expensive. Much of the organic materials I've used were a lot more expensive than chemicals and in many cases I needed to use much more of them to get the same results I could have gotten with a few chemicals. If my grand dad had tried to go organic on our farm, we would have starved. Freckles Too many people confuse "organic" with "natural". For my comments on this, see my http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_organic.html. My own gardening practices involve a mix of organic methods and non-organic methods. I produce my own compost (actually, a leaf mold), which I add to my potting mix to inject the mix with the kinds of soil bacteria that are needed to convert nutrients into forms that plant roots can absorb. I use bone meal and blood meal in my potting mix for house plants. I generally wait for ladybugs to deal with aphids. (I don't have to buy and disperse them; they come naturally.) To combat brown snails (Helix aspersa, also known as Cantareus aspersus), I can't use poisonous snail bait because my tortoise would then eat the still toxic dead snails. Instead, I use carnivorous decollate snails (Rumina decollata), which eat the eggs and young of the brown snails. I also wrap copper wire around flower pots containing plants that are especially attractive to brown snails. On the other hand, I feed my roses, citrus, and other plants with chemical fertilizers. After pruning them, I spray my peach, roses, and grapes with a mix of dormant oil and copper sulfate. Newly planted flowering shrubs have super-phosphate dug into the soil below their root balls. Yes, I do use systemic insecticides on my roses and citrus and Roundup on thistles sprouting on my hill. As for my leaf mold, I accelerate its decomposition by adding urea (50-0-0) to the pile. Am I an environmental rogue? I don't think so. Birds and squirrels seem to enjoy my garden. Raccoons steal my grapes. Many, many bees constantly visit my flowers. And Cleopatra -- an endangered California desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) -- has happily grazed in my back yard since 1977. (Before you consider reporting me for having a contraband tortoise, Cleopatra is already registered with the California Department of Fish and Game; she is legal.) -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19) Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary |
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