I want to spray some wild oak trees on a remote property to eliminate parasites (scale and gal). I have recommended soluble stuff from DNR.

There is no power for a pressure washer, so I had hoped to use a pump water "cannon" with a mixture of insecticide to reach the tree canopies - about 50 feet up.

Anybody been down this path and have an idea if these toys will actually spray that far? No kids or pool here, so experience with them.

Cheers

On 3/1/2014 11:20 AM, wrote:
I want to spray some wild oak trees on a remote property to eliminate
parasites (scale and gal). I have recommended soluble stuff from
DNR.

There is no power for a pressure washer, so I had hoped to use a pump
water "cannon" with a mixture of insecticide to reach the tree
canopies - about 50 feet up.

Anybody been down this path and have an idea if these toys will
actually spray that far? No kids or pool here, so experience with
them.

Cheers

The tiny wasps that cause oak galls do no real harm to the trees.
Unless the trees are stressed by something else -- drought, hyaving
their root zone disturbed, excessive pruning -- scale is also not serious.

If you insist on eliminating galls and scale, I suggest a systemic
insecticide applied as a soil drench across the entire area shaded by
the trees. Alternatively, there are systemic capsules that can be
inserterd into the trunk and then broken to release the insecticide into
the tree's sap.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary