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
Some of us who inhabit the same biosphere as you wish you wouldn't.
Yes...all poisons are harmful to children ant other living beings.
Good. Quit using them.
No.
Charlie
"Freckles" wrote
Roses are a magnet for insects... molds, smuts, all manner of nasties that want to do in your roses.
Depending on the physical arrangement of your roses, if relatively close to each other, you may want to look into ordering some ladybug or preying mantis egg casings... although I think that is mostly a method to assuage your psyche that you're doing the right thing. These are the natural preditors of aphids, white flies, and other insects... I've tried it without much luck, I think they migrated to a neighbor's garden. But to be perfectly honest there is no sure fire organic insect control method... by the time many of the so-called organic methods have some effect your plants will be pretty much skeletonized... you'll get that good feeling that comes with thinking you're doing the right thing but you won't get any roses. Anytime you see a showcase rose garden you can bet your bippee they are using chemical insecticides... if used judiciously they don't cause any problems... choose the correct type and read and follow the directions... I think you can find excellent help at jacksonandperkins.com
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, if you and you other pesticide freaks would just give the downside of the biocides that you recommend so easily, it would make it easier for the recipient of your information to determine if it is something that they want to do.
Imidacloprid
ECOLOGICAL INFORMATION Environmental Precautions This product is highly toxic to birds and aquatic invertebrates. Do not apply directly to water, to areas where surface water is present or to intertidal areas below the mean high water mark. Apply this product only as specified on the label.
To put Integrated Pest Management and biocides in perspective, I'd suggest that you read "American Pests: The Losing War on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT" by James E. McWilliams
I'm still on your Christmas card list, aren't I?
I've planted garlic around the roses with good success. Definitely kid and pet friendly.
Kate
Write down the names of the products then do a google search for them, add a comma MSDS(,MSDS) (Material Safety Data Sheet). Yes some of these biocides are highly effective at killing your pest, and any other insect inside the perimeter of exposure. In medicine, the injunction is, "First, do no harm", the same should hold true when treating the planet. True, your roses may not look like they just came out of Photoshop but is that so bad? We have grown roses organically for the last thirty years, and if I do say so myself, they very pretty to see.
Well, you do a good tell, now do a good show.
Missouri
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
I don't know anything about what you ordered, but I recently fed the roses an "organic" food that my dog couldn't resist eating. I'm thinking about re-applying, but I'll block off his access first.
Kate
>
Too many people confuse "organic" with "natural". For my comments on this, see my .
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.)
Systemic means it's taken up and circulated within the entire plant. Systemics are really only dangerous if you eat some part of the treated plant.
For white flies or aphids, insecticidal soap (topical, not systemic) -- homebrew from Bronner's or dish soap works as well as more expensive commercial preps. Don't waste money on commercial soaps with neem, if my experience is any indication.
For aphids, lady bugs do a great job and tend to stay put, unlike mantises.
Anything misused can be dangerous. For example, water can be very dangerous.
Not all systemic products are sprayed. Spraying can be hazardous due to inhalation.
There are Rose Food/Systemic products that are applied to the soil, scratched in and the pesticide is taken up by the roots.
I use the Ortho product (Bayer makes one too) on my roses only. I am willing to try other remedies, that is, if there is one that I have not tried. Aphids are hard to control.
On Tue, 05 May 2009 13:09:31 -0400, Sheila wrote: ...
Don't believe it. I used Milorganite over one acre of land, and the deer kept coming. Human hair and Irish Spring don't work either. The things that might protect plants from deer are
electric fence fifteen foot fence netting tall grass or wire mesh (chicken wire) on the ground pit bull a lot of deer stew
Of course, there are different kinds of deer depending on your location. We have "mule deer" in east TN, they are large with large ears.
What's not to like... deer are gentle creatures, they bother no one... I like having deer around. Besides, they supply free fertilizer.
\
I have ordered Bayer's systemic pesticide/food spikes.
Supposedly one just shoves a spike into the ground next to the rose and it will kill pests and feed the plant for up to 2 months.
Sprays of all kinds bother me. The thought of breathing any of them scares me.
If the spikes work, I think that will be the easiest and safest way to take care of my roses.
Freckles
You didn't mention motion activated sprinklers.
Yes, enough soapy water could be dangerous, but that's not what we are talking about. Why don't you look up the MSDS on the products that you suggest and see what their environmental impact is? When the oil runs out, top soil will be the only thing between us and starvation. Try to save a bit of it. It's disappearing very quickly.
ANd the environment Frank? How does it affect the environment Frank? What could the downside be? MSDS is your friend, just like google.
Did I mention southern Californians passion for posing and a complete disconnect with reality?
How's the Nobel Prize coming along David?
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