treatment for borers

macrocarpa

macrocarpa

Branched out member
Location
Midwest
Looks like it might be an active season for borers. What have others had success with for borers in general? Including dogwood, ambrosia, red oak and all others? I am interested in soil injection and trunk spray methods. Protection for adjacent trees and treatment for infested trees.

I have dabbled with astro, safari and harpoon (trunk injection). I am not interested in doing much trunk injections anymore and don't want to mess with harpoon again. Nasty Stuff.
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Thanks!
 
Bifenthrin (Onyx) is labeled for borers and I have had good results with it. I try to rotate bifenthrin with permethrin (Astro)just because I don't like treating with the same stuff.

I just started looking into acelepryn (sp.?)... new chemistry that carries no caution/warning on the label! It's labeled for clearwing borers.

Mulch, water etc.
 
I have successfully controlled the western flathead borer in heavily infested mature Platanus racemosa using Sevin powder(carbaryl).

Unfortunately it's a very time consuming(expensive) off label use for Sevin powder, that's probably illegal. Maybe that's why it works?

I take a 5 gal bucket and dump two 5 lb packets of Sevin powder into it. Then I add water and stir until I have a thick pancake batter consistency. Then I take rolls of burlap and lay them out on a plastic tarp, and apply the Sevin batter thickly to just the upper side of the burlap strips, roll them back up, and place them in another 5 gal bucket.

I then wrap the trunk and major scaffolding branches of the infected tree with the burlap strips with the Sevin treated side directly against the bark of the tree. Once wrapped, I hose the treated trunk and scaffolding branches down with water, with instructions for the client to do the same once a week during the spring and summer months.

This treatment traps the larvae inside and drowns them in carbaryl, effectively killing them and any adult borer trying to plant any eggs onto any treated protion of the tree.

This same treatment has been used by me to eradicate the ipps beetle or bark beetle from heavily infested mature highly prized and rare Jelecote Pines(Pinus patula).

Carbaryl is toxic to both birds and fish, and if either is in the runoff shed of the trees, this treatment should not be used.

It's not very practical, probably illegal, but it has worked for me every time.

I would like to try ground cigarette butts in place of the Sevin powder just to see if nicotine would be as effective as carbaryl using the same technique?

jomoco
 
Jomoco, I swear you posted this before, maybe 1 year ago?

I remember because of the comment about the tobacco. It works. I have used it (a mixture of cigar butt-water, cayenne pepper and dishsoap) against tropical red ants, which are nasty buggers.

I can't imagine that Sevin will be commercially available much longer... It seems like all that stuff has a 'lifespan' of tolerance with the testing community.

-Tom
 
Well it is nice to have a means of saving historical monument trees that would otherwise die.

It may not be practical or cost effective generally speaking, but it does work when the bugs want to play for keeps.

I got the idea from an old master arborist who told me that back in the 50's when borers attacked orchard trees, they would paint the trunk and scaffolding branches with a chemical called Lindane that was outlawed in the 70's. Using the burlap wrap as a biodegradable means of keeping the chemical where you need it for a few months was my improvement on a very old technique.

jomoco
 
I wasn't necessarily commenting on it's practicality or how I personally feel about it, but if you're asking, it sounds very practical but definitely chemical-heavy IMO. Like you said, in the right situation it is useful and effective.

Am I right that you posted this about a year ago?

-Tom
 
Yes Tom, I've written about it quite a few times, and to my knowledge all the trees I've treated with Sevin wraps are still alive today.

The use of carbaryl and synthetic nicotine as agricultural pest control insecticides dates back to the 50's.

jomoco
 
[ QUOTE ]
The use of carbaryl and synthetic nicotine as agricultural pest control insecticides dates back to the 50's.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know. Not sure what the intent was with this addition, I have basically been agreeing with you all along, just having deja vu.

-Tom
 
I'm just pointing out that there's lots of ways to wage war on these bugs eaten all our trees these days, be it with lindane, carbaryl, synthetic nicotine, etc.

Today's dependence on Imidacloprid needs to end before the bees all collectively croak on us.

Just my opinion of course.

jomoco
 
I agree, big time. I started educating clients about the Imidacloprid issue about a year ago, after reading and hearing enough to make me a believer.

I have even stopped using Advantage on my pets in order to stop the support of its sale and manufacture.

-Tom
 
I dont want to make excusses and I am concerned about using these products, but I think it is the lawn companies and agricultural uses of imidacloprid that are the biggest culprits. Broadcasting the crap on thousands of acres can't be good. And the lawn services applying it to clover seems to me would be the most direct transfer to bees. I mostly use dinotefuran rather than imidacloprid (still probably same effect on bees) and soil inject using the kioritz so the application is very localized.

I wish there was a completely safe way to treat hemlocks. I do use oils when I can.
 
If you go to the cornell univesity home, click on schools head to the go op extenstion and look up Mark Whitmore. Mark is a forester who is working in the envasive pests of forest program and has started working with ways to treat the Hemlock wolly eldelga(spelling wrong most likly). I met Mark about 2 years ago and he is full of very good and usefull info. on pest and possible treatments that they have done.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I mostly use dinotefuran rather than imidacloprid (still probably same effect on bees) and soil inject using the kioritz so the application is very localized.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's localized until it moves through the soil profile and into the groundwater.

Our company and others I know use Imidicloprid & Dinotifuran with the Kioritz. The main concern for me is the EXTREME concentration used with this method.
I was instructed that the rate for merit with the Kioritz is a 1.6 oz packet to 24oz of water. Then one ounce of solution per foot of shrub height/inch of trunk diameter. Is this the rate that others are using? What rate are you using the Safari at with the kioritz?

The startling thing for me is that the same 1.6oz packet when mixed for a foliar application is diluted into 300 GALLONS of water. When applied this way there is considerably less chemical being introduced into the environment.

I would prefer not to be using chemicals at all but if I do I want to use the least amount possible to get effective control.
 
The rate of dinotefuran I use depends on the size of the tree. But generally, 6grams/dbh in.

As for the foliar sprays with imidacloprid, I see what you mean about using a lot less insecticide. What concerns me is that the foliar spray will get on more non targeted flowering trees/shrubs/ground flowers etc and then more likely for bees to be exposed.

But I don't know if this is true? I just avoid foliar sprays whenever possible except with hort. oil and I dont treat shrubs very often at all.
 
The only thing I use the foliar spray of imidicloprid for is boxwoods. So I'm not shooting the stuff into the air at high pressure. Any tree treatments we do is typically a trunk injection or a trunk spray with safari or other pesticide with pentrabark.
It is the least favorite part of my job and if I could find somebody else who is as responsible and reliable I would never touch a pesticide again.
 
I see what your saying, but I have found it very rewarding to treat a hemlock that is LOADED with adelgid and then come back the next year and see it several shades deeper green and adelgid free. It is a trade off. what is more environmentally detrimental, letting the hemlocks die or treating them and keeping them alive?

Have you had good success with safari trunk sprays? What are you treating and what rate/solution ratio?
 
We treated about 150 Eastern Hemlocks for Elongate Hemlock Scale with a Safari trunk spray last fall. Very large, mature hemlocks. It was quite effective. We used 9 ounces of safari in 1 gallon of water and applied to the trunk from about 5' down. They are being treated again to knock back any that the first round didn't get.

I imagine it would work for HWA.

For dogwood borers I'm looking at using Bifenthrin with pentrabark as a trunk spray.

again, least favorite part of my job (just for the record)
 
My town, Wyoming Ohio, is mass treating over 800 ash for eab with double strength Xytec immidacloprid. There is a limit per acre allowed by law of application of this chem and I doubt Davey Tree is conforming. I doubt, given budget restrictions these days, that anyone is out there monitoring and enforcing these laws.

I have protested through newspaper articles, etc. and have gotten little support esp. from our council.
 
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