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Originally Posted by JackE
Interesting that you use an expensive OMRI approved insecticide, since you're obviously not an organic grower.
Does that Pyganic work better than synthetic, low-toxicity pyrethroids like Permethrin? Martin's 10% Permethrin cost $50/gal and mixes at 1/2 oz./gal of water - and it's also 0 DHI on melons, just like the costly OMRI stuff, at a fraction of the cost (a $50 gal of Per makes 250 gals of finished spray and a $120 gal of Pyganic makes about 50 gals).
If it's better, though it may be worth the price. The labels on both products claim to kill aphids, but Permethrin does NOT kill aphids. How about Pyganic on aphids? But since you grow melons you may not have aphid problems. They're a major problem for us on okra and peppers - crops that last into mid summer. Effective insecticides have such a long DHI (14-21 days) that it's hardly worth it to spray that late in the season.
Jack
PS - While doing research on the drip tape project, I noticed that some large farmers inject systemic herbicides through the tape. I thought those systemics were all illegal now - we lost the acephate (Orthene) a few years ago and now the vine borers own the squash LOL.
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I got the Pyganic because it was the only thing I could legally spray on the Raspberries that had a 0-day PHI. The japanese beetles were destroying the raspberrys (defoliating) very quickly. I also have customers that ASK what pesticides I use. If they are not OMRI listed many will walk away, especially with the berries. I also like the idea of the short PHI and that Pyganic is essentially an essential oil extract, breaks down completly in the soil and is a reduced risk for the applicator.
I used it on my melons as well to controll cucumber beetles. I had both striped, spotted and Squash bugs. It killed them all quite well, but the problem with these types of pests is that they fly in from great distances so control is limited to only a few days.
For any of the lepidopteran problems I rotated with BT, Spinosad and Pyganic. The BT and Spinosad kill the little worms dead every time. BT with also kill the vine boreres, but you need to time it properly. I only use plastic mulch as well and that deters them to a degree.
My biggest problem this year was bacterial diseases which were vectored from the cucumber beetles. I am not bug enough to justify a pulled sprayer yet so I was schlepping a 3 gallon tank around 1.5 acres. My father bought me a hudson backpack sprayer for my birthday (he is funny sometimes). I returned it and am going to buy a Dramm battery powered backpack for next year. My arm is sort just thinking about all of the pumping I did.
On the sweet corn my father grows he uses warrior or silencer. It usally works well for him. He had a few escapes this year. I suggested he try BT on a few rows of corn. He was reluctant, but it did work for him.
The think with Pyganic is that is unlikely to have resistance show up anytime soon. Most synthetics target a specific chemical pathway. Once a pest mutates to be tolerant to that pathway then the insecticide is no good. Pyganic, being an extract of a flower, acts on many different chemical pathways at once. This makes it unlikely that a bug will become resistant unless it is not rotated properly.
The only downside to Pyganic is that it does not have an inhibitor added into it to prevent an insect from being able to clear the insecticide. Pyganic is also sold as a commercial spray with piprinol butoxide added. This prevents or greatly slows a bugs ability to clear the pesticide. This only means that you need to directly hit the bugs with a good dose of Pyganic to kill them. I found that when spraying Pyganic in melons, you need to move slowly and hit as large of an area as possible before moving or the beetles will just fly away before being hit with the spray. If they get hit, they are dead.
Pyganic is one of the very few pesticides allowed to be sprayed in dairy barns for the control of flys and other insects. It even is listed for direct application to animals and grains. I feel that this gives it a margin of safety for the human applying it that the synthetics can not offer. I wouldn't drink it or want it on my clothes, but I feel the benefit offsets the higher cost.
I have my children (6 of them) that like to help pick fruits and veggies. I don't want to worry about PHI and residual with them running to fields when they are hungry. BT, Spinosad, Pyganic, Potassium Bicarb and the occasional copper (CuEva) are what I use. I only break down and use synthetics (Warrier, Silencer, Poast, Select, Glyphosate) when I absolutely have no other choice. I explain this to my customers when they ask and they appreciate this.
ALL of the other growers at market are either growing GMO varieties or are full conventional. I charge more than all of them at market and still outsell them all on Melons. Most though are growing from seed purchased from Jungs, Gurneys, etc. They are growing varieties that are very old, but are inexpensive.