Growing non native plants in the southeast requires heavy insecticide use to receive a respectable plant/crop. Fresh thuricide tank mixed with spinosad, rotated with liquid sevin and pyrethrin should keep most worm pests at bay. Keep the mix in the tank agitated. Walking while spraying should achieve this. Mix the chemicals right before you use the spray. Try to use all the spray that session. Most chemicals settle in the bottom of the tank after an hour of sitting still. Needs serious agitation to re suspend chemical, if it will even release from the bottom of the tank. I am going to add methylated seed oil at a .10% solution on a few plants to see if it helps prolong the insecticide activity. Finding the right spray nozzle for my back pack sprayer is where I turned the corner on controlling insects. I generally spray in the morning hours. I was using a large droplet spray nozzle with intermediate control. Switched to a nozzle that atomizes the spray into very small fine droplets. Much better control. I am sold on liquid fung./insectides because of the ability to tank mix. The two birds with one stone move. Spraying in the evening would probably allow myself to get better control. I just hate wetting the foliage any longer than it needs to be. Fungus is always the cause of death here with this humidity. I am on an island, so no escaping the moisture problem. Bayer advance has a systemic chemical labeled for most vegetables in the homeowners garden. The active ingredient is imidacloprid, which is the same chemical in bayer advantage for pets. It is applied through the root system. The harvest interval is 30 days for most veggies on the label. That tells me 30 day control of most insect pests. Cant decide if I will use this one or not, a tad bit intimidating/nerve racking.
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