Quote:
Originally Posted by FLRedHeart
Hi Marsha, thanks for describing your current method, it is very helpful to know especially considering how many OPs you start which sounds like it can only be love 
I saw that Southern Ag copper product locally but something about it made me put it down. I think is might have been just that it was just a weak solution of copper sulfate with ammonia, both of which I have in excess at home sitting around. But as usual other things took priority and I forgot about it. Since I don't have as many starts, I'm fine with hand picking cats daily, so the Bt pesticide isn't a must if I'm attentive. Here in my part of the First Coast, leaf miners, gnat larvae in my case, are the bad boys. Rain seems to help their reproduction and Sept is their favorite temperature and wetness and tender transplants their delicacy. Bt is not effective on them, and the havoc they make invites infection on humid leaves. I squish them in their mines but really they work too fast, at least compared to cats. If I spray Malathion, which I despise far more than copper, it just kills all the predators and they slip in the leaf and party it up anyways, with more brazen vigor and number.
I might spray some Bordeaux solution on this time. It's pretty good in rain and I've used it before. Normally, I haven't treated the seedlings, but you are probably right and 5 weeks would also be right here, though I'd worry it might interfere with the hardening off, it sounds like that was not a problem for how yours worked, though tetraamine copper gets washed off more easily so it's not the best comparison if the copper persists longer. I personally believe its important to raise, not lower the pH of the leaf, and first impression is Bordeaux beats the bulk commodity copper complex S Ag product.
Bt probably isn't so sensitive as you would think. Most of it is the chemical toxin which is unaffected by how you mix it, and just some tough spores (long range backup mostly) which likely survive mixing fine and end up diluted anyway. But during the rainy season in practice I'd guess that the caterpillar kill rate is mostly from the initial crystals. I only mean this in the sense of understanding the pesticide, every little bit helps so you have good technique and that is important and I like it. 
Cheers |
Here is a solution that is magical, with not one drop of spray. I used to have horrible problems with leaf miner flies and larvae, but not anymore. Basically fly paper, but they are called yellow sticky traps. You may be familiar with putting them out every 25 feet as a density monitoring device, but I put them out every 5 feet, and while I am not completely leaf miner free, I can say I am virtually leaf miner free. Each card lasts the entire 9-10 month season here, so yours should easily last your shorter season. I get them on Amazon, 15 for about $13. I order 2 packs to get the free shipping since I dont have Amazon Prime.
Barb says that lizards are trapped on hers, I haven't really seen that at all.
Most of the tiniest ones are whitefly corpses, and since using, also no TYLCV. I'll never be without them again.
Surprised you think the Southern Ag is a weak solution, since it is so much more concentrated than the other liquid brands I have seen on the HD shelf. Is yours a powder? What do you have, where do you get it?
Good to know that the BT spores aren't affected by the copper spray,
I guess that makes sense really.
I forgot to mention, the cats make chew holes in those baby leaves, and they were less marketable plants, so I had to get to them before I saw frass or holes. Good stuff, thanks!
Cheers too!