Avaunt vs. Imidan

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sevin-Concentrate-1-Quart-Concentrate-Garden-Insect-Killer/1000371923

Lowe’s doesn’t allow me to read the label, does it have a pyrethroid instead of carbaryl?

Under specifications in the Lowe’s link it says it is Zeta-Cypermethrin. Zeta-Cypermethrin is listed as a pyrethroid on wikipedia.

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Yep. Its the same chemical used is a restricted use product called Mustang Max but much less concentrated.

I have used M. Max. Very cheap but smells bad. Works fine.

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Smells terrible! Stinks up the whole neighborhood.

I tried Avaunt a few years ago based on your recommendation. It worked great and did not stink up the whole neighborhood up like Imidan does.

I used Imidan this year and I can still smell it in the orchard even after the 4 day REI

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It seems that Actara is cheaper than Avaunt. They’re both the
same price for 30 oz of Actara and 18oz for Avaunt. I’m still using
Malathion, until it runs out. But I think I’ll try Actara next year.

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Hello, I have a 4.5 acre orchard with 350+ trees and I use on average 2 lb Imidan per year for the whole orchard. I use an air blast sprayer with 1 lb imidan per 100 gal per application which covers the full orchard, with 1 to 3 applications per year in the spring after pedal drop depending on the rain. I have strikes on fruit but i have never found a maggot in the fruit, and I looked a lot over the last 25 yrs.

I pay $60 for 5lb (2 yrs ago) so it is the cheapest chemical I use.

It does not work with bugs but is the least expensive an less toxic than many of the alternatives which actually work in an commercial operation.

You are using a lot more than needed for control .

Eric

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Thank you for the info.

You get by with a much lower rate of Imidan than I do, but I only spray it once per year for PC .

For PC on Apples east of Mississippi the label rate is 2 1/8-5 3/4 pounds.

I did not get good control on my 800 apple trees when I sprayed 1.5 # per acre so I bumped my rate to 3#/acre

I get the impression that Imidan is less toxic to many beneficials than alternatives but with a 14 day REI for the general public on a PYO farm it may not be less toxic to humans than some alternatives for PC like Avaunt.

The old formulation was pretty stinky. At some point they changed it so that it doesn’t stink anymore. At least not nearly as bad. I don’t know how they could change the chemical so that it doesn’t stink. If I had to guess I would say the emulsifier was what stank on M. Max.

I also noticed they changed the spelling on the product. It used to be spelled Mustang Max. They changed it to Mustang Maxx. I can’t remember if the change in spelling corresponded with the change in odor, but I don’t think it did.

You guys who have the stinky M. Max, how is yours spelled?

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Rick,

At the 3 lb. rate do you get any PC scarring on the fruit?

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Hi Olpea

No PC scarring at 3#.

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When you say Avaunt is not “very good on bugs”, I take it you mean the stink bug? I don’t know of anything labeled for stink bugs, which are a burgeoning fruit pest.

When people talk about “kick back”, are they talking about the “curative” property of both Imidan and Assail (acetamiprid) to kill the larvae inside the fruit once eggs get laid? That you say that you get good results by applying two sprays of Avaunt is encouraging enough to try it this year now that my supply of acetamiprid in the discontinued Otho Flower Fruit and Vegetable Insect Killer Concentrate is almost all used up.

The label for Avaunt explains that it kills adults that feed on the leaves but doesn’t do anything to the larvae if the eggs are laid and hatched – the label warns that if you have adults flying in from untreated trees nearby, you won’t get protection.

On the other hand, killing the larvae may save an apple crop that does not need to be cosmetically perfect, but once plums get stung by oviposition, it was suggested here at Growing Fruit they may be more susceptible to brown rot? It might be better to have something effective against the adults?

A thing I am keeping in mind about Avaunt is that it is labeled for apples, pears and plums to control curculio, codling moth and maggot fly. I see Actara is only labeled for curculio. There is a product called Voliam Flexi that is labeled for curculio and codling moth but not maggot fly. This product is a blend of the neonicotinoid in Actara plus another agent acting on something called a ryanodine receptor? I am not a biochemist – I study insecticide labels but I am only jargon-enabled.

An ag extension of a public university in a neighboring state in the Great Lakes region claims on its Web site that Voliam Flexi is effective on all three and labeled for all three. I contacted the extension person about labeling for maggot fly, and I received the coy response that if you have any of the labeled insects in your orchard when you spray, you can go with maggot fly control as a side benefit.

I am leaning towards purchasing a supply of Avaunt to replace what I had been using (alternating acetamiprid and carbaryl from old-formula Sevin), reason being labeled for all 3 pests I need to control, low people and other mammals toxicity, less harm to beneficial predatory insects, more affordable than alternatives such as Assail and the 2 1/2 gallon jugs of Carbaryl, and your recommendation and available locally where the orchard is located as well as on the Web.

In response to comments about weighing minute quantities of insecticide for gallon quantities, I am needing at least 20 gallons to get full coverage of my trees. I am also going to purchase a digital-electronic scale – they are widely available and don’t appear to be that expensive, unless someone warns me the cheap ones are not accurate enough.

Any last-minute recommendation, cautions, suggestions before I make a purchase for the upcoming season?

Tarnished plant bugs are a destructive pest at many sites in my region. Stink bugs usually can be controlled with certain pyrethroids- it is BMS that are the ones that can be especially difficult. Green ones are more common at the sites I manage as far as damaging fruit.

Mix it with Assail and you will probably be fine.

I don’t know about Actara, but we get good protection at home orchards with Asana from all major insect pests. The problem is that it kills bennies which increases scale and other problems. .

I see that Asana is Restricted Use, meaning that one may need to show certification to purchase it. Some of the small-scale growers in the Chicago-based fruit-growing club tell me they have taken the online training to obtain this certification in Illinois, so it shouldn’t be more of a burden than, say, applying for a ham radio license by studying the regulations and taking a test.

Asana is a pyrethroid, and I see that the “commercial/agricultural” version of the new Sevin formulation is also restricted use. I guess the concern in damage to aquatic life if the product is mishandled, accounting for the restricted use categorization. The homeowner version of Sevin may have a limited concentration and amount of the active ingredient to pose this concern.

Take a look at the Altacor label. It is sometimes suggested as an alternative to Imidan.

Not restricted use but its not for residential use - same as Avaunt.

Shorter PHI and REI

Altacor is Insecticide Mode 28, same as the second ingredient in Voliam Flexi, but it is labeled for all 3 pests I am concerned about – curculio, codling moth, maggot fly. Avaunt is Mode 22, organophosphates Mode 1, pyrethroids Mode 3, Nicotinoids Mode 4, Spinosyns Mode 5.

Those insecticide modes are important with respect to not using the same agent year after year and building resistance. One extension person was stressing that whereas the State Entomologist didn’t think it a serious concern for a small orchard.

Not the product label but the marketing summary claims it to be “larvicidal.” I am wondering if it is also translaminar – that it gets into the fruit to kill any larvae that hatch from egg laying. I think I’ll check with our Wisconsin extension people.

It costs more than either Voliam Flexi or Avaunt, but hey, I guess you get what you pay for. Keystone Pest Solutions states that they are running their annual sale starting the week of Feb 7, so I will see what they charge. Martins Produce Supplies does not appear to carry it.

Every time I have used Pyrethroids on Apples I experienced a mite outbreak but not on Peaches.

Pyrethroids kill the bad bugs and the good bugs too. Altacor is a little easier on the good bugs

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That’s the thing. Organophosphates are not too human safe but pyrethroids that have replaced them in homeowner products are too broad spectrum.

The season after I used old-formula Sevin I got what I was told was a mite outbreak – the leaves in early spring were shriveled and I was advised to apply acetamiprid (in the then available Ortho product) as soon as the petals came off to fight the mites.

The pyrethroids are pretty much all that is left in the garden-center home product store formulations. That is why I am seeking advice on what to use going forward now that the garden-store version of acetamiprid is off the market and the commercial version has to be purchased in such a large quantity.

Hello guys I was reading this article today online about AVAUNT, I use this primarily for PC, but from reading this article, it looks like I need to combine it with another Insecticide. Can you guys explain to me a little bit.

  1. Avaunt should be used first when in a program combination with a neonicotinoid (Actara, Provado, Assail, Clutch or Calypso). Avaunt lethal activity on plum curculio is enhanced with adult injestion. Neonicotinoids are antifeedants, which may prevent Avaunt’s major mechanism of exposure = injestion.