Can spinosad be safely applied(at night) on blooming currants wi any reasonable level of safety for polinators?
Each year the first generation of currant/gooseberry sawfly shows up right around the beggining of the red currant bloom.
Some years I get lucky and they show up before the blossoms begin to open. I do an evening spray of spinosad and my problem is solved.
The issue is when they show up a bit later. Now I have a problem. The bloom on red currant is fairly long and the sawfly larva can denude a plant remarkably fast, so waiting them out is not a good option.
With our frequent heavy spring rains, and spinosad’s relatively short effective window, spraying preemptively prior to bloom, before I see the little buggers is far from ideal as well.
Consensus seems to be that dried spinosad contact is a non issue for polinators. But I’m finding conflicting reports regarding damage to insects foraging nectar/pollen from blossoms that have been sprayed.
My instinct is that they will be harmed and that I simply cannot spray on blooming plants, even if I do so at night under good drying conditions.
Any thoughts? Any suggestions for alternative controls (organic)?
Everything I’ve read about spinosad says that it’s okay for pollinators after it’s dried.
So Ive read the best times to spray spinosad are in the evening or in the very early morning. I have sprayed at both times and things looked okay, and the experts seem to concur.
Now, if harming even one pollinator is abhorrent to you, I salute you and completely understand. But I think the only way to guarantee that is by not-spraying.
For me, I’ve found spinosad to have (nearly) the effectiveness of synthetic pesticides, and I think the spinosad is not as harmful.
No, harming one pollinator is not a problem for me:)
I keep bees, I understand acceptable loss and collateral damage. Quite a few get scrunched most any time I work a hive…
I agree the bulk of literature says dried Spinosad not an issue…it’s both a contact and ingestion poison, assumably pollinators are not eating foliage, and contact one dried does not readily absorb.
My concern is The bulk of the literature also says not to intentionally spray blooming plants. I assume this is because pollinators are ingesting from the bloom
I believe they (bumbles far more than honeybees) are only working the currants for nectar and not pollen so I’m thinking I may get away with it as nectar is renewed and produced internally
But I feel like I’m pushing proper protocol some and would be grateful for any insights