I just started using pesticides a couple of weeks ago, despite being very uncomfortable to do so. I’m using them on peaches and grapes, as I’ve already lost crops last year trying to do it without.
The guy at the store said the most popular are “Sumichion” for grapes and “Adion” for peaches.
I’m using the one for grapes, but I’m also using it on the peaches now. Next year I’ll buy the peaches one too.
I finished applying fenitrothion to the grapes last week, and Peachtree tonight . At least that’s what I think it is. The tradename on the bottle is “Sumichion” or Sumithion, licensed in Japan as pesticide #4962. I believe this is the same as Fenitrothion?, but it’s difficult with the translations. It’s advertised as a broad range, knock-down pesticide that will also take out Japanese beetles. They die when they eat the leaf. Apparently it’s being used here popularly for a long time.
I’m supposed to stop spraying with this one 30 days before harvest of large grapes, 90 days before harvest of small bunched grapes. Maximum of two applications per season. The restrictions are a lot more relaxed on some fruit like peaches, up to three days before harvest, maximum six applications per season.
According to my tanslator it has less of a product warning than Carbaryl. It’s supposed to have no effect on warm blooded creatures, but you should not use it around a pond or on invertebrates.
It has a strong odor, and turns milky when you mix it with water.
Not sure if I have to spray the underside of leaves, or just over the top side of the canopy is good enough?
Lots of unanswered questions about pesticides here, but this is the best I could do.
Anyway, it’s very vague about application and safety. Just says to use goggles and a mask, and dilute it 1000 times of water.
I could use a little hand pump sprayer, and it only took about 500 mL of mix thoroughly coat three grapevines. But tonight I use my pressurized wand sprayer for the one Peachtree, and it took about 2 L of poison, and I know it didn’t get everywhere. Aphids are caked under almost every leaf of the Peachtree, all the new growth is curled up with aphids inside, it’s a nightmare of a tree now.
I was wearing full clothing protection, a hat, safety glasses, and a nice 3M mask with a one-way valve, rubber gloves. I couldn’t wear goggles as they kept fogging up.
Even with these precautions, spray was drifting all over the place it was blowing back in my face I could start to smell it through the mask, and of course it coated all my clothes, my headlight, I imagine my sprayer is ruined now for other uses. Washing all my clothes now, kind of a PITA.
I guess I’m really uncomfortable with this because I don’t know how dangerous it is and don’t fully understand how these work.
Are there categories of pesticides, so I can understand how they’re working and safety? What’s the easiest and safest way to apply these without having it all over your body and ingesting it?
Thanks
Maybe a simpler question someone can help me with his how do you spray mist without getting it all over yourself?
And do you need to spray the undersides of peach leaves, or does it soak in from the top to deal with aphids underneath?
I had to use quadruple the amount on the Peachtree because of the complexity of the leaves underside application.
I try to work from the inside of the tree out and from the bottom up. I’ve got one extension on my trombone-type sprayer, so it’s about three feet long, plus the hose is a couple of feet. If it’s calm I can generally stay pretty dry, but my right arm might get a little on it. I wear a painter’s coverall, gloves, hat, safety goggles, and dust mask. Frankly, I think it’s overkill with spinosad, but it’s not too much trouble and I don’t mind being funny-looking. I wash up with soap and water and call it good. (The goggles are the soft rubber kind that fit over my nose pretty well. They don’t fog up on me.)
I try to get the underside of leaves too. Not always that easy! I don’t think it soaks through.
I don’t know anything about the sprays you’re using and don’t know whether my get-up is sufficient for them. But there are many different categories of insecticides, some (Bt, for example) that are quite safe, and some that are much more worrisome. It really is important to know what you’re handling and what it takes to protect yourself. I hope somebody here can help you with that- I would expect you’ll get that answer soon. If not, try re-posting your question with a more specific heading (i.e., “Help identifying insecticide”).
Choose the time of the day when it is quiet, without wind if possible. Try not to stand in a way where the wind blows if you have it. Doing the spray particles more coarse and less misty lessens the drift. If the tree is tall I like to spray staying on the ladder. The spray is generally falls down from upper branches to the lower branches, so it is good idea to not stay under the tree, but on the ladder above. Some pesticides smell horrible and the smell lingers for hours. I take it as a good sign, nasty smell warns you when you are in close contact.
It has been talked about many times. Please use the search engine here and put in " What chemical suit should I get for spraying?". That thread will give you the info you look for.
Since you seem very concerned about using chemicals, you may as well read up and acquire some of those equipment for maximum protection.
Honestly, for Spinosad, Serenade, BT and other biological type pesticides/fungicides, I don’t bother to suit up. I figure they’re bacteria, and short of me eating it, or getting it all over my hands and then not washing my hands, they are not dangerous. They’re just a bit of bacteria, and we come into contact with bacteria almost every moment of our lives, and the great majority of bacteria are relatively innocuous to humans. Sure, there’s some that can make you ill, but I’ve never heard these bioloigicals falling into that category.
I dunno, maybe I’m not taking enough precautions?
But I’m just offering a different perspective. I mean, I certainly do think people should following labeling instructions and wear the PPE (if any) that is mandated, but I do think some of it is up to personal preference and risk tolerance.
If I had to suit up before spraying spinosad…ugh. (Of course, in the Deep South in summer, it is 80 degrees with 100% humidity at dawn, so I’ll acknowledge that may plan into my decision. )
i spray on a calm day. i don’t wear any thing but shorts and t shirt and haven’t got any on me. i use a 4 ft. wand on my sprayer also. make sure you get all parts of the plant and the ground around them.
Points taken! I grew up in Arkansas and it’s not the same as Montana.
I do think my get up is probably overkill, but my tree is somewhat gangly and random and parts of it are a little hard to get to. I seem to get some on me. If I had smaller trees that I could spray without a ladder it would be simpler, but this beast is 20 feet across and 12 feet high now. But there’s another reason: my wife worries, and finds the outfit reassuring.
Thank you, that’s a very helpful comment. I like your idea of the paint suit as a kind of one-stop coverall. Spraying in stages as you recommend was something I was trying to do, but had trouble implementing without getting it on me. I’m glad to know I wasn’t the only one who had problems getting the undersides of the leaves.
Yes, I found the dripping from the upper branches as well a concern. Fortunately, I’ve pruned my trees so I can do them all without a ladder. I’m making sure to go on calm days, but especially a fine mist definitely travels where it wants to.
It is true that Spinosad and BT are biological controls, but it is their excrement that is the active ingredient. I highly recommend you follow the PPE directions on the label.
This kind of brings up the other question I have. Are there general categories of pesticides? I hear people throwing around terms like “Systemic”, “Stickers”, etc.
I guess the big issue is I’m trying to get a handle on the general types of pesticides used, and how careful I actually need to be.
I’m living overseas now, and I have trouble getting accurate information about the pesticides locally available to me. Different countries have different standards. There are directions on the label, but they’re quite vague. For comparison, the cleaning bleach I buy here also says to use gloves and goggles, but I’m very comfortable to use neither because I understand enough about bleach to use it safely and correctly to get the job done.
As I mentioned, I could smell the pesticide coming through my mask, and some was getting around my glasses and in my eyes. The only way to stop that would be to get a very serious set up.
Bleach, I’m not concerned with a little bit of leakage. Pesticides? I really have no idea…
Mine has about a 2’ wand. I could actually spray my grapes like that, because the way they’re set up. The peachtree, I think it’s impossible to get all the surfaces without getting it on you.
Systemics should not, as a rule, be used with edibles. I am not aware of exceptions but there may be some, especially overseas. Systemics are taken up in the plant’s vascular system and are persistent, but not good for people. Use them for roses and such.
“Stickers” or “sticker spreaders” help the sprayed materials spread out on a surface and then hang on to it. A little bit of Dawn and a glug of molasses are sometimes used, or you can buy specific products. Doesn’t take much.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that true of virtually all bacteria? Their ability to make one sick isn’t a result of the bacteria itself, but the compounds it creates? OFC, most bacteria don’t create compounds that are (significantly) harmful to humans.
To make sure I wasn’t talking out of my butt, I just skimmed through Serenade’s label, and didn’t see anything mandating the use of PPE.
I am not urging people not to use PPE in situations that call for it, or even for situations they want to use it in. Merely saying that in some situations, there is a judgement call to be made. For example, let’s say I have an insect problem that can be resolved by use of BT or by using a synthetic insecticide that requires PPE. I will pick BT every time, because BT doesn’t require me to don a face mask, googles, and long pants/sleeves.
VSOP,
My response to Theniceguy was based on several of his posts I read on this thread and other threads. It appears what he has used was not mild suff.
He seems very concerned about using the chemicals. There are several threads that people have discussed the good, the bad and the ugly of it. He should take time reading old threads on this topic. Some experienced members here may feel that they have already answered the same question many times over.
I should point out that my painter’s coverall is the kind specifically sold for automotive spray painting and is designed to be impenetrable to quite a few organic solvents, including those used in at least some pesticides, i.e., malathion. They’re cheap and lightweight but don’t breath well. I got mine in an auto parts store (Napa).
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