Generally I agree with you and I do not willy-nilly spray or use pesticides on everything. But there are caveats, and with those I guess I try to perform some kind of IPM way of treating the pests. But we’re talking about hobbyist growers here, some who are growing very rare species outside their home habitat that may not have any natural resistance to pests that are common in our areas. There are a couple of species I love dearly, but are rare and expensive, and I have lost them to pests that are easily combatted by judicious use of the right pesticide. Some are so rare that if you find it available and pay the steep price for it, if you lose it, you may not see it offered again for years. I have one species that I have never seen offered anywhere at any price, that is related to the two I’ve lost in the past. If I lose it, I will likely never see it again in my lifetime. I’m willing to give it a systemic pesticide prophylactically to increase the chances greatly that I never lose it. The other option it seems, if I don’t use some pesticides is to never try to grow those species ever. The other caveat is an example that is threatening a very common fruit that people can grow in their vegetable garden. I’m speaking of melons or cantaloupes. A root fungus has invaded very nearly every warm climate location around the world where they are grown commercially. And melons grow best in warm climate locations. The fungus is called Monosporascus cannonballus and it attacks the roots of melons and watermelons when the soil temperature is the hottest. It causes the vines to suddenly wilt and all the leaves collapse and the plant dies almost overnight—just when the melons have reached full size but before they ripen. In fact natural methods of trying to sterilize the soil using plastic cover in the summertime do not bother the spores at all; they love hot temperatures. Up until recently, commercial growers have been using an extremely toxic chemical methyl bromide to fumigate their fields in the spring before they plant. But they have to do it every year, and many first world countries are phasing the chemical out. There are some systemic soil fungicides that can be applied via drip irrigation and leave no residue in the fruits. Here in Southern California, over the years I have tried to grow melons in two different cities 10 miles apart in my backyard, as well as in my community garden plot in yet another city, and in every case, the vines all collapsed right at the point that my melons were almost ripe. Everyone else in my community garden who has tried to grow melons has failed, and now no one tries to grow them. Last year, I found out about the fungicides and was able to obtain one of them. I set up a special drip irrigation line that only watered the melons and applied the fungicide at the recommended intervals, and for the first time I was able to get ripe melons in my home garden. I’m willing to use a pesticide for that too. Especially for some more uncommon melons that I never see in the supermarkets. So in my case, I’m not past the point of using pesticides until researchers come up with something better—for specific, particular reasons. --Lee Poulsen San Gabriel Valley, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a Latitude 34°N, Altitude 340 ft/100 m > On Jul 17, 2024, at 11:36, Nan Sterman via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > > I find this discussion missing an important component - is it necessary to use insecticide at all? > > Mealy bugs can be controlled by 1) eliminating the ants that often "farm" them in the garden and 2) using a sharp blast of water using a Bug Blast hose end nozzle and blasting plants with water on a regular basis to interrupt the pests' reproductive cycle. > > All the insecticides recommended are general insecticides that kill off the beneficials along with the pests. The goal is to have a balance between predators and prey, but if you eliminate the predators, the prey populations can explode and make your problem worse > > With insecticides, less is more. > > Aren't we all past the point of using these kinds of pesticides? > > Nan > > >> On Jul 17, 2024, at 11:30 AM, Tim Eck via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: >> >> Thanks for all the helpful responses. I guess the consensus is >> imidacloprid. I have some Macho lying around that I have hesitated to use >> because it's a neonic but I guess this is the one safe situation. >> The plants are mostly immature amaryllids. >> >> On Wed, Jul 17, 2024 at 9:42 AM Tim Eck <timeck17582@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Can anyone suggest a good systemic insecticide for non-flowering >>> ornamentals? >>> Thanks >>> Tim >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net >> https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… >> Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> >> PBS Forum https://… > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > PBS Forum https://… _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net https://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> PBS Forum https://…