Rose Garden Pesticides The Chemicals Available to Keep Your Roses Pest-Free

Today’s Topics Pesticide Hierarchy Systemic, Translaminar, and Contact Chemicals Identifying the Common Pests Insects Funguses The Available Insecticides and Fungicides Online Sources of Pesticide Labels Shopping the Internet for the Best Price A few words about Resistance Management

Today’s Topics (Cont.) Specific Chemicals for Specific Pests Insecticides/Miticides Fungicides Ready-to-Use (RTU) and Over-the-Counter (OTC) Products for the Smaller Garden Bayer Advanced Garden Products Others

Pesticide Hierarchy

Systemic Chemicals Apply to the foliage as a spray or to the roots as a drench Moves (typically, up) through the plant’s vascular system Phloem cells – like “arteries” through which sugars and other plant products move Xylem – tubular structure for the transport of water and dissolved minerals --think tree growth rings Chemicals stay within the plant – don’t wash off Downside – systemics don’t enter the blooms

Translaminar Chemicals Trans = across or through, like transatlantic Laminar = layered Translaminar = through layers Sometimes referred to as locally systemic Applied to foliage as a spray, these chemicals are absorbed by the plant They move through foliage from one surface to the other Great for spider mites which feed on the underside of leaves and are nearly unaffected by systemics

Contact Sprays Applied to foliage, buds and blooms as a spray Remain on the surface of foliage and blooms Not absorbed by the plant Pretty much the only way to protect blooms Downside – contact sprays wash off in the rain

Identifying the Common Pests Insects Japanese Beetles – May through August – devour blooms and leaves Aphids – entire growing season – attack buds and tender foliage – often accompanied by ants (“farming” the aphids) Thrips – entire growing season – create blemishes on blooms – especially light colors Budworms – later in the growing season – bore holes in buds Spider Mites – when it’s hot and dry – suck the chlorophyll out of leaves – defoliate bushes

Identifying the Common Pests Funguses Black Spot – all season especially when damp – forms a black spot on leaves which then yellow and fall off Powdery Mildew – all season – superficial white or gray powder on surfaces of leaves – uncontrolled will prevent blooming Downy Mildew – cool with high humidity – purplish red to dark brown irregular spots on leaves – uncontrolled may result in defoliation – long purplish areas on canes - may be systemic in roses Botrytis – all season especially when damp – creates blemishes on blooms, bloom rot and premature shattering Rust – all season – tiny orange and red spots on leaves – looks like rust – uncontrolled can defoliate bush

The Available Insecticides and Fungicides Where to learn about them - other rosarians, ads in rose magazines and newsletters, rose forums on the Internet, and rose care websites like: www.rosemania.com www.rosecare.com www.saveonchemicals.com www.growersupply.com www.southernag.com www.pestproducts.com And links from www.chattanoogarose.org

Get the Labels And the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) Sources of labels: On the chemicals’ containers Manufacturers’ websites – for example www.bayeradvanced.com www.cdms.net – offers labels and MSDS for all registered pesticides – search by product name www.greenbook.net – another site like cdms.net – however, requires simple registration

Read the Labels! And the MSDSs Typical label format: Product name, active ingredients and toxicity – CAUTION, WARNING, or DANGER Safety information – personal protection equipment (PPE), etc. Use restrictions and application instructions Applicable crops/plants – pest/disease that is controlled – application rates Storage and disposal requirements

Shopping the Internet MERIT 75 WP 2 OZ COMPASS 8 OZ AVID TETRASAN 1 LB ROSEMANIA $65.00 $219.00 (2 OZ $69.99) $105.00 $99.95 ROSECARE $65.98 $289.00 $349.95 1 QUART B&T GROWER SUPPLY $225.00 $93.00 $89.60 PEST PODUCTS $59.90 SAVE ON CHEMICALS $142.00 6.4 OZ $203.00 $269.00 $79.00

Resistance Management Resistance management in the garden is a problem akin to certain antibiotics losing their effectiveness in humans due to repeated or improper use Repeated use of the same pesticide allows the target pest to mutate and adapt and become resistant to the pesticide Each insecticide and fungicide has a specific mode of action (MOA) in the way it disables and kills its target pest If these MOAs are alternated from one spraying to the next the target pest is very less likely to adapt

Resistance Management (Cont.) Or, if chemicals with different MOAs are mixed in a single spraying the target pest is unable to adapt The Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC – www.irac-online.org) in its latest publication identifies 28 insecticide MOAs The Fungicide Resistance Action Committee (FRAC – www.frac.info) has identified over 40 fungicide MOAs Dr. Ray Cloyd and I decided that the large number of MOAs should and could be consolidated to be of more use to rosarians – we came up with 6 insecticide MOAs and 6 fungicide MOAs

Resistance Management (Cont.) Your handout contains the two tables that Dr. Cloyd and I derived from the IRAC and FRAC publications MOA 6 in both tables is what Dr. Cloyd calls the “napalm” MOA – the chemicals in this group kill on contact and leave little or no room for adaptation I’ve found two useful insecticide partnerings to be Merit and Tempo and Avid and TetraSan An effective fungicide partnering is Banner Maxx (alternated with Cleary’s 3336F) and Compass

Perspective Setting Pesticide producers view rose growers as a tiny market Insecticides are primarily marketed to farmers and maintainers of large public areas Fungicides target turf grass markets like golf courses We’re just lucky that these pesticides work to eliminate rose garden pests

Specific Chemicals for Specific Pests Insecticides Orthene – MOA 1 – a translaminar chemical – spray for the control of aphids, Japanese Beetles, and thrips Sevin – MOA 1 – a contact spray – very effective against Japanese Beetles – has resistance management problems with thrips if used alone – combine with Tempo, Talstar or Conserve Talstar – MOA 2 – a contact spray – also registered as a miticide – good control of aphids and Japanese Beetles – look also for Bifen I/T – exactly the same as Talstar but less expensive ($59.90 vs $99.99 per quart)

More Pest-Killers Insecticides (Cont.) Tempo – MOA 2 - a highly-effective contact spray – kills just about any insect Avid – MOA 3 – a translaminar spray – kills adult spider mites Floramite – MOA 3 – a contact spray – kills all spider mite life stages Akari 5SC – MOA 3 – a contact spray – kills all spider mite life stages – 60% the cost of Floramite Merit - MOA 4 – a very effective systemic chemical – kills any insects that are eating the foliage – use as a drench or spray

…And More Insecticides (Cont.) Conserve – MOA 4 – a translaminar spray – probably the most effective attack on thrips Hexygon – MOA 5 – a contact spray for the control of spider mite larva and eggs – combine with Avid TetraSan – MOA 5 – a translaminar spray for the control of spider mite larva and eggs – combine with Avid for a translaminar spray addressing all mite life stages Forbid 4F – MOA 6 – a translaminar spray for the control of all spider mite life stages – minimum resistance management problems – very expensive

Now Disease (Fungus) Control Fungicides Banner Maxx – MOA 1 – a systemic chemical that attacks blackspot, powdery mildew and rust Eagle 20 EW – MOA 1 – very similar to Banner Maxx but less toxic (CAUTION instead of WARNING) – same active ingredient as Systhane Decree 50 WDG – MOA 1 – specifically registered as a botryticide Cleary’s 3336F – MOA 2 – a systemic chemical that can be alternated with Banner Maxx Chipco 26019 Flo – MOA 3 – specifically registered to control botrytis blight – alternate with Decree

More Disease Control Fungicides (Cont.) Subdue Maxx – MOA 4 – targets root and stem rot – primarily used as a drench in greenhouses Compass – MOA 5 – a translaminar chemical that controls just about every rose disease, including botrytis, downy mildew, and powdery mildew Alliette – MOA 6 – an aluminum-based contact chemical that specifically targets downy mildew Manzate – MOA 6 – a zinc- and manganese-based contact spray for the very effective eradication of blackspot – now sold as Pentathlon Zyban – MOAs 2 and 6 – a combination of the active ingredients in Cleary’s 3336F and Manzate – comes as a fine powder

RTU and OTC Products Bayer Advanced Garden Products www.bayeradvanced.com Rose & Flower Insect Killer A combination of Merit and Tempo Available in spray bottle, hose-end sprayer and concentrate 2 in 1 Systemic Rose & Flower Care Granules sprinkled around bush and watered-in 12-18-6 fertilizer Orthene-like systemic insecticide - disulfoton

RTU and OTC Products (Cont.) More Bayer Advanced Garden Products All-in-One Rose & Flower Care Merit insecticide plus Banner Maxx fungicide 9-14-9 fertilizer Mixed 4 tbsp/quart and used as a drench Bayer Advanced Disease Control Concentrate diluted 1.5 tbsp/gallon to spray Active ingredient same as Banner Maxx

Some Other RTU/OTC Products Safer Brand 3 in 1 Garden Spray – uses fatty acids, sulfur and neem oil (MOA 6) to create an environmentally safe insecticide, fungicide and miticide Green Light Bioganic Organic Rose & Flower Ready-to-Use – uses plant oils (MOA 6) to create an environmentally safe insecticide, fungicide and miticide Ortho Orthenex Insect & Disease Control – active ingredients are acephate (Orthene) and triforine (same chemical group as Banner Maxx) GardenTech Sevin – OTC version of this very effective insecticide (MOA 1)

And, Finally…Adjuvants Adjuvant – serving to help or assist – something to make a spray more effective Stirrup M – a pheromone (sexual attractant) that draws spider mites to any spray in which it’s mixed Indicate 5 – adjusts pH of spray water and serves as a spreader-sticker – most sprays more effective in a slightly acidic liquid Hi-Yield Spreader-Sticker (or any other OTC brand) – makes spray adhere to foliage instead of dribbling off