Re: CULT: Borer Failure

Hi Ian,

     I am sorry to hear that the borers have gotten out of hand for you.
Did some areas of your garden go unsprayed?   In the areas that did get
sprayed once did they suffer less infestation?  I tried to explain that one
spraying of the Murphy's Oil Soap isn't enough to eliminate all the borers.
Spraying needs to be on a weekly basis with reapplication after rain.  This
season we have had an overabundance of rain making the spraying more
difficult, but even so with just 4 sprayings this year (between April 14 and
May 14), I've managed to knock the borers back to more manageable levels and
enjoyed fairly good bloom this year.  I've found the excess of moisture and
the wild temperature swings to have had a more adverse effect on the plants
than the borers have had.  Sorry about your misfortune.

Michael Gullo
West Walworth, NY, USA
zone 6

"Ian E. Efford" wrote:

> Just a note to admit that I failed in my efforts to eliminate borer by a
> very extensive clean-up of all iris leaves and other dead material in
> the autumn and spring.  I have borer, although the extent may be a less
> than if I had ignored the situation.  Furthermore, one area was sprayed
> with oil, once, in the spring and that has some borer as well.
>
> We always assume that we must not spray with Cygon later in the year.
> Is this based on hard evidence?  Is the concentration of the poison in
> the plant too low at that time of the year for the larger larvae?
>
> The alternative is nematode and a few people are trying them this year.
> The issue is not whether they work but will they work in a cold climate
> and will they overwinter.
>


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