IL update

Hi all,

well, sad to say, but the race is over for me for 1999.  My last remaining
POV succumbed to those pesky SVBs over the weekend.  These things are
brutal!  I have been applying Ortho orchard spray (Methoxyclor, malathion &
Captan mix) as listed at 5 day intervals to try and slow them to no avail.
They just steadily progressed right down the main until they finally nailed
the side vine my 51" Dill 881 selfed inhabited.  It stopped growing on day
3, and started spotting on day 6 after infestation.

My "failure" theories are (in no particular order):
the weekly 1" rains we have been getting have washed the insecticide off.  I
always suspected this to be true, and have no proof either way, but in the
interests of not overspraying, I adopted a philosophy that some residual
would remain on the vine after the rains.  Most likely a costly newbie
mistake.  The alternative however is to spray several times a week (I know
our weather has been a lot better than several growers on the list, so I'm
not complaining)after the relatively heavy showers, and I really don't want
to do that.

The Orchard spray is not effective for SVBs.  They are not specifically
listed, but I thought that the combo of methoxyclor & Malathion would really
do the trick.  Plus, it's so convenient to make 1 spray pass with the
(apparently false) peace of mind that you're getting the nasty bugs and the
fungus all at once.

My plans of attack for next year, although not fully mature ideas are:

Monitor the list for others "effective" SVB strategies.  I have an idea to
run a separate main from my existing misting system, with the mini mister
heads strategically placed along the main under the leaf canopy at ground
level.  Then through the use of an injector, I could apply insecticide to
ground, leaf undersides, and vines as often as needed.  This of course will
only work for the house garden, as my remote patch has to have water pumped
and has no misting system.

I'm going to do further research into systemics (my father is a farmer w/
restricted use license), and more research on Bt.  I have seen it, but have
no working knowledge of how it is applied, duration, effectiveness, etc.

Being a new grower, I have no idea whether weather or climatic factors
affect these nasties, or whether the problem will be this severe every year.
It's pretty disheartening to see 7 healthy plants progressively go down to
the same problem, with no power to intervene.

If I had it to do over, I'd try other flavors of insecticide and probably
increase my application frequency.  Hindsight of course is 20-20 and it has
been an educational experience.  I'll probably remove the plants this
weekend, till and get some green manure sowed.

At least I won't have to compress all of that manure spreading in to October
<g>.

Thanks everyone for your contributions to the list.  I'll see you IL Growers
in Morton on 10/2.

Let's put our heads together and devise some effective management of the SVB
devil!  Please if you have effective methods, share them with the rest of
us.

l8r,

Mike Mott
Champaign, IL

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