Biopesticides: Holy Grail or Giant Pain?

25 million nematodes.

Biopesticides are a rapidly growing segment in horticultural pest control. While they are often billed as green “miracle cures”, applicators should be aware that they require unique considerations. Issues with lifespan, target specificity, and application technology can all impact their efficacy. However, like any pesticide application, careful planning can minimize wasted time and money. Typically […]

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Choosing a New Tank, Burn-off Tank Mixes & Nozzle Swapping – Tips with Tom #11

Tips with Tom - Title

How often do you test spray-water quality and what do you do if you’ve got hard water? If you’re looking to replace your spray tank, is stainless still the way to go? What about double nozzles — are they really the bee’s knees? The questions surrounding these aspects of spraying come up very often. Tom […]

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Circulating Spray Mix Through a Tank-Rinse Nozzle Maintains Nematode Concentration

(A) Tank-rinse assembly mounted through tank lid with a flow-regulating valve. (B) Close up of tank-rinse nozzle.

This article was co-written with Jennifer Llewellyn, OMAFRA Nursery Crop Specialist Many horticultural commodities, such as turfgrass and nursery crops, include the application of live nematodes as part of their annual IPM program. In 2013 we performed preliminary research into the claim that a grower’s nematode applications were becoming less effective. In the course of […]

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Off-Label Spraying: A Lose-Lose Situation

Submitted while Dustin was the Commercial Horticulture Specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. Horticultural chemicals and pesticides often have the dubious distinction of being more expensive than their field crop cousins. In order to reduce costs, growers may sometimes buy and use chemicals which have the same active ingredient, but are not registered for the […]

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Tank Rinse Dilution

If you have a limited amount of clean water to rinse your sprayer, this app can help you decide how to make the best use of it.  Simple enter two values – the amount of pesticide remaining in your tank sump (including the suction line to the pump and the return line to the tank), […]

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