Deals.Woot

The USDA has a good PDF on this:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/pub_phjbeetle04.pdf

@hobbit: Funny thing that you should mention roachees. It made me think of something Cher said. She said because of all the plastic surgery she has had, that after nuclear war, the only living things left would be her and cockroaches.

@samo22: It will be a while. I have none of the whatever-it-is on hand (it's too early for me to apply it, so there was no need to have it). I'll check back later in the day; there are plenty of enterprising folks who may know what I'm talking about, and will post back.

BTW, this will cut way down on the box elder bugs (since they will be discouraged from living on the tree), but it is NOT an insecticide. I do not recommend insecticides for anything, preferring other methods for various six and eight legged creatures. For the four and two legged creatures, I have a nice friendly 9mm.

For cockroaches... If you are living anywhere in the south, or in a place that is humid, they will simply be a part of life. Keeping any consumables in sealed containers is a way to keep them out of food (and I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir), but you can, at best, discourage them.

@catbertthegreat: Yay! That's the stuff. There are commercial bee keepers all over the area, and I have the creds as a serious, crazy tree hugger. I have bees, wasps, yellowjackes, hornets, you name it, and they are all just fine and buzzy and filled with vim and vigor (and venom) all spring, summer, and fall.

I will ask some friends who are beekeepers, and also ask the local nursery, but I STRONGLY doubt this.

Please note, I'm the one that uses old wasp nest bits to encourage wasps to build nests above my front door. snicker No one that knows me EVER knocks on my front door. Only salesmen. This is very fun for me.

Personally, I strongly recommend this for the box elder bug problem (and for aphids, which can kill a tree in two or three years of infestation).

Back later, after more answers from people who know more than I.

@shrdlu: I wish aphids would kill my awful bradford pear tree, I hate it. I did not plant it, it came with the house. I would cut it down, but then I would also have to buy another tree to replace it so I am caught in a catch 22.

@hobbit: Pear tree? Ground Clear.

In addition, here's all the information from the product.

http://www.bonide.com/lbonide/msds/msds609.pdf

I do NOT recommend using the spray. YMMV. HTH. TTFN.

@catbertthegreat: The patent fell off, so there will be many similar products. You using the spray, then? It has other stuff, not just the one thing, you know. The liquid is so much easier. Measure, pour on ground, put more water, done. Also, no worries about what time of day.

Oh, about the Bayer thing. They went to a combo feed item this year. Perhaps you have a better selection, but for me, that's what was available. Just as well, since I'm always happy to use Bonide.

@lavikinga: Oh no the tree didn't explode, I kept hoping it would. All the arborists I know are a bit surprised that I have a bradford pear tree as old as I do, because they do not live that long, mine is easily 25 years old.

and with the beetles I keep hoping that they are gone this year. I actually tore out all my grape vines because I was so tired of the bugs. Plus the grape arbor look wasn't was attractive as I thought it was going to be on my porch.

@lavikinga: As long as she stays away from the evergreen ones. It grows painfully slow and barely stays evergreen, even in California.

@lavikinga: it was taking up too much space on my porch that was the issue. I decided I wanted the squarefootage for actual use instead of for plants. I have hanging plants now.

Ha. I win on the wisteria then. I have a wisteria that I am training to grow across a trellis on top of a garden gate. It is less than two years old (probably a total of four, counting nursery growing time previous to coming to my house), and is already a fearsome and delightful beast. Wisteria does not particularly like too rich a soil, not too damp, and absolutely does not need fertilizer (a little bone meal once a year, as though it were a bulb, is plenty).

Harsh pruning, and tying branches to where they should grow next, are necessary. I nursed a poor cousin to this in SoCal, and finally pulled it out of the ground from pity. Had I only known I was being too kind, it would have been just fine. Yes, my dears, it's true. Wisteria is the masochist of the garden.

This year, it will trail down the other side of the gate. It crossed the 5 foot trellis across the top of the gate last summer. I love the smell of it. I can hardly wait until summer, now.

What about Diatomaceous Earth (DE? I have never used the stuff but I have read that it is effective against most hard shelled insects, is natural and safe for pets and people. The only bug I have a serious problem with here in the desert is mosquitoes. The cat and the occasional scorpion take care of most of the crawling bugs.

@sfeitler: I LOATHE these stupid light box things. I just had close to 1000 characters of rebuttal, and lost it all. I'm unwilling to retype it, but the gist is that cnet is not an unimpeachable source, you and I will have to agree to disagree, and that I checked actual authoritative sources before I came back and made the statements that I did.

I live in a semi-rural area, very dependant on agriculture (and that includes honey bees, which are the life's blood of orchards), so when a person with a degree in this, making his living in this area, tells me the information that I then posted, I'm comfortable with it.

I love wikipedia, but I also have seen glaring errors in it, and they have remained uncorrected. I never use a single source in any case.

Trust, but verify.

@glindagw: Oh, excellent suggestion. That reminds me, when I was having the conversation with the beekeeper, he suggested using Rose of Sharon in that way. Attract pests, pick them off, kill them. He's one of my favorite people, since he's a crazier tree hugger than I every thought of being.

Great site, thank you.

@glindagw: We should probably make a gardening question that just has great sites. I have a few favorites, but I've seen a lot more in the past few days.