Has anyone in 5A Chicago applied Merit yet

Hi,
I was just wondering if anyone has applied Merit to their beds yet living in the Chicago area? I don't want to miss my window of opportunity. It is still very cold here, but with 50's predicted for the rest of the week.
Jill

Hi Jill
Even is you apply it now on melting snow (crystles) you should be good. IF we had snow this year I would have applied it then but since we did not I had to wait until just before we were to have more than a drizzle of rain. We are still freezing and thawing 70 for high yesterday and 17 expected for low tonight or tomarrow night so the hose is still disconnected.
If you are using Bayer season long grub control with Merit you are good
:)
Anita

Thank you Anita,
I will put it on tomorrow, we are supposed to have rain.
Jill

Does anyone have any suggestions for those of us who cannot use the ingredient in Merit, Imidacloprid, as it is banned in New York state?

And honestly, if it is causing the death of honeybees, I don't want to use it anyway.

I have never had a borer, but now with so many irises from all over the country, I expect I will soon.

What else is effective against borers?

pollyk - I manage to keep borers at bay by cleaning up all dead leaves and such (even peeling old dried leaves back to the tubers) in the spring..Thats where eggs might be hiding..This year I'm going to do a round of Neem spraying in April before blooms start too. I have a pump sprayer that works well- and have been trying all sorts of "organic" concoctions in the garden for this and that. Rotenone, which is also a natural pesticide, is a bit stronger than Neem, but I think harmful to bees. It degrades very fast, however, and if you aim at leaves and tubers before buds open, I think you wouldn't be harming the bees. Maybe more folks have had luck with other things- its a subject I'd like to know more about! Sarah

Thanks, Sarah. I've used neem before with horticultural oil to good effect. I am not necessarily an organic gardener, but I sure would hate to hurt those honeybees.

We have used a product called disyston (sp?) 2% granules. It is a systemic and scattered around the base of the plant & then watered in. We are told is is a strong chemical, but we use it only when we see barer damage on a plant. Therefore it is not sprayed on an entire bed. It worked the one time we had a plant with thrip and on columbine leaf miners. I have been told it works with rose chafers. Most of the time we keep checking the plants and hand pick the borers. It is good to clean up debrei but if today's winds were any indication that can be difficult.

Thanks irisMA. I will check into that product.

We get it at Agway.

You can also use specticide's trizide (sp?????) I know the name is longer than that but I use it as well in May or June when all the blooms are gone. Not that it hurts the iris but the other bugs are really out then and this is more broad spectrum. In Iris beds with mixed planting that only get this I have had little to not borer damage
:)
A

Thanks Anita.

irisMA, can you believe all our Agways have gone out of business here. And we're a farming community.

I will look at the various products, and get one of them. Thanks, all.

I wonder if dormant oil would work well. We use it to spray our fruit trees. It smothers any eggs that may be overwintering on the trees. Would think it would work the same on borer eggs on iris. There's no chemicals in it to harm bees. You apply it late winter, early spring before bees are around as it would smother them too if you happen to spray it on them.

Thanks Jenhillphoto.

I have used dormant oil on fruit trees. I actually saw some honeybees here already. It's a very strange spring. But that might be an idea for next year. Thanks.

Polly - the Agway in Baldwinsville was still open for business last fall - and Dad has not said anything about it closing (which would be big news) is that too far for you?

No that's not too far. I go by the area twice a week, (I just looked up the address). I can't believe I haven't noticed it before. Thanks so much.

The one in Fulton, Oswego, and the big one in East Syracuse are all gone. I didn't even think about B'ville. How exciting. Thanks for the great news.