Fkn catepillars.....

Trip McNeely

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Any of you armchair abadiginals( arborists) have a surefire solution for taking out catepillars on pine trees. I have what I think are douglas fir(3-4ft) and a quick search indicated they may be sawflies? At any rate they are hammering the needles on my little trees and im in duke nukem mode and need to take these little assholes out without being to harsh to the trees. Trees were in tough shape when we moved in and I nursed them back to what consider breakout mode growthwise and these little assholes show up.
 

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Trip McNeely

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Is tempo safe to use on the foliage? Heres the deal.... my wife wanted to tear these little trees out when we moved in and I refused and nurtured them to good health.... I just dont want to hear the “told you, you shoulda just ripped them out” speech so im ready to take these sons of bitches out. Trees are small enough I hand picked/squashed all the larvea I could but still feel like I need to spray with something that is safe for the tree.
 

garden

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Tempo will work well and won't hurt your trees. Other products that would work would be malathion, sevin, and permethrin. But my choice would be Tempo. Fast knock down with about 2 to 3 weeks residual control.
 

huffranger

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Talistar is what we have been using instead of Tempo, it is more resistant to UV deterioration and washing off from rain.

Tempo is great but just giving you another option.
 


garden

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I prefer Tempo for safety around pets and people. Both are very effective with good residual.
 


KDM

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Not knocking either product, as was mentioned before, both are safe and effective. However, if you look at the LD50 (mammals) for Talstar (Bifenthrin) at >2000 mg/kg and the LD50 (mammals) for Tempo (Beta-Cyfluthrin) at >2500 mg/kg, Tempo is 25% less toxic to mammals than Talstar. So if given the choice between these two equally effective active ingredients, Tempo is safer to non-target mammals including people. Which is why I give the nod to tempo over telstar when looking for an around the house insecticide.
 
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Trip McNeely

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Thanks for all the replies guys. Gunna try tempo due the trees being in an area my kids play alot, as well as my mentally inept democrat rescue dog from standing rock. I second what you guys are saying about grackles. Bastsards land on the new growth leaders and snap them off. They love my pines as well as the robins, must have 6 breeding pairs. These are the only 2 fir trees I have (150 scotch/ponderosas) and and so far I havent seen any damage to them so seems the sawflies are limited to the firs thus far.
 


ktm450

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just went thru this last week.. between my neighbor and I we had 35+ Colorado blue spruce and black hills spruce get attacked by these bugs. you are correct, they are saw flies. I waited till late at night as I was told to not spray the trees during the day when its hot out so last Thursday night when the wind wasn't blowing I sprayed them till midnight. completed trenched the trees with the spray and come morning time every tree had dead caterpillars laying under them and by the second day there wasn't one left on any of the trees. so far the trees looking to be holding up, I think I may have lost one. Will wait till next spring to see if it makes a come back.here is what was the soil conservation sent to me, and the recommendation I got from plant perfect for chemical to use. for my 21 trees I used 5 gallons of water/chemical mixture.https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev2_037814.pdf
 

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KDM

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Looks like a good knock down. That's a new product to me. What's the active ingredient?
 

Lycanthrope

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Crap, I should probably check my ponderosa, dont really want to spray a bunch of trees...
 

KDM

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Found the active ingredient. Imidacloprid, which is a neonicotinoid. That explains the quick knockdown. Also, a good product with an LD50 (mammals) of >5000 mg/kg for skin exposure so is also a very safe product to use around the house. Even better than tempo if you look at from a purely safety standpoint.
 

JayKay

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just went thru this last week.. between my neighbor and I we had 35+ Colorado blue spruce and black hills spruce get attacked by these bugs. you are correct, they are saw flies. I waited till late at night as I was told to not spray the trees during the day when its hot out so last Thursday night when the wind wasn't blowing I sprayed them till midnight. completed trenched the trees with the spray and come morning time every tree had dead caterpillars laying under them and by the second day there wasn't one left on any of the trees. so far the trees looking to be holding up, I think I may have lost one. Will wait till next spring to see if it makes a come back.here is what was the soil conservation sent to me, and the recommendation I got from plant perfect for chemical to use. for my 21 trees I used 5 gallons of water/chemical mixture.https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev2_037814.pdf

I'm a far smaller customer, but Cashmans Nursery in Bismarck has sold me that same product, and it's wonderful. I only have four trees, but they're too tall to reach with the sprayer/hose. Or at least, I can't reach the tips. Maybe 30 to 40 ft? Anyhow, that same product, being systemic, eventually makes its way through the entire tree. So, you don't have to have direct contact with each and every leaf.

I have used a jug per summer, for the past four summers. It's not cheap, but it works well.
 


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