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Eugene, OR

Hi all,

I was just wondering if tilling in Merit after I spray it on the patch as opposed to watering it in is an acceptable practice? My soil is finally starting to dry out and I would really rather not have to dump a bunch of water on the patch to water it in. The Merit I'm applying is water soluble 75% imidacloprid powder. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
Brian

4/23/2007 8:35:15 PM

Picton,ON (j.vincent@xplornet.ca)

The product dosn't volitalize so you can just apply and let the rain take it down. I light tillage dosn't hurt anything, but you can incorperate to deep, this will dilute the chemical.
Personally, I apply Admire (Canadian Equivilent) in late May. This extends the usefulness of the material

4/23/2007 9:13:53 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

This is a debatable subject that sometimes comes up this time of year. I would water it in before tilling again. The Imidacloprid binds quickly to organic matter in soil.

I'd have to say that the average tiller probably doesn't MOVE soil around enough to be a problem. CountryKid is correct in saying that Imidacloprid doesn't volatilize (much).

I had a guy tractor tilling our new patch today. The 48" King Kutter had over sized tines so he was tilling all the way down to 9+ inches.

In the interest of time I had him till in some Merit .5G (rather than spraying). Since he was tilling to this depth I upped the rate a little. But I'll still use a little 75WP in water when the seedlings are planted out.

4/23/2007 11:21:07 PM

Eugene, OR

Thanks very much for the info guys. The reason I want to get it in the soil now is because I had some problems with seedcorn maggots in 2005 and want to be sure I don't have the same problem this year when the seedlings hit the patch. Also, it's my understanding that Merit doesn't translocate into the older part of the plant well so waiting until late May or early June may reduce its effectiveness?

I guess I'll suck it up and water it in to be sure. An ounce of prevention....

BTW, good luck with the new patch Steve. I hope it does well for you!

Brian

4/23/2007 11:54:23 PM