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Midwest

It seems Merit is a pre-emptive strike on those borers, flies, mites and beetle larvae. Does tilling it into the soil 'seek' out those larvae underground and kill them before they come out? I don't have Merit but I do have Ortho Max (biferthrin). Would you recommend applying this to the patch before planting? Or, is it just a contact killer?
Thanks,
Greg

4/30/2007 2:01:10 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Greg,

Merit doesn't control the larger (third instar) grubs that we see in the spring. It doesn't control mites flies or borers at all.

Merit applied now will control only Cucumber beetles & aphids. You MIGHT get some supression of Squash Viner Borer if the application is repeated right before the adults fly in late June/early July.

Bifenthrin is just a contact insecticide. Interestingly, if it is soil incorporated it doeas a much BETTER job on soil dwelling insetcs than Merit. Indeed as a termiticide it last all of 5-7 years in the soil. But it won't translocate through our plants so it would offer no control of insects that feed on above ground plant parts.

Merit applied in June will control all sorts of beetle larva (Japanese Beetles, Asiatic Garden Beetles, Oriental Garden beeltes, Masked & European Chafers, etc). However it does only a fair job of killing adult beetles.

Use Merit in the rootzone now.
Use Bifenthrin for SVB starting late June. At the high rate, bifenthrin does control mites.

4/30/2007 6:07:24 PM

Midwest

Thank you Tremor. I'm going to discard Sevin and go with bifenthrin. Thanks for the info about it's effectiveness in soil. I won't apply it to soil. Thanks and have a great year!

5/1/2007 1:13:34 PM