GARDENER'S READING ROOM
Fertilizers, Pest Control and Soil Management
Organic Gardening

New Products for 2008

The bane of the home orchard is hard-to-control apple maggot. Pheromone and sticky traps can be partially effective, but for serious growers the Seattle Tree Fruit Society recommends little nylon "footies" called Maggot Barriers. You slip the little footies over apples, pears, or Asian pears when they are nickel-sized (May or early June); water, air, and light can penetrate so the fruit will ripen normally, but they are protected from both apple maggots and codling moths.

For organic treatment of other home orchard problems, Bonide's new Orchard Spray will treat scab, rust, brown rot, powdery mildew, mites, aphids, caterpillars, and more! Safe to use up to the day before harvest, it can be used on fruit trees but also on vegetables, flowering trees, and ornamental shrubs.

Another great new pest control product is Sluggo Plus™. Many of you have been using the original Sluggo™ as an environmentally, pet, and wildlife-friendly way of controlling slugs. Sluggo Plus™ has added spinosad, an organic control for earwigs, cutworms, and sowbugs. For dahlias and perennials whose tender new shoots prove attractive to everything, Sluggo Plus™ is the way to go! One jug of pellets will treat 5000 square feet, so for most homeowners the larger package will last for several years.

Finally, the popular Apollo line of deck planters has added a new size: 2X6 feet, for you overachievers!

Skylights Summer 2008 Vol 23, No. 2

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