Hi All,

The Spring is here and all of them insects soon will become active. Thought, I will share my opinion/review on one of the widely available insecticides.
I grow my orchids strictly indoors and still get some insect problems. They can come with a new plant, dog can bring it on a back from outside, they can fly in through the open window and so on. The insect that is most annoying me is the ‘Gnat’. They can smell your plant from far and they reproduce very quickly. I used the StickyFlyTrap tapes and the UV Electric Bug zapper. These 2 things help to kill the fly, but to kill larvae you need something else and for that I tried many things. Nematodes works but is hard to get, expensive and a bit too slow. The pesticide ‘Chitin’ did not help me. I also tried some ‘GnatOff bacteria’ that makes larvae choke up. It was hmm ok, it had some positive effect for one season, but it is not locally available. Then I thought, ‘Why do I try to keep it natural? I’m not going to eat the plant so why not to go Chem! ‘ And I gave a go for this ‘BugClear Ultra Vine Weevil Killer’ systematic insecticide. Systematic means the plant will absorb it and the fly/bug will die if it tries to eat/suck it. Plus, it also is a In Contact killer, and kills whatever nasty creatures live in your media. This insecticide gave me a good result and it is available in local Garden Centres in Ireland. It is a bit expensive. Still less than Nematodes or Bacterias. It coasts around 26e in Woodies, and you can make 8L of drench. You need to pour that through your media or submerge. If you want, you can make 1-2L and pour the same, but I usually don’t do that because you can spread fusarium. Because it is systematic it stays in your plant for about 2 months. Yesterday I noticed a few Thrips on my newest plants. That’s one of the most annoying insects too. I didn’t wait a minute, went down to local Woodies, got a new bottle of Ultra Vine Weevil Killer, and flushed those plants. I put my plants a side from the rest because Thrips can jump and even fly. The thing did a job once again. A few Thrips jumped out of the pots but did not go far. Few hours later, I did an inspection and could not see any movement. I do not know if it works against Red Spider mites. I had those long time but that’s another story.