Author Topic: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control  (Read 5532 times)

Millet

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Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« on: April 30, 2020, 09:59:15 PM »
For a complete elimination of insects listed below, and for ultra safe personal protection, use a good horticultural oil.  It eliminates most all common insects that attack citrus. Can be sprayed between 32F to 90F.  Insects NEVER become immune, no matter how often or how long horticultural sprays are used.  Be sure to keep ingredients (water & oil) blended while spraying

Insects killed:
Rust mite, red spider mite, scales, white fly, thrips, mealy bug, aphids, Greasy spot, loosening of sooty mold.

« Last Edit: April 30, 2020, 10:02:01 PM by Millet »

Vlad

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2020, 11:07:24 PM »
What concentration oil do you use? Do you use an emulsifier, if so what kind and at what concentration?

SeaWalnut

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2020, 01:22:54 AM »
Best emulsifier is to mix the oil with dish soap 50/50 and then with water.
If you want a more professional emulsifier then use lecitine.
Beware that horticultural oil can kill or damage a lot of plants .
I never sprayed on citrus but mimosa tree i sprayed lost all its leaves while almond trees had nothing to complain about.


Now i use only soapy water and i completely skipped the oil from the retepy.

Oolie

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2020, 04:26:45 AM »
I wonder if it has high efficacy against subterranean scale infestations.

Millet

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2020, 01:15:42 PM »
Vlad the concentration I use is 50 grams (1.8 oz.) per gallon of water.   I have used it both with and without an emulsifying agent.  The emulsifying agent, when used, is Tween 20 (TW-20).  The brand name of the horticultural oil that I always use is Ultra Pure Horticultural Oil.  As a side note, the sprayer I use is a 3-gallon  Solo back Pack sprayer.  Whether I add a emulsifier or not I frequently shake the solution to ensure a uniform blend.  I cannot fully reply to Sea Walnut statement of damage to other trees.  All I can say is that personally I have never seen any damage to any of the varieties that I have sprayed, certainly not citrus.  There are many types of horticultural oils on the market.  Some with grater and lower impurities.  I always purchase Ultra Pure HO, as it is the best of the best.

Millet

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2020, 01:18:17 PM »
Oolie, what do you mean by the term subterranean scale?  For horticultural oils to work, it has to coat the insect's body.

Oolie

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #6 on: May 01, 2020, 08:04:38 PM »
Understood, the difficulty is getting it to bind to the chitinous body without being impeded by the acidic soil substrate. Horticultural oils unfortunately are also acidic, so they will be impeded by the soil.

I think we may be on the right track though.

SeaWalnut

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2020, 08:44:01 PM »
I simply use cooking oil as horticultural oil,sunflower oil to more exact.
What it does its that it blocks the insect tracheas and they sufocate.
Its logical that no insect can build resistance to this.

But im sure that essential oils wich are basically the plant imune system can be used and be more succesfull than even manny toxic chemicals to kill and prevent pests while at the same time being a natural product.
People use thime oil to kill mites and those big big mites( Ticks) that suck the blood of the dogs and also cause Lime disease if they bite you.
I used Thime oil,mint oil ,lemongrass oil ,to kill pest mites in my beehives without killing the bees.
You could probably use citrus essential oils also and to protect citrus trees.
Essential oils are also deadly and as little as eating a spoon could kill a human but in various retepyes against pest insects you use only a few drops for a litter of water.
Much less than horticultural oil and a small bottle of essential oil lasts a lot.
This i think it could work even for the insects that Ollie is talking about wich i assume they grow on the roots of the plants.

strom

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #8 on: May 01, 2020, 11:08:00 PM »
I did some searching recently for horticultural oil due to bugs on other plants, and it appears to be mineral oil?

countryboy1981

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2020, 11:33:28 PM »
I use spinosad which keeps the population of clm down.

Oolie

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2020, 01:12:51 AM »
Derp. I forgot about spinosad.

Tolerance building doesn't account for morphological changes that can happen in 2-3 generations in insects which may reproduce multiple times a year. Spinosad may be the ultimate addition to the cocktail.

containerman

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #11 on: May 02, 2020, 09:34:17 AM »
I just picked up a gallon on amazon for $40 shipped. Its 3 tbsp per gallon of water so it should last me a while.

EricSC

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #12 on: April 09, 2022, 07:42:00 PM »
For a complete elimination of insects listed below, and for ultra safe personal protection, use a good horticultural oil.  It eliminates most all common insects that attack citrus. Can be sprayed between 32F to 90F.  Insects NEVER become immune, no matter how often or how long horticultural sprays are used.  Be sure to keep ingredients (water & oil) blended while spraying

Insects killed:
Rust mite, red spider mite, scales, white fly, thrips, mealy bug, aphids, Greasy spot, loosening of sooty mold.

Now all the bugs waked up and come back.   

In use Horticultural oil, I found that it could damage leaves on some plants.   At the same time, the dish detergent can work the same way but much less damages.

My questions are:
1, Will horticultural oil or veg oil deter the CLM moths to lay eggs?
2, Will the soap water or detergent water kill the CLM moths?

pagnr

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2022, 06:28:40 AM »
"Whether I add a emulsifier or not I frequently shake the solution to ensure a uniform blend."

I think thats an essential step, add the oil and some water to a jar, shake with lid on to produce a white oil, then add to spray tank and fill to spray level.

Nozzles are important too,  very fine low volume nozzles will give good coverage of foliage with low amount of spray applied.

Oil sprays will burn Citrus leaves at the wrong time in hot climates and under plastic houses.

brian

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #14 on: April 10, 2022, 12:27:06 PM »
This is a reminder to me to try hort oil with diligence this year to see if I can eradicate the mealbug infestation I have been fighting for years.  I was able to get rid of persistent spider mites and cottony cushion scale with pesticides, but nothing works for mealybugs ot seems.

EricSC

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #15 on: April 10, 2022, 02:05:56 PM »
This is a reminder to me to try hort oil with diligence this year to see if I can eradicate the mealbug infestation I have been fighting for years.  I was able to get rid of persistent spider mites and cottony cushion scale with pesticides, but nothing works for mealybugs ot seems.

I have been using dish detergent to remove mealbug spider mites, and scale.  It seems working well, easy to prepare, low cost, and no damage. 

EricSC

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #16 on: April 10, 2022, 02:07:15 PM »
"Whether I add a emulsifier or not I frequently shake the solution to ensure a uniform blend."

I think thats an essential step, add the oil and some water to a jar, shake with lid on to produce a white oil, then add to spray tank and fill to spray level.

Nozzles are important too,  very fine low volume nozzles will give good coverage of foliage with low amount of spray applied.

Oil sprays will burn Citrus leaves at the wrong time in hot climates and under plastic houses.

Very valuable info.  Thanks.

Millet

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #17 on: April 10, 2022, 02:31:59 PM »
Like Pagnr wrote above, when spraying horticultural oil using a back pack sprayer I shake the sprayer every 2/3 minutes to insure good HO/water distribution.  Over the last 20 years I have never once experienced leaf burning, nor leaf drop.  I wonder if soaps leave a reside?

EricSC

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #18 on: April 11, 2022, 06:33:40 PM »
Like Pagnr wrote above, when spraying horticultural oil using a back pack sprayer I shake the sprayer every 2/3 minutes to insure good HO/water distribution.  Over the last 20 years I have never once experienced leaf burning, nor leaf drop.  I wonder if soaps leave a reside?

So far, 2% soaps seem doing good.  It eliminated all the aphids on all the plants: citrus new flush, cabbages, and beans.  I even tested it on weeds with all the aphids were dead right way and turned dry/black in 2-3 days.  Not much accumlative effects are seen, and you always can spray water to flush them off.

For Horticultural oil, I might try more. 

Malhar

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #19 on: April 12, 2022, 08:11:14 PM »
@EricSC, Do you use regular dish washing soap or a specific insecticidal soap?

brian

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #20 on: April 12, 2022, 11:14:49 PM »
For a non-detergent soap I have always used Dr Bronners soap, however it isn't any cheaper than refined hort oil so I now see no reason to use soap over hort oil.

If you are using Dawn soap or something you already have on hand it is probably okay... but if you are going to buy something I suspect refined hort oil is probably better than non-detergent soap for similar cost.

EricSC

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #21 on: April 13, 2022, 06:41:50 PM »
@EricSC, Do you use regular dish washing soap or a specific insecticidal soap?
Malhar,

I do have insecticidal soap, but for convenience I just used kitchen dish washing detergent (the one "environment friendly" bought from Costco) . It worked well, but you may adjust and test when temperature are different.   Last summer, It did not work to the aphids on my egg plant but damaged the eggplant leaves.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2022, 01:18:14 PM by EricSC »

EricSC

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #22 on: April 13, 2022, 06:43:40 PM »
For a non-detergent soap I have always used Dr Bronners soap, however it isn't any cheaper than refined hort oil so I now see no reason to use soap over hort oil.

If you are using Dawn soap or something you already have on hand it is probably okay... but if you are going to buy something I suspect refined hort oil is probably better than non-detergent soap for similar cost.

Agree, I looked for those special soaps but found no advantages

Calusa

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #23 on: April 24, 2022, 10:25:33 AM »
I'm in 10A - as we approach Summer what temperature range is the cutoff for using oils, and can soaps be used during the hottest part of the hyear?

poncirsguy

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Re: Horticultural Oil For Insect Control
« Reply #24 on: April 24, 2022, 05:32:29 PM »
85F