Good Bye to Bugs

 Let’s talk aphids, (including woolly apple aphid), whiteflies, mealybugs, psylla and scales. All these bugs can get into tree crops and hops and wreak havoc. Aphids, also known as plant lice, feed themselves through sucking mouthparts called stylets, that they stick in the plant and suck the life out of it. Whiteflies are not true flies as they are relatives of mealybugs, scales and aphids. The eggs are laid on the undersides of leaves. They attack the leaves, buds and stems sucking the juice out of them.  

 In the old days when growers faced the daunting challenges in the battle of the bug… farmers were forced to take broad spectrum insecticides and apply them again and again, at great expense, not great effectiveness, and with noticeable impact on the environment. These days, chemical manufacturers are figuring out strategies to maximize the efficiencies of their products. For example, insect pests that suck sap out of such crops as hops, apples…pears  .

Paul Pargeter of Bayer Crop Science about their product…Ultor. “It’s unique in that it moves both ways in the plant. It moves up and down so it will actually get into the root system of a plant from a foliar application.’’