m 



In the past five years, our industry has been 

 flooded with biological products that claim to 

 have fungicidal, insecticldal, or bacterial control. In 

 most cases, these claims are true — they do have 

 some control and are biological In nature. The key 

 word In this statement is "some." 



The oldest product that fits into this category is 

 Bacillus thurlnglensis, commonly referred to as B.t. 

 Marketed as Dipel or Gnatroi (Abbott Labs), this 

 product Is unique in that it Is produced in fer- 

 menters, then killed. When the target pest con- 

 sumes the compound from the bacillus, the pest Is 

 killed. 



First developed In the 60s, it didn't catch on until 

 the late 70s, when environmental concerns became 

 an issue. The primary reason that B. thurlnglensis 

 was slow to develop in the market place was that 

 Its percentage of control of the target pest was low. 

 Better products were more efficient and economical. 

 This applies to many of the "new" products intro- 

 duced today. 



The problem with most biological pesticides is 



that they have a narrow window of control. They 

 work well in laboratory environments, but in com- 

 mercial growing conditions, the real world takes 

 over. Many of these products are living organisms 

 and must be treated as such. If your soli media is 

 too wet or too dry, they die; if temperatures — in 

 storage or during use — fluctuate, they die. And fi- 

 nally, you will need a population of the pest you are 

 trying to control before the biological will colonize 

 and begin control. This means you have to lose a 

 portion of your crop and maintain a population of 

 the pest in order to continue the population of the 

 biological. And often the application of an Insecti- 

 cide or fungicide will kill the desired biological. 



Be sure to ask for a comparison of with standard 

 industry materials. Many times 60% control Is touted, 

 but standard products give 90% or better — not a very 

 good exchange. 



//m Znblockl, Technical Manager of the Northern 

 Horticultural Group, Scotts Company, can be reached 

 at 603-224-5583. 



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