Red Palm Weevil

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oliveview01
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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby oliveview01 » Sun Jul 19, 2015 10:57 am

Is the chemical needed dog friendly?

El Cid
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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby El Cid » Sun Jul 19, 2015 11:24 am

The chemical is Confidor by Bayer. It's very expensive, but now the patent has expired, generic versions are available under various names. The active ingredient is Imidaclorprid 20%. You can buy it from agrochemical suppliers or online.

http://fertitienda.com/insecticida/conf ... oprid.html

I bought a litre ten years ago and still have half left. The usual dilution is 2.5ml in 5 litres so it goes a very long way.

It is one of the safest insecticides for mammals. In fact, it is the active ingredient in Advantage Spot On for flea treatment of dogs.

If you want an example of high markups, a litre of the chemical costs about €18 and a litre of Advantage costs about €3500 - same thing - different packaging!

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby chrissiehope » Sun Jul 19, 2015 1:30 pm

:wtf: :crazy:
Alexandr for President (Squire for PM !)

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oliveview01
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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby oliveview01 » Sun Jul 19, 2015 3:08 pm

Can we dip all the dogs in it? :lol:

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby El Cid » Sun Jul 19, 2015 5:31 pm

That might be going too far! I can't see why putting a few drops on them instead of buying ludicrously overpriced little droppers would be a problem.

You have to be on your guard with many of these products where you are being sold a generic solution masquerading as a "special" solution. Take the case of the dreaded Geranium moth - lots of expensive tiny little phials of "special" cures, when in fact it costs about €20 a litre in bulk which will dilute to 2000 litres - you could probably spray every Geranium in Spain with that!

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby oliveview01 » Sun Jul 19, 2015 9:11 pm

Didn't know there was a spray for the geranium moth, we have a huge plant at the end of our garden, been told it was planted getting on for 30 years ago, before our neighbours niece was born!

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby Wunovem » Wed Apr 12, 2017 3:12 pm

Hello, any up-to-date information on this topic would really be appreciated as the internet has lots of conflicting advice, and my wife and I are new to living in Spain. We have one new Canary palm (with certificate) and some other varieties. The Canary has virtually no trunk yet as it's a baby but the fronds are about 1.5m across. Can anybody please advise us on the best way to protect this new young tree, much of what I have read is many years old so I'm not sure how relevant it is, I'm beginning to think the best preventative treatment is to burn it now!

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby Flexo » Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:02 pm

El Cid wrote: Another option is to drill small holes around the trunk and inject the liquid - easier than spraying.
You definately don't want to do that if you care for the palm tree. Palm trees never heal, you risk serious fungal infections if you drill the trunk. Even light cuts from spike boots will harm the tree and risk premature death.

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby El Cid » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:02 pm

You might think that, but it is the method a lot of professionals now use. Spraying has to be done very frequently and is expensive.

One problem now is that the insecticides of choice, Confidor, has been banned in Europe.

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby Wunovem » Thu Apr 13, 2017 11:30 am

Hello again and thank you both for responding but I'm still unclear what the latest thinking is on how to proceed, as I mentioned our Canary has virtually no trunk yet as it's a baby but the fronds are about 1.5m across. Is there any consensus on how to treat the tree, when and what with please?

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Flexo
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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby Flexo » Thu Apr 13, 2017 2:46 pm

El Cid wrote:You might think that, but it is the method a lot of professionals now use. Spraying has to be done very frequently and is expensive.
I know so called "professionals" do that but a real professional with an arborist certificate would never do that.

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby El Cid » Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:59 pm

Rubbish. There are loads of articles on the internet about the effectiveness of injection from very reliable sources.

Here is just one of many.

http://www.iraqi-datepalms.net/Uploaded ... alms38.pdf

I suggest you do a little more research on the subject as you clearly have not done so up to now.

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knowal
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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby knowal » Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:35 pm

Plant fan palms instead.

El Cid
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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby El Cid » Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:44 pm

They also grow much quicker. Our Washingtonia palms have grown at about 1 metre each year.

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby Wunovem » Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:49 pm

Hi all, My question was actually on how to treat the single small specimen we already have, I was hoping someone might know what the latest advice was on "what to do and when", also where to obtain any suggested chemicals.

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby Gasman » Fri Apr 14, 2017 12:05 pm

I believe you can still get Confidor- dilute it to the required amount on the packet and spray the trunk, deeply into the heart at the top and round the bases of all the leaves - then pray! It comes in a very small metal bottle, in a box, usually available in your local agricultural shop or nursery. Look it up on google and check the main ingredient - it may be labelled as such, as I think the patent may have run out so that "generics" are now available.

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby El Cid » Fri Apr 14, 2017 12:24 pm

It's got nothing to do with generics - they have been around for well over 10 years. The active ingredient of Confidor is Imidicloroprid, which has been banned in the EU since about 2013.

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby Tom W » Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:32 pm

If you do get some Confidor can I just say to put plenty on the crown. I had been using it but concentrated on the trunk (as I had read that somewhere) and we lost 1 of our 2 35 year old palms to the wee sods in December.

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Re: Red Palm Weevil

Postby El Cid » Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:55 pm

It may be possible to find the small (very expensive) retail packs of Confidor lurking on a shelf somewhere but it won't go far as you need litres of the stuff to soak the tree. That's where the injection method is preferable. Alternatively, you can inject the root, but first you have to find some.

I bought a litre of the generic stuff 14 years ago and I still have some left.

Another chemical which can be used is Chlorpirifos. It's used a lot for creepy crawlies such as roaches and that is available under a couple of trade names such as Chas48 or similar names.

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