# how often to apply horticultural oil?



## arboristCT (Jul 23, 2014)

Hey, how often and how many times do you guys generaly reccomend oil to be applied in an IPM program?

In avarage im reccomending 6 times a year,
1 early spring
2 mid spring
3 late spring
4 early summer
5 late summer
6 fall

I know it could vary but is this average?


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## sac-climber (Jul 23, 2014)

What are you treating for? Also, what is being treated?


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## arboristCT (Jul 23, 2014)

sac-climber said:


> What are you treating for? Also, what is being treated?


this would be treating for everything on an IPM program, such as all hemlocks, hollys, azaleas, eunomous, arbovitae,, spruce, pines, most pests that can be controlled with oil or soap, the pests would be soft scales, aphids, adelgids, mites, insects on early instars or eggmasses.


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## Raintree (Jul 23, 2014)

That seems to be way over kill on the oil use. Dormant oil early spring before bud break & a late Fall oil is is all I use. Not controlling leaf miner, borers or weevils with oil.


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## sac-climber (Jul 23, 2014)

Please don't take this personally.....

There is a gross misunderstanding of how to implement a proper IPM program, from greenies to vets. The focus needs to be on monitoring and cultural practices, not how often to spray. It's all about thresholds; what pests can be tolerated, how much damage is acceptable, etc... It's great to use hort oil versus the alternatives but the whole point is to use as little pesticide as possible, no matter if it's OMRI listed or not. That hort oil still has an EPA number and gets reported, right?

If you are serious about IPM and developing a quality program buy the book in the link below. It's worth every penny of the $35.00 it costs....

http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=3418


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## arboristCT (Jul 23, 2014)

Raintree said:


> That seems to be way over kill on the oil use. Dormant oil early spring before bud break & a late Fall oil is is all I use. Not controlling leaf miner, borers or weevils with oil.


got ya thank you, ok yeah I see your point, those that you mentioned should be enough to oil controlled insects egg masses, nymphs and adults and their generations per year? yeah I'm only talking about the insects that we can be controlled with oil.
thank you.


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## arboristCT (Jul 23, 2014)

Raintree said:


> That seems to be way over kill on the oil use. Dormant oil early spring before bud break & a late Fall oil is is all I use. Not controlling leaf miner, borers or weevils with oil.


wait what about for those insects and the generations that emerge in summer?


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## arboristCT (Jul 23, 2014)

Raintree said:


> That seems to be way over kill on the oil use. Dormant oil early spring before bud break & a late Fall oil is is all I use. Not controlling leaf miner, borers or weevils with oil.


got ya thank you, ok yeah I see your point, those that you mentioned should be enough to oil controlled insects egg masses, nymphs and adults and their generations per year? yeah I'm only talking about the insects that we can be controlled with oil.


sac-climber said:


> Please don't take this personally.....
> 
> There is a gross misunderstanding of how to implement a proper IPM program, from greenies to vets. The focus needs to be on monitoring and cultural practices, not how often to spray. It's all about thresholds; what pests can be tolerated, how much damage is acceptable, etc... It's great to use hort oil versus the alternatives but the whole point is to use as little pesticide as possible, no matter if it's OMRI listed or not. That hort oil still has an EPA number and gets reported, right?
> 
> ...


yes I understand that some plants can be okay with a mild insect infestation, yes your right oil gets reported, yeah i know IPM includes cultural practices too, that's why is called IPM but for this question I'm only asking about the chemical part of the program in already stablished supceptable plants.

thank you for the link to the book, if you recommend it then i will look into it.


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## sac-climber (Jul 24, 2014)

CT,

Thanks for indulging me. Now, let me attempt to answer your question. It may be somewhat of a reiteration though. 

So we know that oil's method of action is contact with little to no residual action. It's simply not a good product to use at predetermined intervals (i.e. Seasons). Personally, I don't advocate oil use in summer months. You will get better and more consistent results if you focus treatment during the pest's dormant stage. Your spray schedule needs to be customized to whats actually happening. Work with the natural ebb and flow of pest populations, reactionary insecticide use throws this wildly out of balance. 

I hope this helps.


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## arboristCT (Jul 25, 2014)

sac-climber said:


> CT,
> 
> Thanks for indulging me. Now, let me attempt to answer your question. It may be somewhat of a reiteration though.
> 
> ...


Yeah it helps. Thanks


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## Ed Roland (Jul 31, 2014)

Dormancy? Sure, but perhaps to better dial in efficacy try using oil when insects just begin to respire. Also, remember, Horticulture oil kills every arthropod on the tree. Give some thought to its target use.


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## arboristCT (Aug 13, 2014)

Ed Roland said:


> Dormancy? Sure, but perhaps to better dial in efficacy try using oil when insects just begin to respire. Also, remember, Horticulture oil kills every arthropod on the tree. Give some thought to its target use.


Thanks


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## Zale (Aug 13, 2014)

+1 on the overkill. You need to be careful spraying oil during the summer. You can fry a plant pretty quick. Also, don't spray anything blue.


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## arboristCT (Aug 14, 2014)

Yup thanks. I know that it can also burn jap maples leaves


Zale said:


> +1 on the overkill. You need to be careful spraying oil during the summer. You can fry a plant pretty quick. Also, don't spray anything blue.


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