Bt- powder or liquid concentrate?

duajones · April 5, 2007

For those of you that use Bacillus thuringiensis, is their any advantage to using the liquid over the powder? It seems like it might be easier to apply.

Duane

feldon30 · April 5, 2007

The liquid with a pump sprayer is certainly a lot easier to apply to the bottoms of the leaves.

duajones · April 5, 2007

Since they eat it anyway,would it be necessary to spray the bottoms of the leaves? Suze mentioned spraying her plants as a preventative measure when the live oaks start to bloom. I am assuming she uses the liquid

Suze · April 6, 2007

Both the powder and liquid work, but I spray, because it is just so much quicker for a bunch of plants. You don't need to worry about the undersides of the leaves, or about getting an even coating on every single leaf like you would w/Daconil. Just try and get some spray on most of the plant.

Fusion_power · April 7, 2007

Do your due diligence and find out what BT Aizawai is. You might also investigate BT Kurstaki though it is not as useful for tomatoes as Aizawai. There are numerous strains available and picking the right strain can be very important.

A beekeeper friend of mine made a bulk purchase of Xentari last fall and sold me one pound to try out on my tomatoes. Please note that it is in the original factory packaging with care and use labels. It is rated to kill various hornworms, cutworms, armyworms, etc. One pound is sufficient to kill 15 billion hornworms. I've never had that many on my tomatoes!

Fusion

Joel5000 · April 9, 2007

I used Spinosad last year instead of BT and had very good results. My hope was that it would reduce some of the other chewing insects as well as the hornworms. Not sure it did that, but I didn't see a single live hornworm all summer (only saw a couple of dead ones.)

April 5, 2007	#1
duajones Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Corpus Christi,Texas Z9 Posts: 1,996	Bt- powder or liquid concentrate? For those of you that use Bacillus thuringiensis, is their any advantage to using the liquid over the powder? It seems like it might be easier to apply. Duane

April 5, 2007	#2
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	The liquid with a pump sprayer is certainly a lot easier to apply to the bottoms of the leaves.

April 6, 2007	#4
Suze Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 3,027	Both the powder and liquid work, but I spray, because it is just so much quicker for a bunch of plants. You don't need to worry about the undersides of the leaves, or about getting an even coating on every single leaf like you would w/Daconil. Just try and get some spray on most of the plant.

April 7, 2007	#5
Fusion_power Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,250	Do your due diligence and find out what BT Aizawai is. You might also investigate BT Kurstaki though it is not as useful for tomatoes as Aizawai. There are numerous strains available and picking the right strain can be very important. A beekeeper friend of mine made a bulk purchase of Xentari last fall and sold me one pound to try out on my tomatoes. Please note that it is in the original factory packaging with care and use labels. It is rated to kill various hornworms, cutworms, armyworms, etc. One pound is sufficient to kill 15 billion hornworms. I've never had that many on my tomatoes! Fusion

April 9, 2007	#6
Joel5000 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 43	I used Spinosad last year instead of BT and had very good results. My hope was that it would reduce some of the other chewing insects as well as the hornworms. Not sure it did that, but I didn't see a single live hornworm all summer (only saw a couple of dead ones.)