It is an all too familiar scene at the garden center. A customer walks in, speaks to a salesperson and asks for a bug killer. The salesperson in an attempt to help the customer says, "What kind of insects are you trying to kill?" The customer then replies "I don't know. My plants don't look good and I want to spray them with something."

Now, picture this scenario. A person walks into the doctor's office, and says to the doctor, "Doc, my son is sick. Can you write me a prescription for him?" To which the doctor replies "Well, First of all, before I can give you a prescription, I need to find out what is wrong with him." The salesman in the garden center just asked the same question as the doctor.

Gone are the days of the broad spectrum insecticides that kill everything in sight. Chloridane, Dursban, and now Diazinon have gone the way of the dinosaur, having been removed from the market by the Environmental Protection Agency. Today's new chemicals are less toxic to humans and much more selective in what they kill. This selectivity is what makes the salesperson in the scenario above ask questions of the customer to find out which insecticide the customer needs.

To be very general, there are two basic types of insecticides. There are contact killers, which work by contacting the body of the insect, and there are ingested insecticides which work by the insect eating the chemical.

Contact killers are the normal way of using insecticides that everyone usually thinks of. They are usually sprayed on the insect or plant. They are also available in granular form, which you spread on the ground.

Insecticides that work by ingestion are usually absorbed into the plant systemically, and when the insect feeds on the plant, they ingest the chemical and it kills them. They can be applied to the soil around the plant or sprayed directly on the foliage of the plant.

Pyrethrins and the pyrethoid class have largely taken over for the old insecticides such as Diazinon and Lindane, and these fall under the category of contact killers. This class of insecticides which consists of Pyrethrin, Permethrin, Deltamethrin, Cyfluthrin and the like are derived from the pyrethrin daisy. Since they come from a plant, everyone assumes that they are safe to use. This is not the case, as they are considered moderately toxic to humans and a skin irritant. Pyrethrins ususally carry a "Warning" or "Danger" signal word on their labeling. Pyrethrins work as a contact killer for insects such as beetles and aphids, as well as for ants, cockroaches and spiders.

Cyfluthrin (a pyrethoid) has largely taken over as the replacement for Diazinon, and is much less toxic to Mammals and Birds. It can be used as a band treatment around the house for ants and spiders, and in the lawn for ticks, chinch bugs and mole crickets.

Imidicloprid (aka Merit) is a systemic insecticide which shows great promise for sucking insects such as aphids, whiteflies and wooly adelgid. It is usually applied in either granular or liquid form around the base of the plant you want to protect, and absorbed systemically through the plant where it is carried to the tips of the branches where the insects feed.

Carbaryl, (aka Sevin) is one of the older chemicals that is still in use. It is available as a dust or liquid. Carbaryl is one of the widest spectrum insect killers still in use, controlling over 100 species of insects. It is a strong chemical, carrying a "Danger", or "Warning" label designation, and is considered moderately to very toxic. Sevin is most commonly used to kill ticks in the lawn, and japanese beetles.

Acephate is the active ingredient in "Isotox™" and it is a contact and systemic insecticide. It is sprayed on plants, where it gets absorbed into the plant and makes them toxic to the insects that feed on them. Its' systemic residual is 10-14 days.

So what do you do? Next time you have a plant that isn't looking so hot, don't reach for the first insecticide you find. Find out exactly what the problem is and treat accordingly. If you don't know what the problem is, take a branch or some leaves of the affected part of the plant and bring it down for us to look at. We would be glad to help you figure out what the problem is and what the appropriate solution would be. After all, you wouldn't want your family doctor to treat a broken arm by giving you heart medication would you?

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