Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Looking for advice about how to protect my hops. I have 4 Cascade and 1 Magnum.

Last year the JB liked the Magnum but left the Cascades alone. This year I have some damage on the Cascades.

The Magnum is free standing and liquid Sevin worked like a charm. Some people say not to use Sevin because it will wind up in your beer, but the label has directions for everything from asparagus to tomatoes to peppers. The longest wait time on the label is 3 weeks. While I agree I don't want pesticide in my beer, the label also says it is NOT absorbed by plants and is topical only.

So my question is this: Does anyone have experience with Sevin and the garden hose application near vinyl siding. I do not want to stain the entire south side of my house. The label says may stain stucco and brick and carpet but nothing about vinyl. Their FAQ says to only use on plant and no man made materials. I would like a real life experience.

Appreciate....

Paul

I got traps for them, I really don't want to spray my hops with anything, I put the traps up last night and sat their and watched the beetles drop into the bag for about an hour. By the time I went in the house they had thinned by at least half.

I have had some luck with traps. the little bastards tend to swarm the 2 i've got out. I however have no experience with sevin. the traps work good for me, but i have roses instead of hops. might want to try planting some garlic or to an extreme, try grinding some of the little buggers up and make a slurry out of it. Then spray it around your plans. thought is, is that they will not go were their dead cousins are. just some thoughts in your battle against the enemy.

Just a note about traps. I've used them for three years and my neighbors are really pleased. Seems the traps will bring in beetles downwind from a really long way off. According to ISU extention office the traps are used by the department of Ag. to get an estimate on populations in a specific area. They effectively "trap" about 35-45% of the beetles they attract. There were times that I could literally see an opaque cloud of the little green devils coming over the downwind fence from neighbors yards. I'm not using them this year and don't see as many beetles.
ISU AG EXT recommends milky spore applications for your lawn and hope the neighbors do the same. I have been applying 4 times/year for 3 yearsnow and have noticably less bugs. The dry conditions affect this, however.A bucket of soapy water first thing in the morning and just before dark to catch them as you shake or knock them off flowers is also recommended. Sevin is one of three insecticides that I've read about, and apparently the most effective and persistant. The dust is better for long term but I don't recall about cautions for consumable plants. I believe the dust is best for flowers, but can be hard on bees.
See if you can borrow Franklin's Guineas (i have tried six different spellings and it still looks wrong)fowl. I hear ducks will gobble a beetle or two as well.

Check out Tech Corner/2011 Hop Crop/ August 22 2011

and the guineas work well as a burgalur alarm

Neem oil is an effective and natural solution (get it?) for garden pests. It's made from the bark of a tree and is not a man-made chemical. It's available at Frontier on Blairs Ferry Rd.

My neighbor uses it on his fruit trees and I get some drift over to my garden.

I've used Neem before, and it would most definately stain the vinyl.
I tested the sevin on the siding in a hidden spot and seemed OK so I doused the hops quick.  The hose sprayer reached the 20+ feet up OK and the siding does not seem to be stained.
Now its raining and I will have to put it back on tomorrow.
Stopped the beetles immediately though.
Paul On Jun 29, 2012 8:42 AM, "Steven P" <brew-tech@crbeernuts.org (brew-tech@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

Neem oil is an effective and natural solution (get it?) for garden pests. It's made from the bark of a tree and is not a man-made chemical. It's available at Frontier on Blairs Ferry Rd.

My neighbor uses it on his fruit trees and I get some drift over to my garden.



"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer."
-Abraham Lincoln

http://endofthewoad.blogspot.com/

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Don't spray again with Sevin until you wait the recommended length of time. I reapplied after a rain and it has toasted some of my plants. New growth is fine, old growth is not healthy.

On Jun 29, 2012 9:20 AM, "prieff" <brew-tech@crbeernuts.org (brew-tech@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

I've used Neem before, and it would most definately stain the vinyl.
I tested the sevin on the siding in a hidden spot and seemed OK so I doused the hops quick.  The hose sprayer reached the 20+ feet up OK and the siding does not seem to be stained.
Now its raining and I will have to put it back on tomorrow.
Stopped the beetles immediately though.
Paul On Jun 29, 2012 8:42 AM, "Steven P" brew-tech@crbeernuts.org (brew-tech@crbeernuts.org))> wrote: :

Neem oil is an effective and natural solution (get it?) for garden pests. It's made from the bark o...
"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any natio...

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

Thanks for the advice.  After the rain I could still see the white on the leaves.  I won't spray unless the bugs threaten again.  I wouldn't have sprayed at all but there were so many and so much damage I was sure it would be stripped by the time I got off work.
Appreciate real world advice!
Pauk On Jun 29, 2012 9:20 AM, "prieff" <brew-tech@crbeernuts.org (brew-tech@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

I've used Neem before, and it would most definately stain the vinyl.
I tested the sevin on the siding in a hidden spot and seemed OK so I doused the hops quick.  The hose sprayer reached the 20+ feet up OK and the siding does not seem to be stained.
Now its raining and I will have to put it back on tomorrow.
Stopped the beetles immediately though.
Paul On Jun 29, 2012 8:42 AM, "Steven P" brew-tech@crbeernuts.org (brew-tech@crbeernuts.org))> wrote: : Neem oil is an effective and natural solution (get it?) for garden pests. It's made from the bark of a tree and is not a man-made chemical. It's available at Frontier on Blairs Ferry Rd.

My neighbor uses it on his fruit trees and I get some drift over to my garden.



"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer."
-Abraham Lincoln

http://endofthewoad.blogspot.com/

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

Update:

The traps are working wonderfully. I have gone threw two bags already of dead bugs (die bugs, die! probably 4 to 5 hundred dead bugs). I looked yesterday and could not see a single beetle on my hops. The lure seems to smell better to them then my hops do.

Only problem is, I do think the traps are pulling them in from surrounding areas. They are swarming the trap all the time which makes it uncomfortable to be in that particular area of the back yard for a large portion of the day.