Surround WP

[Figgerlickinggood]

Anyone using this for pest control? It's powdered clay. Saw a video this morning with James Prigoni. I purchased it from AgCare for $45 plus $37.33 to ship and no tax. It only comes in 25lb bags. This was the lease expensive place I found.

 

[Ben]

Yes, I'm using it. This is my 1st season using it. I've been mixing it in my sprayer and applying it that way. I have 5 peach/nectarine trees that went in the ground 2 years ago that have fruited for the 1st time this year. The general consensus on Reddit is to not treat until you see that there's something that you need to treat for, and then treat for it the following year. I had plum curculio hit them pretty hard about a month ago, and I didn't want to wait until next year. I've applied the Surround probably 4 times now, basically after every time it rains. I haven't seen any plum curculio on them since I've been treating, but they may already be done for the season, so not sure if it's a win for the Surround or just timing. I plan to continue treating for the rest of this season and next season as well, but I don't have a lot of pre-treatment data to compare it to, so I won't really know if it's working, except for the plum curculio.

 

[Ben]

Also, adding that I've been treating all of my apple & plum trees with Surround too, even though they haven't fruited yet. They also went in the ground 2 years ago. On the plums, I had some type of issue with them where they were having very leggy looking growth with long stems and very small sickly looking leaves. Since I've been treating them, that seems to have resolved. You can see in the picture (look at the triangle in the middle of the pic) that near the middle of the branches, the spacing and the size of the leaves looks sickly. That was about the end of the branch when I first treated a month ago. You can see that the newer growth that has happened since then looks relatively normal. I'm guessing it was something fungal, and I'm crediting the Surround with treating it. On 1 particular apple I had a small spot of powdery mildew where the leaves were curling up and crispy. I removed the affected leaves when I 1st treated and haven't seen any additional spots pop up since.

Also adding that at my current rate of consumption I suspect the bag will last me 2 seasons. That might change if we get lots of rain and I have to reapply more frequently. I've applied it about once per week for 4 weeks, and I reapply after a rain. Right now it only takes me about 20 minutes to apply. My consumption rate and time investment will change with future bags after the trees are bigger.

 

[hambones]

i just got some this year. i probably should have already hit stuff, but life has been busy and i don't have that much production yet. Being in VA, this place may be cheaper overall, after factoring in shipping (i think they charge actual):

Surround WP Crop Protectant - 25 lb Bag

Made from calcined kaolin clay, this white coating for plant surfaces suppresses insect pests and reduces heat stress and sunburn.

www.7springsfarm.com