How do I treat purple robe tree borers and what product do I use to treat the tree?
You have locust borers and based on their biology, there are three ways to treat.
Eggs hatching in the spring will bore into the trunk and as they bore, you’ll might notice a white colored wood dust accumulating on the bark. Their holes will be 1/4″ to 1/2″ wide and several inches deep as they drill. Treat these holes with FS MP AEROSOL. It will quickly kill the boring and feeding larvae and with the included straw injector, the task will be easy to complete. Basically it should take just 2-3 seconds of spray per hole.
Next, spray MAXXTHOR over all sides of the trunk along with any low lying limbs. This will kill hatching larvae as the warm of spring gets them active. The Maxxthor will also repel egg laying females who will be coming around from mid summer through fall. Trees with activity will attract more adults. The scent of the active borers can carry for miles so once a tree gets a problem, it must be addressed or else the problem will grow eventually leading to the death of the tree.
Using a good PUMP SPRAYER to apply the Maxxthor, you’ll need to mix 1-2 oz per gallon of water and plan on spraying 1/2 to 1 gallon per tree.
For highest reach, get one of our NO PUMP SPRAYERS. This vunique sprayer is simple yet very good, easy to use and one of our “favs” for applying insecticides to your homes exterior and landscape (its too powerful for use inside).
Ideally suited for reaching heights of 40+ feet, it has no moving parts other than the valve you hold for spraying and the adjustable brass “bullet” nozzle.
This sprayer is essentially a tank that can hold water, chemical and up to 130 psi of air. The top lid has a clamp and rubber gasket that seats on the “inside” of the sprayer so as you fill it with air, the seal will naturally remain in place, nice and tight.
The top has 3 “ports” (pic below). The port to the far left is used to fill the tank with air. Using any electric air pump (the kind you would use the fill tires on your car), you can safely pressurize this sprayer up to 80 psi. The tank is rated for up to 130 lbs but the relief valve will only allow you to fill it to 80-90 psi before it starts to release. This happens as a safety precautionary action.
For normal use around the home, 50-60 psi should be enough for you empty the liquid from the 2.5 gallon tank assuming you only add 1 gallon of mixed product. True, the sprayer can “hold” 2.5 gallons of liquid but you need room for the air. Our tests show that 50-60 psi will pump out an entire gallon of spray allowing you to reach 25-30 feet heights.
For reaching 40+ feet or higher targets, pressurize the sprayer to 80 psi and again, mix up only what you plan on using and no more than 1 gallon of mixed solution at one time so the tank has enough room left to store all the needed “air”. One charge of 80 psi is enough to get the entire mixture to spray out so you don’t have to be concerned about constantly recharging.
The 5 GALLON NO PUMP can hold over 2 gallons of mixed material and can perform equally as well.
Remember, YOU WILL NEED AN AIR COMPRESSOR POWERFUL ENOUGH TO FILL THIS SPRAYER!! WE RECOMMEND ONE THAT CAN DO AT LEAST 100 PSI.
3 GALLON SETUP (remember to only fill it with 1 to 1.5 gallons of mixed solution to leave room for air)
(10% OFF WHEN ORDERING ONLINE)
5 GALLON SETUP (remember to only fill it with 2.5 (3 gallons max) if you want one tankful of air to pump it empty)
(10% OFF WHEN ORDERING ONLINE)
WATCH THIS VIDEO ON THE “NO PUMP” SPRAYER FOR OPERATIONAL DETAILS
As for when to spray; use the FS MP any time you find active holes. This will be most common from spring through early summer but can be later in the year depending on what part of the country you reside.
Use the Maxxthor from early summer through fall spraying once a month. Its important to renew the treatment monthly for the first year of discovering a problem because once a tree has activity, it tends to attract more adult females to lay eggs. So unless you keep treating with the Maxxthor, the problem will continue from year to year as foraging borers find the tree from afar.
Lastly, if believe larvae are burrowing deep into the heartwood of the tree, soil drench with PROTHOR. This product will act as a systemic and essentially “grow” into the heartwood, foliage and sap killing any insect trying to feed.
Use a 5 gallon pail to treat by adding 3-4 gallon of water and 1 oz of Prothor. Make 6-8 holes around the trunk of the infected tree, about 2-3 feet away from the trunk but under the drip line. These holes should be made with a pick ax or piece of rebar so you can pour the treatment out and into the ground. Prothor will take 4-6 weeks to get absorbed by the roots of the tree but eventually it will make it to the limbs and foliage providing protection for a full year.
Give us a call if you need more help. Our toll free is 1-800-877-7290 and we’re open 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Mon-Thur; 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Friday and 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM Saturday, Eastern Standard Time.
Jonathan
Tech Support
https://bugspray.com
1-800-877-7290
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