What is the general effectiveness, overall
practice/use, and opinion on micro-injection vs. traditional means of treatment i.e. "spraying" for treatment of various insects and disease.

Please comment on capsule injection and micro-injection units such as Arbor Systems "wedgle tip".

Reply to post by mark burke, on July 27, 1999 at 21:42:04:

I have always worried that a kid would get a hold of one out of a tree and be injured. For this reason alone, I have never wanted to use them. I realize this is a tangent, and not a comment on efficacy.

Reply to post by Peter Torres, on July 27, 1999 at 21:42:04:

Because of the concerns of off site problems such as drift and lotlines, I think that injection systems will become the treatment of choice. but will not totaly eliminate foliar apps due to translocation problems & efficacy iof certain products.

I have used acecap with sucsess, related mineral products. I find the macro products like Bidren where you have to have someone wait & watch the products uptake cost prohibitive. so Things like the Wedgle will help .

Not having used it here are some second and third hand comments

Pro- Low capital investment
Fast to used
easy to meter dose

Con- Needles & vials break easy
Handling concentrated products in the feild
Higher learning curve than with a spray truck due to the other two

from what Ive heard the wedgle is great for the small guy who takes care of his tools, but if you are sending someone else out with one, he'd better be one of your best people.

Reply to post by John S, on July 28, 1999 at 22:22:31:

I was primarily concerned with the aspect of wounding incured with the treatment of miscellaneous ailments such as pre-treatment or prevenative inoculation i.e. dutch-elm anthracnose and also micro-nutrient defficencys iron, zinc.... Is spraying to become
more obsolete and or less common in practice?
Is micro injection to become the standard?
It sure seems "smarter" and certainly more friendly to the enviorment and to beneficial predators.

Reply to post by mburke, on August 03, 1999 at 20:10:40:

>>Is spraying to become more obsolete and or less
>>common in practice.Is micro injection to become
>>the standard? It sure seems "smarter" and certainly
>>more friendly to the enviorment and to beneficial predators.

I dont think it'll be the IPM aspects, that will push the idustry towards greater use of systemics, but regulatory & liability. You drifted my dog, I can smell you three doors down, why am I paying you if you cant spray the parts of the tree hanging over my neighbors fence, I was dripped on when walking under the tree even thoough I saw you spraying it.

Reply to post by John S, on July 28, 1999 at 22:22:31:

I can't buy the arguement about send 'your best man' to do injections- or rather I can't acceept that you would send anyone but your best out to spray.

The Wedgle vials aren't likely to break, although the needles are a bit delicate. HAndling concentrates- well, they are in a semi-closed system, and you are handling about 100 ml in the bottle. If you spill the entire thing it is far less active material than 100 gallons of diluted spray mix, in most cases.

The learning curve is really not steep at all. A quick learner will be able to do it with a few hours of training. Spray techniques require extensive training in application technique, equipment management, material handling, and spill control. Seems worth a few extra needle tips to me.

My concerns with any injection system is coverage. Injection is entirely dependent on translocation within the tree, so complete coverage is not always possible. But in many cases, it may still be the preferrable treatment method.

Note: I have no interest or connection with any firm or persons making or selling treatment devices.

Reply to post by John S, on July 28, 1999 at 22:22:31:

IMHO injection technology has a ways to go before we can rely on it to replace spray applications.
In a way, it's too bad that it is so easy to use. A moron who would never consider going out and spraying trees (or who does not have the equipment to do so) can easily inject them. I see far too many improperly and unnecessarily injected trees. Often it is done by lawn mowing companies and landscapers at outrageous prices.

Reply to post by Russ Carlson, on August 03, 1999 at 20:10:40:

Like I said they ar secondhand concerns. And I can see your point to.

>>or rather I can't acceept that you would send
>>anyone but your best out to spray.

SOme of the competition I've watched doing app's! Looks worse than the pictuer on the cover of TCI a few months ago, with the guy blasting the small spruce with fin spray. (was that an intentional pic on how not to do it? They never said.) I even saw one guy walking around with a cigarett in his rubbergloves!