Spinosad- Just A Heads Up For You Organic Guys

[surfguitar]

I think caps products are great but I didn't realize they contain spinosad, spinosad is pretty heavy duty and IMO should only be used sparingly as it can have an adverse effect on your beneficial bug population. I didn't kill all of mine but I def saw a big decrease. I decided to only reserve this stuff for last case scenario.

Just a heads up for you guys trying to set up a living organic soil.

 

[mastacheeser]

Why is spinosad heavy duty?

Thought it attacked insects nervous systems.
Lots of study's saying its safe without constant exposure

 

[surfguitar]

Well there is info saying it can harm bees but I'm mostly worried about my beneficial insects I have in my soil. I would rather not kill them if I can.

If your not concerned about that it's a great product. Spinosad is like the organic nuclear bomb tho ;)

 

[surfguitar]

Just FYI http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/15366583/

 

[Theoneandonly Z]

yo, just curious @surfguitar , how are you able to know what or how something affects ur microbial populations? ur post in the neem thread had me wondering as well. scope?

 

[surfguitar]

Just based on observation of fungal growth in my different mediums.

 

[Capulator]

It has saccharopolyspora spinosa but not spinosad derived version.

Your study lists bees if bees are exposed before the spinosad has been dry for 3 hours, and says nothing about soil born beneficials, unless you think that thrips and fungus gnats are beneficial in the soil. I don't see many honeybee larvae in my soil...

"Spinosad has a high level of efficacy for lepidopteran larvae, as well as some Diptera, Coleoptera, Thysanoptera, and Hymenoptera, but has limited to no activity to other insects and exhibits low toxicity to mammals and other wildlife."


Am I missing something? I would prefer not to have anything that poses a threat to beneficials. It's as easy to take out species as it is to put them in.

 

[surfguitar]

It's based solely on the observation in my own soil, I was using your product pretty heavily and microbeman on icmag brought this up so I put two and two together. I could be wrong.

Don't get me wrong I think your product is absolutely amazing and it destroyed my fungus gnats haha but I'm just giving a heads up to guys like myself who may not want to use that stuff so heavily. Again I could be wrong but this is just based solely on my observations in my own mixes. Maybe others with similar type mixes can chime in.

 

[Capulator]

It's based solely on the observation in my own soil, I was using your product pretty heavily and microbeman on icmag brought this up so I put two and two together. I could be wrong.

Don't get me wrong I think your product is absolutely amazing and it destroyed my fungus gnats haha but I'm just giving a heads up to guys like myself who may not want to use that stuff so heavily. Again I could be wrong but this is just based solely on my observations in my own mixes. Maybe others with similar type mixes can chime in.

I need to do some more research on this.

 

[Seamaiden]

I'm tagging along. I'm using Cap's packs to deal with FGs, and possibly RAs (I think it's time to figure out a scope for taking pix, not just viewing) based on a photo I took yesterday of some root balls. I've moved everything outside, so I *need* to be very cognizant of what may happen.

Give the old man Microbeman a shout from Sea, wouldja?

 

[Herb Forester]

@Capulator, is the s. spinosa just in your foliar pack?

Spinosad is listed as a prohibited pesticide in the draft rules for the new OMMP dispensary testing program, with a rejection threshold of .01 ppm. Problematic since it's derived from active metabolites of s. spinosa.

 

[Capulator]

From my understanding the isolated version is different from the bacteria itself and the metabolites. I did my due diligence and the species we have int he packs is not harmful to bees either.