Chinch Bugs; Life after Dursban...

While it would be easy to re-issue last year's Chinch Bug email tip, I can't because first I promised that last week would be the last of the re-hash, and second we need to discuss a couple of the new products on the market that may actually work well against chinch bugs now that Dursban is gone.

Of course, if you still have liquid Dursban on your shelf (and that is perfectly legal) you can still use it. However, people new to the area and new to Gardenline may need a bit more help than that.

Let's start with the permanent tip sheet at our website to help you with identification purposes. I also teach you a couple of tests to find out if you do indeed have chinch bugs. click below for that tip sheet.

• Chinch bug tip sheet
  
  Then, there are some of the newer products on the market to look for. In the tip sheet it simply discusses the synthetic pyrethroids that essentially have replaced Dursban. But there's also Imidaclorip and Bifenthrin (Talstar). Imidacloprid products are usually under the marketed name of Merit and mostly sold as Bayer products. The somewhat newer Bifenthrin has been a termiticide for years in the industrial market, but companies like Scotts is now marketing it in a fertilizer along with the Bifenthrin.
  
  Bifenthrin used to be known as Talstar, but we just don't see it marketed that way down here. Finally, there's also a relatively new product known as Mach II, and it's active ingredient is Halofenozide (yep, that's why they gave it a cute name like MachII). Hi Yield/Fertilome has that product this year also incorporated into a fertilizer. Halofenozide Is from the Dow AgroSciences company that gave is Dursban for years. Oh by the way, Dursban's technical name was Chlorpyrifos.
  
  The most important thing I need you to take away from this tip and the permanent one at the website is that if you have chinch bugs, liquid controls work best. If you want to prevent them from being a problem those granular fertilzers like the Scotts and Fertilome/Hi Yield product will suffice.
  
  Finally, here's a good website for more Q & A on chinch bugs. It's based in Florida. And there is one problem. They say one treatment will work for the season. Here in Texas, nothing could be further from the truth. Just listen to the GardenLine over the next few months and I'll help prove that point with callers, who treat once and never get a handle on the chinch bug problem. Click here...
• floridaturf.com