gardenglory said:I dont know if you have Bayer 3 in 1 there. Its not the cheapest, but it works, and you water with it, not spray it on. The systemic rose fertilizer works well on bugs but you need the 3 in one for the fungicide.
If you spray, or water in/systemic, it has to soak in, and alot dries before it soaks in when spraying. As for the the green as you say, whether soaks it in thru the leaves or thru the roots, its got to get in the system of the plant somehow.
As far as I have been able to determine, Bayer 3-in-1 is intended for foliar application. I'm in California—the formulation and labeling may be different in other states.
Its fungicidal component Tebuconazole does have systemic properties which allow it to penetrate leaf tissue to a certain extent, however I have not been able to find any information which refers to soil drench application.
One of the insecticidal components of 3-in-1 is Imidacloprid (Merit) which is registered for use as both a foliar treatment and a soil drench. The other insecticidal component is Tau-Fluvalinate, a pyrethroid which serves as a contact insecticide, in this case being particularly useful as a miticide, since Imidacloprid is not effective against mites.
From an environmental standpoint, these chemicals are harmful enough when used in relatively small amounts per acre, as would happen with normal foliar application. If something like Bayer 3-in-1 were to be used at the application rate necessary to allow transportation of an effective dose Tebuconazole to leaf tissue (if that even occurs), soil contamination would be increased many-fold. I'm not that guy who says don't use anything chemical, ever, but I also realize that today's daylily patch might be tomorrow's vegetable garden, and try to keep chemical use to a minimum. In the case of Bayer 3-in-1 (which I do use, judiciously) it's probably best to stick to the label directions and apply it to the leaves. What I appreciate about a systemic fungicide is that you can get a high degree of effectiveness without taking extra pains to spray the underside of the leaves, which would probably result in about three times as much product being applied to a given area.
Unfortunately, by not spraying the underside of the leaves, mites will not be controlled, and this is one of many reasons why I don't particularly care for pre-packaged and blended insecticidal/fungicidal soups such as 3-in-1. They're convenient, but I'd rather use the single chemical I need, when I need it. For instance, rust strikes here worst in the fall, and I'm still seeing some here and there during alternating rainy/warm periods, and it's February. I'm using 3-in-1 now on some small seedlings I'm growing under lights (and outside on nice days) because they picked up some mites too. But, because of the Imidacloprid, I don't use it on booming size plants. Outside, during the growing season I'll use Honor Guard PPZ (Propiconazole) for spot foliar applications, and a Neem Oil/Safer's Insecticidal Soap solution on mites and aphids. I do use Imidacloprid as a soil drench on potted palms, cycads, succulents and Fat-Plants, mostly for scale and mealybugs.
