Tree Injection

1988

An integrated pest management program for gypsy moth was designed, implemented, and evaluated in the urban forested community of Lake Barcroft, Falls Church, VA. The objectives of the program were to reduce or prevent defoliation, tree mortality, and nuisance associated with dense populations of gypsy moth. Intensive surveys of larvae, pupae, adult males, and egg masses were evaluated in 100 sites. Further evaluations were made of eggs per mass, egg viability, parasitism of eggs, larvae, and pupae, sex ratio of pupae, and tree susceptibility to infestation and defoliation. Bacillus thuringiensis and Luretape® were selectively applied. The larval parasites, Cotesia melanoscelus and Glyptapanteles flavicoxis were released throughout the Program area. The objectives were achieved. The cost was approximately $20. per residential lot per year.

International journal of biology and chemistry, 2024

Leptoglossus occidentalis was first detected in Turkey in 2009. The pest's damage to stone pine trees and its effects on seeds cause economic losses. In recent years, observations and predictions show that there is a significant threat not only to stone pine but also to other coniferous forests throughout country. In this study, pesticides were applied by trunk injection method in the experiment areas taken in stone pine stands of Bergama-Kozak region. In the systemic application carried out in 2020 and 2021, the Arborjet system was used and the insecticide with the active ingredient Azadirachtin (0.3 g/Lt) was used as an organic insecticide, as well as pesticide with the active ingredient Imidacloprid (200 g/Lt). In 2020, the highest seed filling rate was achieved after systemic Imidacloprid insecticide application with the Arborjet system. As a result of this application, the full seed rate reached 70.7% in Asagicuma, while this rate was 63.6% in the Karaveliler. The seed occupancy rate obtained from control trees in the Asagicuma was 37.96% and this rate reached 70.7% after systemic Imidacloprid application in the same field. Similarly, in the studies carried out in Asagicuma and Yukaribey experiment sites in 2021, only 35% of the seeds were filled in the cones taken from control trees, while the occupancy rate in the cones without insecticide application in the Yukaribey was determined to be 32.76%. In both trial sites, the highest seed fill rate was achieved after systemic Imidacloprid insecticide application with the Arborjet system. As a result of this application, the filled seed rate reached 67.89% in the Asagicuma and 69.86% in Yukaribey experiment sites.

Dissertation, 2014

The two most important pathogens of apple Erwinia amylovora (fire blight) and Venturia inaequalis (apple scab) require pesticide sprays for control. This leads to accumulating side effects such as disease resistance, contamination of environment, elevated fungicide residues in fruit, and increased health risks to consumers and workers. While sprays are effective for disease control, need for increasing the sustainability of apple production by reducing pesticide use in the environment incited our research on delivering pesticides via trunk injection. This method delivers the compound into the canopy via tree xylem and could increase the efficiency in disease control. To find out how, where and when injected compounds distribute in the apple tree, thus affecting the efficiency in pest control, we injected imidacloprid through 1, 2, 4, or 8 injection ports per tree. By quantifying leaf residues we demonstrated variable spatial distribution of imidacloprid in the canopy. Spatial uniformity of distribution increased with more injection ports and 4 ports provided uniform distribution. To demonstrate the efficiency of injected compounds in fire blight and apple scab control we injected apple trees with antibiotics, plant resistance inducers, and fungicides. Antibiotics, potassium phosphites (PJ) and acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) provided weak control of blossom and shoot blight while oxytetracycline was the most efficient. ASM and PJ significantly expressed PR-1, 2, and 8 protein genes showing resistance activation in apple leaves (SAR) which suppressed the pathogen. Four injections of PJ in spring controlled leaf apple scab for 2 seasons, similar to 2 seasons of standard sprays. To optimize injections for apple scab control we evaluated 1-2 and 4 cross-seasonal and 1-2 seasonal injections of PJ and fungicides. PJ provided better scab control than propiconazole, cyprodinil and difenoconazole and showed better or equal and more persistent scab control with fewer injections than sprays. Control varied among canopy organs due to different transpiration, with best scab control on shoots, fruit, and then spurs. Good scab control is provided by 2-3 spring injections. Residues of synthetic fungicides in fruit were always below the residue tolerances. Fall injection did not improve apple scab control. To get temporally uniform imidacloprid distribution in the crown, best results were achieved by injection dose delivery at 4 times, 14 days apart. Injection method comparison showed that drill-based injection of the liquid imidacloprid formulation provided the highest residue concentration in the canopy when compared to other injection methods. Comparison of 7 trunk injection devices showed that drillbased devices did not provide higher residue concentration of cyprodinil and difenoconazole in apple leaf canopy when compared to needle-insertion device Bite, while Wedgle was similar. All the injection devices allowed similar apple scab control with fungicides. When monitoring the rate of trunk injection port healing in apple trees, we found that port closure with callus lasted for 1-1.3 and >2 years depending on the port size and type. Port closure was faster on the ports with smaller diameters. Around all injection port types, bark cracking due to frost events was higher in vertical direction of the trunk. The visible port depth declined faster on port from 11/64" drill bit and on lenticular injection port from double-edge blade, versus the port from 3/8" drill bit.

Airblast sprayers result in only 29 to 56% of solution being deposited on the tree canopy, and the remaining product drifting to ground or other off-target end points (Steiner 1969).

Entomology, Ornithology & Herpetology, Vol. 3: 126, 2014

Trunk injection technology represents an alternative delivery system to provide crop protection for horticultural crops of commercial and smallholder farmers in the developed and developing world. Field studies, laboratory bioassays, and residue profile analysis were used to determine the seasonal effectiveness of trunk injected insecticides against key apple insect pests. Insecticides formulated for trunk injection, imidacloprid, rynaxypyr, and emamectin benzoate were injected into semi dwarf Empire apple trees and evaluated for a wide range of insect pests. Imidacloprid controlled piercing and sucking pests, and emamectin benzoate controlled leaf rollers, Oriental fruit moth, and leafhoppers, and rynaxypyr controlled Oriental fruit moth and leaf rollers. The residue profiles for insecticides showed that vascular delivery was predominantly to foliage, with fruit residues far below the EPA maximum residue limits, and low to no residues detected in apple flower parts. These results suggest that trunk injection is a promising delivering system for plant protection materials for control of foliar pests, while minimizing impacts on natural enemies, eliminating spray drift, and reducing the pesticide load in the agro-ecosystem. For smallholder farmers this low-capital investment technology has the potential to significantly reduce the human health risks associated with pesticide use, while protecting high value horticultural crops from pests.

Journal of Environment Quality, 2008

Bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) are recognized as the most important tree mortality agent in western coniferous forests. A common method of protecting trees from bark beetle attack is to saturate the tree bole with carbaryl (1-naphthyl methylcarbamate) using a hydraulic sprayer. In this study, we evaluate the amount of carbaryl drift (ground deposition) occurring at four distances from the tree bole (7.6, 15.2, 22.9, and 38.1 m) during conventional spray applications for protecting individual lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) from mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) attack and Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.) from spruce beetle (D. rufi pennis [Kirby]) attack. Mean deposition (carbaryl + α-naphthol) did not diff er signifi cantly among treatments (nozzle orifi ces) at any distance from the tree bole. Values ranged from 0.04 ± 0.02 mg carbaryl m −2 at 38.1 m to 13.30 ± 2.54 mg carbaryl m −2 at 7.6 m. Overall, distance from the tree bole signifi cantly aff ected the amount of deposition. Deposition was greatest 7.6 m from the tree bole and quickly declined as distance from the tree bole increased. Approximately 97% of total spray deposition occurred within 15.2 m of the tree bole. Application effi ciency (i.e., percentage of insecticide applied that is retained on trees) ranged from 80.9 to 87.2%. Based on review of the literature, this amount of drift poses little threat to adjacent aquatic environments. No-spray buff ers of 7.6 m should be suffi cient to protect freshwater fi sh, amphibians, crustaceans, bivalves, and most aquatic insects. Buff ers >22.9 m appear suffi cient to protect the most sensitive aquatic insects (Plecoptera).

Phytopathologia Mediterranea, 2019

Thousand cankers disease, caused by the pathogen Geosmithia morbida vectored by the bark beetle Pityophthorus juglandis , has emerged as an important disease of walnut trees in Europe. The present study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of trunk injections of four commercial fungicides and one insecticide for control of the fungus and its vector. Laboratory tests indicated that fungicides containing prochloraz + tetraconazole were the most effective. Field trials on non-infected trees allowed for the selection of a mixture containing prochloraz and tetraconazole (Binal Pro), the insecticide abamectin (Vertimec EC) and the adjuvant 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy) ethanol (Carbitol TM ) as having rapid host uptake. Injections of this formulation in naturally infected black walnut trees reduced the presence of G. morbida , supporting trunk injection as an efficient and low impact technique to manage fungal damage on infected trees.

Plant Diagnosticions Quarterly, 1999

Crop Protection, Vol. 65, pp. 173-185, 2014

Field studies, laboratory bioassays, and residue profile analysis were used to determine the seasonal effectiveness of trunk injected pesticides against key apple disease and insect pests. Insecticides formulated for trunk injection, imidacloprid (Ima-jet™), rynaxypyr (XCL-r8™), and emamectin benzoate (TREE-age™) were injected into semi-dwarf Empire apple trees Malus domestica (Borkhausen) and evaluated for a wide range of insect pests. The fungicide compounds, propiconazole (Alamo®), phosphites (Phospho-jet), and penthiopyrad (Fontelis™), were injected into semi-dwarf MacIntosh (RedMax) apple trees M.domestica (Borkhausen) for control of apple scab fungus, Venturia inaequalis (Cooke). After the original single injection, imidacloprid was highly effective in controlling piercing and sucking pests such as the potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae (Harris), and aphids (Aphididae), and emamectin benzoate was highly effective in controlling the oblique banded leaf roller, Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris), and potato leafhopper, E. fabae (Harris), and rynaxypyr was highly effective in controlling Oriental fruit moth, Grapholita molesta (Busck), and leafrollers all for two growing seasons. The residue profiles for insecticides showed that vascular delivery was predominantly to foliage, with fruit residues far below the EPA maximum residue limits (MRLs), and low to no residues detected in apple flower parts. Phosphites provided significant levels of apple scab control over two seasons for the single injection after the foliage recovered from the phytotoxicity damage in the first season. Propiconazole and penthiopyrad showed limited effectiveness for the control of apple scab. The residue profiles for fungicides showed phosphites to be delivered primarily to foliage, but inconsistent foliar residue levels for the other two compounds suggests possible incompatibilities may be responsible for poor product performance. These incompatibilities may include molecular or chemical properties. For example, on the molecular level such as the molecular size too large to fit through vascular tissue and chemical properties such as the viscosity of the compound resulting in poor translocation or pH.

Several systemic insecticides are labeled for control of sucking insect pests of trees, and numerous ap- plication methods are available for arborists. A field trial was conducted to test 2 formulations of imidacloprid (Pointer 4% and Merit 75 WP systemic insecticides), a formulation of abamectin (Greyhound 1.9%, Bl), and 2 different delivery systems. The delivery systems evaluated were the Kioritz soil injector and ArborSystem's Wedgle- tip tree injection system. The target pest in this field trial was hawthorn lace bug (Corythucha cydoniae) on hawthorn (Crataegus viridis) trees. The Kioritz is a handheld soil injector made for injecting fertilizer and systemic pesti- cides into the root zone of trees and shrubs with relatively small amounts of water. The Wedgle tip is an injection system that uses a blunt-edged tip inserted through a small hole through the bark, just to the edge of the sap- wood. Wounding to the tree with the Wedgle tip is mini- mal. This study indicates that ...