Turf Logic - Plant Health Care Program Products

Plant Health Care Program

Products

Although control products are used only when absolutely necessary, we at Turf-Logic are dedicated to using only the safest and most environmentally coconscious products available.

The following is a partial list of our products.

Horticultural Soap
Horticultural soap controls pest through desiccation. Much like hand soap dries out your skin, horticultural soap dries out the bodies of pest insects. The insects controlled by soaps are generally soft bodied and very small such as aphids, adelgid, and mites, who are responsible for many of the most common and destructive problems in your landscape. Because of its mode of action insecticidal soaps are relatively harmless to people, the environment and non-target insects.
Horticultural Oil
Horticultural oil is essentially highly refined baby oil. Like insecticidal soap it is narrow spectrum, effecting only very small pests like adelgid, aphids, and mites. Horticultural oil is a great tool because it is not a poison; it controls pests by surrounding the target pest in a tiny bead of oil that causes suffocation, leaving larger insects, like ladybugs, unharmed.

Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt)

Bacillius thuringiensis is a bacterium that produces a toxin that is toxic to specific insects. We use Bt as a contol for caterpillars like winter moth, canker worm, and gypsy moth. Bt is a great product because it is extreamly narrow spectrum. The compound produced by the bacterium is only toxic to moth and butterfly caterpillars who eat the compound, so only caterpillars attempting to feed on treated foliage are controled. All other insects are unharmed by the product.

Spinosad
Spinosad is a naturally derived product. Spinosad is produced by extracting a compound from a soil living bacteria called Saccharopolysproa spinosa. Like most of our products, Spinosad is used because it posses the least threat to people, pets, non-target insects, and the environment, while giving the best possible control. Spinosad is also narrow-spectrum with little deleterious effect to predators, and other non-target insects. We generally use this product to control Lepidoptera caterpillars like winter moth,canker worm, and gypsy moth.
Insect Growth Regulators
Insect Growth regulators (IGRs) are a class of product that are derived from or mimic the natural hormones used by insects to control their development. When insects grow or move from one life stage to the next, they need to shed their exoskeleton. This shedding is regulated by the insect growth regulators. When used as a control product the IGRs cause a disruption in the molt that is fatal. The beauty of these products is that they are hormones produced solely by insects, and have little to no effect on humans and other vertebrates. Insect Growth Regulators are also selective in their control, because they only affect insects that are in a specific life stage
Pyrethrins
Pyrethrins are products derived from natural defensive compounds produced by the chrysanthemum plant. Pyrethroids have a low mammalian toxicity, and do not last long in the environment where they naturally break down into benign compounds
Imidicloprid
Imidicloprid is synthetic product that is sold under a variety of names. Although Imidicloprid is a synthetic compound we use it because it can be used as a systemic. A systemic is a product that when applied is actually taken up into the plant tissue. This is ideal for an IPM program because for the most part it only affects insects that attempt to feed on the plant tissue.