| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Iain |
Posted - 07 Sep 2006 : 18:14:45
At the request of Dusty, I thought I'd start this off on our organic insecticide, to bring him up to speed on it and also to ask users what they've used it for.
Firstly the name - it stands for Organic Agent 2 Kill Insects - that might make it easier for you to remember!
Basically it is based on 'plant extracts' which have the property of dissolving waxes. In this case, the waxy layer on the cuticle of an insect that stops the juices inside from leaking out. Remove this layer from insects and they dry up! Hence it is physical in action and works on all stages of the insect, including the egg, as they all rely on these waxes.
Because it is a physical mode of action, it falls outside COPR (Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986 which all chemical-acting pesticides in the UK must be approved under). It will in due course fall under the EU-wide BPD (Biocide Products Directive), but not until they've ground their way through the 'standard' pesticides and have decided what to do with the 'physicals', which I think also includes the fatty acid 'soft soaps' and diatomaceous earth products.
Oa2ki is therefore considered 'organic' (contains no 'nasty' chemical actives!) so is used for insect control in establishments claiming 'organic' food production status, which are becoming increasingly common.
We supply a 500ml 'Professional' concentrate which you dilute 1 : 9 with water and apply as a surface spray in the normal way. I have heard of it being used as a 'fog' and whilst it did kill sp moths, it was not a particularly good 'fog' I'm told. It isn't really formulated for this purpose.
As a surface spray it is useful as a direct contact insecticide - but has a very limited residual life, as you might expect from an emulsion.
I've never used it myself, but I would not expect to be very quick-acting, especially for larger insects and it will not of course have the quick knock down you would expect from pyrethroids.
We also supply it as a 1 litre ready-to-use Trigger Sprayer which some of our professional customers sell on to their clients. Others leave them behind for the clients 'to mop up the stragglers' in order to avoid call backs on ant jobs and such. This approach is popular with hospitals, nursing homes, schools etc.
As it is virtually odourless, it has been used in preference to 'standard' aerosol cans, which are also sometimes used in a similar way.
One very large Local Authority uses it in big quantities for flea control (remember the activity against eggs) so I guess it must work pretty well.
It isn't as cheap as the standard insecticide concentrates, however, but as I hope I've presented above, it does have some interesting benefits.
I think it has wider applications, hence my post on its use against bedbugs on mattresses.
So those of you that have used it - what are your opinions (good or disappointing)? Where did you use and on what insects?
For Dusty, should I contact Peter 'Mac' to see if he would take it?  |
| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Dusty |
Posted - 08 Sep 2006 : 08:07:22
Iain, that man was always looking outside the square, so my guess is that if it is permitted here, Peter will take it on.
Don't feed them, get Rid of them |
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