I was discussing the former use of Di-syston (disulfoton) with Kathe Kitchens trying to figure out how long it takes for that stuff to get out of my roses now that I have gone to organics.
Evidently this stuff is quite persistent and unhealthy (see below) to the extent that it is being pulled rather than having a toxicity evaluation done. Call me silly but i doubt a highly profitable compound that is so widely used would be pulled if they figured there was a chance in the world of favorable evaluations.
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/in ... l_802.html
I have not really messed much with purchasing natural predators but plan to go that way starting next spring. Here is a link that looked pretty good, they seem to have a control for every pest:
http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol.html
My roses did not get any pesticides this year and the thrip problems i have had declined by probably 75%. My best guess is that the healthy soil (teeming with worms) and lack of poisons allowed some natural predators to take over the management - lotsa little spiders and the greenish ladybird beetles everywhere.
If you walk into most nurseries and mention thrips on roses you'll be given rose food with di-syston. My own observations of the product over a 4 year period are:
1. Good knockdown the first time I used it - thrips way down.
2. After a while it quit working and I alternated with Acephate on the advice of a nursery. That worked well for a year.
3. Neither worked nearly as well as this year's regimen - nothing.
What is a little alarming to me is the fact that when I first bought this the nursery said "Hey, they use it on wheat and other food crops, it is safe".
Well, that does not seem to be the case if you read the evidence later in this post.
I am fairly well convinced that I got beneficial insects back in large numbers once the soil got nice and healthy - makes sense. I am planning to buy some natural predators next Spring and see how they do.
For your enjoyment, here is what I could find out about the safe (cough, cough) systemic pesticide Di-syston that is being pulled, I am sure there will be a new one on shelves soon. Did it work as it was supposed to? Moderately well, very well at first. Did it work as well as focusing on healthy soil ? No, not even a contest really. For anyone concerned that I say it did it's job well I try to call it like I see it from experience with a chemical - this one is obviously one I wish I had never met. Check your rose food - some has di-syston mixed in.
This is nice:
http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/ex ... n-ext.html
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs65.html
Oh, this one is nice too:
http://www.pested.psu.edu/infocenter/regulatory/28.pdf
That last one ought to irk you - change the label to not recommend use on these food crops but keep shipping the old labels for 18 months.