I don't grow apricots, so I am not going to comment on whether or not to use sulfur on them. I think what may be causing your confusion is that sulfur (or lime sulfur) plus oil can damage the LEAVES of the plant. If your pears (or other fruit trees) are dormant, then you should be fine to use the oil plus lime sulfur (mix it yourself or buy premix, it should not matter either way). I use it on all my fruit trees and grapes with good results. I think your lilies should be fine if they are covered by mulch and have no growth yet. I don't use copper, so I'll defer comment to someone else who uses it.

The sprays which are the biggest concern are the bug killers like Imidan etc, those you need to be extremely careful with. One more reason why I never use them :-) Once lime-sulphur is diluted in your tank its not going to cause any major problem. Lime-sulphur is a standard treatment for pet skin issues, you put the whole pet into it. While I'm not recommending you give yourself a similar treatment it indicates that there is not a serious toxicity issue of dilute solutions. As far as body exposure of the concentrate is concerned its similar to any strong acid or base, it can give burns if not washed off quickly. I have gotten it on my skin several times and did not get any kind of burn; I always wiped it off immediately and washed the area within a few minutes. Scott

I should be clear. I don't think lime sulfur caused my asthma. But now that I have it, I'm supposed to wear a respirator to spray anything, regardless of the label. I haven't done a lot of spraying, and I surely won't be doing much more. A respirator is a pain, not to mention the reaction from the neighbors... Lime Sulfur is as dangerous as other materials with a DANGER label. Many of us, I include myself here, were under the impression that because it is considered "organic" it is benign. Far from it. Like most fungicides, the real danger is the concentrate and exposure when mixing. It has a real tendency to splatter. It always splatters when you've taken off your gloves and goggles to read the label and mix it. It also stains very badly - - don't get it on anything metal or on your garden lights or paths or walls or your house - - and it is absorbed through the lungs and skin. So you must wear protective equipment. This is not the stuff to be cavalier about. There's something to be said for spending a few bucks to buy a margin of safety. But then I also wear sunscreen... OTOH, it has some virtures. It does stick rather well. Notice also that it is labeled for scale and mites. So combined with oil you hit them with a double whammy. One last thing. I suspect, but don't know for sure, that it is hard to keep in suspension in the sprayer and that it sometimes burns the canes. That's a rough one here because of the possibility of sunburn and/or salt spray damage. Here is a link that might be useful: typical lime sulfur label

It takes 5 years or more. That is why they are expensive, compared to regular forms. Since somebody has already done the hard work for you, since you will get instant results by buying the tree form shrub, since it sounds like this will not break the bank aaaand since it is marked down in price, I would suggest you buy the tree limelight. Still, call a few other local nurseries to see if they have it for even less. This post was edited by luis_pr on Tue, Sep 24, 13 at 7:56