I don't spray for anything unless there is a problem in which case I choose the least toxic methods first to see if they work. Over the years I have come to realize certain plants in my yard stand no chance without protection such as curcubits. Stink bugs, cuke beetles and squash vine borers all want to decimate them. Most every other plant type I grow does fine with no protection. Every gardener's yard/experience is different. My personal advice is this: Do nothing for anything until/unless there is a problem. Just because someone else has pest/disease problems with a particular plant type doesn't mean you will. On the other hand if you have grown a plant type for years and each year the same pest/disease bothers it greatly then a preventative control is probably justified. I certainly won't judge you for using one. If you must use harsh, broad spectrum killers so be it, but please try to start with the least toxic remedy and work your way to more toxic if it doesn't offer enough control rather than start with the nuclear option ;) As a side note, before you go the nuclear route, consider the fate of the young, the pets, the pregnant etc. who are much more susceptible to health problems from these things than healthy adults are. Sometimes a plant is just so prone to problems in a particular area it's worth asking oneself if it's really all that important to grow that plant instead of something else. I love corn, but don't grow any. I can't without the pesticides because I live in the corn belt and therefore corn pests like the corn rootworm are massively present. Therefore I choose to not grow corn. I used to think a weed free lawn was uber important. I hired a service to nuke the weeds in my lawn. At the age of 7 my golden retriever who loved to eat grass died of cancer. I later learned one of the herbicides used on my lawn was virtually non toxic to everything except dogs. With dogs it dramatically increased the rate of cancer. I will never forgive myself. Don't find yourself in my shoes. Not being judgmental, just giving an example.

Thanks Prof R...What you've said takes away some of the guilt I've had about his passing. I don't believe that he had a murmur before and he had recently gone through some pretty thorough exams trying to get to the bottom of what was causing his seizures. The only thing we didn't have done was an MRI, because they didn't have the capabilities at my vet, and we would have had to bring him to UT. Our vet and I made the decision that, even if we were to opt for an MRI and it showed a brain tumor, that there really was no reasonable treatment and we would just let him live out his days until it seemed like his quality of life was gone. He was a fighter and made it out of a horrible breeder situation. Part of his neurological disorder effected his balance, and we even had a little wheelchair specially made for him. He was a sweet little guy and we miss him dearly :( I think its wonderful that you work with a veterinary hospital. Ever since I was a little child, everyone told me I should have been a vet, and I greatly regret not going into that field and instead ending up in finance. I volunteer every weekend at a no-kill shelter and we also foster special needs dogs (how we came to acquire Dusty last year). Its not the same, but its my little contribution :) Tammy ps: sorry for hijacking gardenweb to talk about my Dusty!

Yep, you messed up there buddy! Time will tell is the answer. Anything dead you might as well remove though, it surely doesn't return after it's died. Dax

I use 1/2 water and 1/2 rubbing alcohol. You could add to that some bronner's peppermint soap if you like, some say the smell is a repellent and it sticks better with soap. I don;t know Stapeliads, so someone else will say if this is OK. But I use this mix on all my succs, lots of sensitive ones that would not tolerate soap or oil. I also use it on really tiny seedling with no problems.