Awe this is so nice of you Moses! Thanks for this thread :)

Thankfully, I have not really had an issue with midge damage. I do get the odd bud that's a bit eaten, sometimes tips of new growth are chewed up. However, I can't tell if it's aphids, midge, sawfly, caterpillars or some other pest. I do have a lot of different varieties of roses, so there is always something with one rose or another. Sometimes it's a pest, sometimes fungal & sometimes just odd weather. I don't strive for perfect blooms, just lots of blooms with lots of colour.

As for insecticides, pesticides & herbicides; there are many that are banned here in Canada now. There are no chemicals that we can use on our lawns that kill the weeds like before. But I'm ok with that, I have a small dog & a young child that play in the yard. I don't want them rolling around on chemically treated grass just so it looks perfect.

Lydia,

My best advice to you now is contact your local rose society/club. They have the latest information. Such groups are usually more than willing to lend assistance.

You may be given a number of approaches by them for combatting midge. I believe you will have to make a decision on which one you will follow. Trial and error will probably be the route you take until a satisfactory treatment is found.

In the mean time, go to your retail establishments that do sell insecticides. Study the labels to see: first, if rose midge fly is listed as an insect it kills, second, look for a systemic insecticide, which should work.

Remember, it must be rose midge maggot you want to kill, not the adults. I do not think the adults even eat once emerged from the cocoon, so a body contact spray would have to hit the mite to kill it. They are sneaky and elusive. To get a spray on them would be quite a feat.

Systemic insecticide will penetrate the interior of the growing tip with its layers of packed leafy structures where the midge fly maggots live. It's hard for an insecticide to get to their location unless it is systemic. Systemics are absorbed into the plant tissue where they are needed in the case of midge fly maggots.

Systemics do not generally translocate to subsequent new growth that is made after a spray session. As a sprayed tip lengthens the fresh growth is vulnerable to a new midge attack having no insecticide in it. Growing tips require repeated sprayings at 7-10 day intervals until they produce green flower bud(s), the size of a green pea, the vegetable. At this point the tip is safe from any further midge attacks, and needs no further spraying.

Also set out several yellow and blue plastic cups smeared with cooking oil. This should trap some midge adults, maybe enough to keep damage down to an acceptable level. Put the cups fastened to little sticks about 30-40 cm above the ground.

The road to victory has many obstacles. A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits. Hang in there.

Moses

I have the odd crisped tips, but I use the cup method, and it's fine. The damage is only in the spring, and there's not much of it. So I just get rid of the crisped tips. There's usually no worries.

Carol

Moses, Western PA., zone 5/6

Remember, it must be rose midge maggot you want to kill, not the adults. I do not think the adults even eat once emerged from the cocoon, so a body contact spray would have to hit the mite to kill it. They are sneaky and elusive. To get a spray on them would be quite a feat.

Systemic insecticide will penetrate the interior of the growing tip with its layers of packed leafy structures where the midge fly maggots live. It's hard for an insecticide to get to their location unless it is systemic. Systemics are absorbed into the plant tissue where they are needed in the case of midge fly maggots

Moses: how, then, is cyfluthrin's effectiveness in this

http://oregonstate.edu/dept/nurspest/rose_midgeARF-ODAfinal.pdf

study (previously referenced in this forum, on more than 1 occasion) explained? It

doesn't act systemically/translocate in the plant, as far as I know. Application was by foliar spray.

Rifis,

The study is seriously flawed on a multitude of points in the first place. This is typical with research done by pseudo scientists at educational institutions.

Three test plots were selected: a control plot, one for Merit (imidacloprid), as a pre-emergent soil granule, applied on Feb. 23; and one for Tempo 2, sprayed every 2 weeks, 12 sessions total, starting on April 8.

By July 15, it was determined that the control plot showed little midge damage so a second control plot was selected to act as the control. WHAT! What if both the treated plots also experienced very light midge pressure that year having nothing to do with their insecticide treatments.

The test results are ruined by this unscientific process. The professors who placed their names on this so called research are not thinking or acting correctly.

Also, what variety/class of rose was used in each test plot? If the test roses were not identical in variety/class, and number of each, age of bushes, and care given in each plot, the test results are inaccurate.

Hybrid teas, with their fat, chunky growing tips are prime targets for midge attacks. At the other end of rose classes, cluster bloomers like polyanthas and floribundas do not experience the heavy midge pressure that hybrid teas do.

I am not saying that Merit or Tempo 2 are NOT effective midge killers. I have been using an insecticide in the same family as Merit for many years, with great midge control results.

By what means Tempo 2 (cyfluthrin), controls midge, I do not know. It's obviously killing either: adult flies, eggs, larvae, or pupae, somehow, but don't go by the flawed test described above. You tell me how it accomplishes its task?

Moses

You are right, of course. Good demonstration of the danger of a casual glance (which is all I did). It IS quite ludicrous that they had the moxie to "publish" it.

I will not even try to blame Dr. Shetlar (who included a graph from their study in his slide presentation http://studylib.net/doc/5320143/rose-midge---the-ohio-state-university ) for contributing to my faulty judgement. The fault is entirely my own.

Rifis,

When it comes to rose care the absolute best source of what to do comes from fellow rosarians, especially those who garden under the same conditions and are experiencing the same dilemmas as you are. They are your fellow rosarians who are carrying out the REAL tests needed to determine the most successful means to overcome a rose care issue. It's where the rubber meets the road, in a home rose garden, under a rosarians care, where results with cutting edge care innovations take place.

The second best source of what to do, what to use, etc.,...is manufacturers of the products you are using. They have a strong incentive to supply the rosarian with what works. It is money! What doesn't work, doesn't sell.

Thank you for bringing to my attention that cyfluthrin is not a systemic insecticide. It is included in the mix along with the systemic, imidacloprid, in Bayer's Advanced Complete Insect Killer that I swear by.

If a more effective, easier to administer, safer for me and the environment midge control comes along, which is very likely some day, hopefully soon, I will be the first to try it, and to sing its praises if it works.

I have sprayed the Bayer product for years with great success. Without its use, I would not grow roses, no matter how much I love them. The midge pressure is so intense here there would be no blooms all season long, after an unpredictable, hit or miss first flush. The frustration level would not be worth it.

If the cyfluthrin in the Bayer product assists/enhances/dominates the effectiveness of this product, all the better. By what means it keeps rose midge damage acceptably low, which it obviously does, I would like to know.

Enjoy your roses. I hope midge never becomes a major issue for you. If it ever does, there are ways to combat it.

Moses

Rose growers in this forum control midges without any synthetic chemicals.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4716518/thank-you-sam?n=2

Thank you Patty . A good reminder before spraying any pesticides it's a good thing to avoid any children, pets , and wildlife and also garden fruits and vegetables. Also the life in the soil is important for plants to grow. It is good to use fresh compost.

Adirondack Samuel,

Do an internet search in order to obtain a more accurate perspective on Rachel Carson. Type in, "Rachel Carson fraud?", and you will find an abundance of eye opening information that will give you a more balanced view of this icon, so called, of the environmental movement. It is important to sort through the information in order to know the truth.

Moses