What's killing the Pines?

[Chuck52]

Ah good point, however you have failed to understand one thing. Most who use pesticides understand better than those who regurgitate propaganda.....Honey Bees and some insects are very beneficial to plant life and pollination. Note, I did not say non-specific pesticides. In the spirit of the post, and responses I was mainly refering to bark beetles and such. Rather than to spout propaganda, it might be nice to understand spraying practices before speaking. ALL PESTICIDES SPRAYED IN THIS NECK OF THE WOODS ARE DONE AT NIGHT....when honey bees and beneficial insects are GENERALLY asleep.

With generalized statements that are easily used to inflame public opinion....the American food eater....and I would presume that would include you....will be paying more and more and more for food.

Right. Like I said, got a specific insecticide in mind? I don't oppose spraying if it will do any good, but I don't know of any such application that has worked to control any of the various pests we seem to keep bringing into the country with international trade and such. Something ate all the leaves off some of my apple, pecan and walnut trees this year and you can sure bet I'll be watching and spraying next year to prevent a repeat.....I do like to eat. So, what would you spray to stop the pine bark beetles? I've got two 50 year old specimens I'd like to keep around for another few decades.

Propaganda, by the way, is almost never one sided. That's not regurgitated. That's fact. And claiming that most people who use insecticides know what they are doing is no better a generalization than that all people who object to over use of insecticides (note I say over use) are wacko. There's middle ground. Some insecticides are just plain dangerous, and it wouldn't matter when they were sprayed as they have considerable staying power. Some insecticides are almost innocuous. I don't trust any particular entity to tell me which is which. If I care enough, I have access to, and the ability to read and understand the basic research upon which such decisions can be based. A fair amount of that work is of course also questionable. Pick a chemical and do the literature search....not the popular literature, or the manufacturer's blurbs, the peer-reviewed journals....and you'll often still find support for either side of the argument for or against its use. I am a biochemist. I am nowhere near afraid of insecticide use. I do not trust the average user of insecticides to know how safe they are. I do not trust the government to know how safe they are. However, I eat foods every day which have been treated with various chemicals including insecticides. I do not object to the reasoned application of insecticides that are likely to produce the desired result as safely as possible. There are extremes on both sides of just about any argument.

Chuck

 

[MtnViewRanch]

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[Bob_Young]

Well, I've gotten some folks at the local Cornell Extension somewhat interested. They may pay me a visit. A long phone discussion with a lady at their office got me to thinking that there may be more than one 'vector' at work. The ones that died quickly and dramatically were, I believe, Scotch Pines in a low damp area. Reading radman's post, it may well have been the work of the nematode as they were around 15 to 20 years old.

The dying White Pines are another matter. Following a link someone provided here, I found some detailed information on Pine Bark Beetle infestations. In a group of dying White Pines about 10 years old, I found one that exhibited what I would call 'classic symptoms' of bark beetle work: heavy, crusty sap deposits on the bark which, when pulled away, uncovered evidence of serious insect damage. Other nearby trees that seem to be dying at the same rate do not show any of the same evidence.

Looking around, I've noticed that many of my larger trees that seemed to be shedding needles in large quantities a few weeks ago, now appear to be OK. The lady at the Cornell office suggested that it might've been a periodic shed cycle. Never really noticed needle shed cycles before. Could also be that the onset of cold weather has slowed the pests down.
Bob

 

[Chuck52]

Bob,

Last year was the first time I noticed my white pines shedding lots of needles at one time. I'm sure they had done it before, but I guess I just didn't notice. I thought they were in trouble, too, but was told that they shed every year and that sometimes it just looks more dramatic. I hope your white pines are OK. The big one are sure impressive looking. If I lost the two by my house I'd also lose a lot of the privacy we have in that part of the house.

Chuck