A new, more affordable option for treating EAB:  LALGUARD AZA

As our customers can attest, TreeAzin does an excellent job controlling EAB.  With its ease of injection, highly effective biennial treatments, and exceptional environmental profile, TreeAzin has saved countless ash trees across the North American landscape.    

After years of research, we’ve developed a new azadirachtin-based insecticide that, like its predecessor TreeAzin, has a fantastic environmental profile and excellent efficacy, but with significant cost savings. Due to its unique formulation, LALGUARD AZA allows us to have the same great efficacy we have with TreeAzin, but with a lower amount of active ingredient, which makes us able to price LALGUARD AZA much more competitively… even against the leading synthetics.

In order to confirm that LALGUARD AZA has an equivalent level of control of EAB larvae as TreeAzin, we worked with academic partners to set up an independent research trial in a heavily infested New Hampshire woodlot.  The Garnas lab at the University of New Hampshire injected trees in June of 2019 with either TreeAzin or LALGUARD AZA at label dose rates.  They also left some trees un-injected, as controls.  They carefully monitored the trees each summer, comparing uptake of the active ingredient in leaves collected from trees in both treatments groups with the help of our local lab in Lebanon, New Hampshire.  With anticipation, they awaited the results of these comparisons at every sampling time-point; always pleased to see comparable levels of azadirachtin in leaves treated with either insecticide.   

In the fall of 2020, two full seasons after that initial injection, all the trees in the study were felled, bucked, and stacked by a local independent forester.  It was then that Garnas’ graduate students set to work – meticulously removing all the bark from each and every log – counting and measuring any larvae they found – and taking note of any larval galleries in the cambial layers of the wood.  Exhausting work! 

After compiling all the data, Bre Aflague, the lead graduate researcher on the project, determined that there was no difference between LALGUARD AZA and TreeAzin in the control of the damaging EAB larvae.  In fact, both were highly effective at controlling EAB compared to the untreated control trees.   

With this important efficacy data now in hand, we are confident that LALGUARD AZA will be just as effective as TreeAzin in controlling EAB, but at a significant cost-savings.  Our hope is that by switching to LALGUARD AZA,  our customers can now treat more trees on a biennial basis, resulting in an increase of ash trees present on the American landscape for years to come. 

Canister Exchange Program

Return your 20ml canisters for a $4.00 (per canister) credit toward future purchases. Thinking of making the switch to LALGUARD AZA? Our canister exchange program makes it easy. Simply send us your existing 20ml canisters, and receive a $4 credit toward future purchases of brand new 8ml or 4ml canisters! Don’t delay, this offer expires on July 16th, 2021. Email us to learn more about this program!

 

REPLAY: Webinar LALGUARD AZA

Learn about LALGUARD AZA’s benefits and why transitioning to this new product could be advantageous for you. Save money while treating for  European Elm Scale, Emerald Ash Borer and many other pests with our new azadirachtin formulation LALGUARD AZA.

Moth Madness

While 2020 saw humans social distancing, sheltering in place, and working remotely, Lymantria dispar dispar (LDD) were having a banner year across 20 States. Large numbers of LDD larvae created nuisances in these areas, and many are expecting LDD infestations again this year. Here are five things to know about LDD as we get into 2021: 

  1. LDD larvae prefer to feed on oaks, but will also defoliate birch, apple, willow, basswood, and poplar. Less preferred are beech, cherry, maples and even spruce when food is less plentiful. 
  2. Moths lay eggs in fuzzy brown masses on a variety of surfaces in mid- to late-summer. Egg masses are easy to see during the fall and winter when they can be removed to prevent hatching in spring. Once removed, they must be submerged in a soap or bleach solution for a week to kill the dormant larvae. 
  3. New and old egg masses can be identified by their appearance. New egg masses are typically darker brown with a smooth surface. They feel firm to the touch. Old egg masses are typically lighter brown and have a dotted or ragged appearance. They feel soft to the touch.  
  4. LALGUARD AZA is available for protecting individual trees from defoliation, but it has a very specific application timeframe in order to be effective. Treatments must occur when larvae are in their early stages of development, usually from mid-May to early June, depending on location. 
  5. Aerial spray treatments protect tree stands from defoliation in the year they are applied, but they do not have a long-lasting effect on LDD populations. LDD populations are influenced by several factors like disease and weather patterns and may continue to be high in the year following spraying.  

BioForest’s Urban Forest Health department performs a range of LDD services, including egg mass surveys, defoliation surveys, aerial spray timing and assessments, and more. Contact support@bioforest.ca for more information.  

YouTube Channel: Troubleshooting Videos

Feeling a bit rusty operating your EcoJect System after the long winter months have come to an end? Can’t remember how to measure and dose multi-stem trees? Experiencing a loading gun leak? Swing by our YouTube channel and search through our troubleshooting videos to help refresh your memory!

Do you use TreeAzin in your plant health care program?

Let us know what you think of our botanical systemic insecticide by answering a few questions in our short survey! Your answers will help us improve our internal processes and will lead to a better customer experience.

The responses to this survey are strictly confidential. The collected data will not be shared with external parties. For any questions, please contact our support team led by Elsa Cousineau at ecousineau@bioforest.ca

When to start your pest treatments this year

Trying to find the perfect window to treat for LDD or emerald ash borer? View our insect development forecast and treatment timing maps (BioSIM) for your area. Maps are updated weekly from April to July.

 

 

 

The Importance of Clean Canisters

Keeping canisters clean is important to the proper operation of the EcoJect System. Click here to download the PDF for the how-to do proper maintenance.