820-Umcaster Farming, Saturday, June 8, 1991
Home Gardener Should Read And Follow Labels
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster
Co.) Take this short quiz.
Question; What are homeowners
supposed to do about old chemi
cals in old pesticide containers?
Choose the correct answer A.
Dump the chemicals down the
drain. B. Stick the unused chemi
cal in another jar and leave sit until
you can get rid of it at another date.
C. Bury the containers in the back
yard. D. None of the above.
The answer is, certainly, D.
These are some of the questions
that home gardeners ask about pes
ticides and fertilizers. Many ques
tions were addressed at die Lan
caster Co. Home Horticulture
Seminar (Simple Garden Chemi
stry) last week at the Farm and
Home Center.
Follow procedures
For unused portions of pesti
cides and their containers, the best
thing is to follow the proper proce
dures for disposal, according to H.
Bruce Hellerick, horticulture
extension agent.
“Don’t throw it down the sewer
it’s not good for the environ
H. Bruce Hellerlck, hortlculure extension agent, reviews
different types of garden fertilizers at the Home Horticulture
Seminar last week at the Lancaster Farm and Home Center.
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Follow 645 North 4 Miles of Myerstown,
Watch for Signs
ment and you could be in trouble if
they catch you doing that,” said
HeUerick. Use any remaining pro
duct according to the label or,
for Lancaster Co. residents, simply
phone the Lancaster Solid Waste
Disposal Authority and arrange a
time to come in to dispose of the
container.
Also, mix only the pesticides
you are going to use—do not store
mixed pesticides for future use.
HeUerick examined the trade
names and labels of various home
pesticides, including herbicides,
fungicides, and other types.
Identify pest
To handle lawn and garde.,
pests, homeowners should first
identify the pest Consult with the
local extension office or read
publications (including “Pest
Suggestions For Insects and Dis
eases,” a Penn State pubUcation
available for $8 from your exten
sion office). Determine if the pest
is either ‘‘a good guy or a bad
guy,” said HeUerick. If the num
ber of infestation is small, perhaps
no treatment is necessary.
The next step is to scout and see
how many pests are there. “We
have to be out there constantly
looking at the plants really get
down and look for the insects,” he
said.
Next, treat according to several
options, including sprays, traps, or
other techniques, including (in the
case of tree infestation) skirts.
Home gardeners can also look for
egg masses during the winter and
simply scrape them off and dispose
of diem properly.
Afterward, home gardeners
should assess the problem. “If it
didn’t work, then we have to do
something else. We have to use all
steps necessary it’s a whole
cycle, aU the way through,” he
said.
Read label
The best thing for the gardener
is to carefully read the pestcide
label and watch for application
conditions. Many herbicides have
residual affects and have restric
tions on what type of areas can be
applied. Others have the same
EPA registered chemicals sold
under different brand names—but
are esssentially the same product,
according to Hellerick.
Gardeners should consider pur
chasing only those chemicals they
need for one season.
Hellerick also described fertiliz
er applications and what types of
fertilizer to look for. Growers
shou u Hake time to read the type of
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fertilizer on the package and dis
cern the differences between water
soluable and water insoluable
nitrogen.
Also, liming is important to the
soil and to how nitrogen, micronu
trients, and pesticides work on the
plants.
Plant applications
Other types of plant appUca
dons, including root developers,
blossom and fruit sets, wilt preven
ters, and leaf cleaning chemicals
were discussed.
Food Science Programs
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) —General Mills will award a
$1,500 scholarship to a junior at
the Penn State food science
department
Another $1,500 scholarship will
be given to an outstanding senior
in food science who plans to enroll
in a graduate program or to an out
standing candidate for a food sci
ence graduate degree.
Recipients for both scholarships
will be selected by food science
faculty members and representa
tives of General Mills and are
renewable on an annual basis at the
discretion of General Mills.
For efficient fertilizer management
contact us for an accurate
nutrient evaluation.
We Will Not Be Undersold!!
FARM TECH SERVICE, INC.
365 W. Bainbridge St
Elizabethtown, PA 17022
- Serving The Farm Community Since 1983 -
Scholarships Enhance
For Your
Fertilizer
Dollar
Hellerick cautioned gardeners
to beware of claims by some of the
product manufacturers as to “mir
acle type things,” he said.
“Go back and find out what the
product is, and see if it is nothing
more than ordinary elements. In
this case, it’s the buyer beware.
* ‘We’re trying to raise your con
sciousness.” he said. “When
you’re going to the garden center,
we want you to make an informed
decision about what products to
purchase.”
A $15,000 scholarship fund to
benefit Penn State students inter
ested in mushroom science tech
nology has been established in the
memory of James “Jim” Robers,
former owner and president of a
Coatesville spawn company.
Penn State alumnus John B.
Swayne Jr. has given $250,000 to
endow a professorship at Penn
State University College of Agri
culture in honor of his father, a
pioneer in the slate’s commercial
mushroom industry.
The professorship will strength
en research and teaching programs
in mushroom science.