Tree Injections: Your thoughts

JD3000

Treehouser
Joined
Sep 7, 2016
Messages
126
Location
Columbus, OH
Lets hear some your thoughts on pros and cons for trunk injections.

EAB is my primary bugger but DED, anthracnose, very large trees, and those in sensitive locations are other reasons I use it.
 
I've just started doing tree injections for elm leaf beetle, I'm using a Wedgle direct inject system.
Its taking a little while to know when is the best time and how to use the equipment for best effect.
I like to use trunk injections over soil injection for specimen trees with lots of ornamental planting below as the active ingredient is imidicloprid, which is implicated in bee death.

However I do wonder how much injury is done at each injection site, especially when you see the bark lifting...I wonder what the implications are long term for trees that will require more injections?
Remember however the Wedgle system only penetrates to the bark/wood interface, no big drill holes.
 
We have an injection pesticide available here for our version of the Pine beetle that is wiping out all the Red Pines, the most abundant Pine in certain areas. Of everything that us available, I believe it's the most effective and long lasting. What I understand is that there is no guarantee of success though, something in the range of 60-70 percent. When it does work, said to be effective for six or seven years before it needs to be done again.

You have to drill a small hole past the bark into the area transporting water and put in a dropper thing to dribble in the chemical. Supplied in small vials. A number of locations around the trunk get the injection. I haven't heard of any problems associated with drilling a hole.
 
A major portion of my company's revenue comes from tree injection. As much as I want to be a chemical-free tree hugging hippie, I believe in many cases it's the only ...or at least the best way...way to save trees. EAB is a perfect example.

What do you want to know about it?

Either way- get the Arborjet system. I think it's the best one out there.


love
nick
 
I agree with Nick. I hate chemical pesticides, but at least systemic injection is a one on one attack. I'm getting $45/ site. Decent money from those that can afford it.
 
I agree with your sentiments Nick, but yeah sometimes the chemicals have to come out!
Why do you favour the Arborjet? I'm Always looking for new perspectives...
 
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  • #7
Im using A LOT of Emamectin for EAB, central Ohio was hit very early on and hit hard. Most forest ash dead or dying. Use a high label rate and am now shooting for 3 years instead of the customary two. See Dr McCullough's data on product efficance and longevity.
Also use quite a bit of Propiconazole for select diseases.
Find this method to be very profitable but have great concerns about injecting poor compartmentalizing species such as ash.
 
I figure it comes down to a risk vs reward consideration when deciding if injections are the best option for both our company, and our customers. I think the overall risk of poor compartmentalization, from injections, is something that's justifiable. We know that our Ash trees will die if they aren't treated.

So....if
risk=POTENTIAL issues with compartmentalization from relatively small wounds
and
Reward= 99+% control of eab (and various other issues)
I feel as though various types of injections play an extremely beneficial role arboriculture.

I've used Arbor-Jet tree i.v. system for years for damn near everything. I've recently started using the EnTree (E.A.B. control), from Brandt, exclusively for eab. So crazy efficient.
 
I like the Wedgle, it's just slow. Bright side is it lasts our entire growing season. They say 2 years on aphids, most species.... no way. I find red oak tends to metabolize the product or something, difficult to get aphid control in those. Anyway, if you gotta use them, systemics are the way to go imo
 
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  • #10
I figure it comes down to a risk vs reward consideration when deciding if injections are the best option for both our company, and our customers. I think the overall risk of poor compartmentalization, from injections, is something that's justifiable. We know that our Ash trees will die if they aren't treated.

So....if
risk=POTENTIAL issues with compartmentalization from relatively small wounds
and
Reward= 99+% control of eab (and various other issues)
I feel as though various types of injections play an extremely beneficial role arboriculture.

I've used Arbor-Jet tree i.v. system for years for damn near everything. I've recently started using the EnTree (E.A.B. control), from Brandt, exclusively for eab. So crazy efficient.

Tell me about that Brandt product. I use their chelated Fe and Mn for soil injections. Seems a very reputable company
 
The Brandt product is called enTree. It comes in pre-filled bags. So you get an order consisting of the bags and a "connectors" (which is essentially a hard plastic tube with a 90 degree turn in it). You get 1 connector for every bag. You go around and drill your holes with either a 1/4" or 5/16" high helix bit. One hole for every 5"dbh.

Then set your "connectors" (this may very well not be what Brandt calls them...). Then you hook the connector, that's already connected to the tree, to the bag.

I shit you not, a lot of the time, when you get your last bag set it's already time to pull the first bag.

It's still 4% emamectin benzoate. So, you can still be thinking along the lines of 99.8%+ control. That's what I've read and been told anyway. From what I understand the difference here is the carrying agents. Therefore, your uptake is pretty darn quick.

The other positive note is that there is no necessary equipment other than a drill and a bit.

This is huge when it comes down to multiple eab treatments on one site. Makes it easy to knock out a bunch of trees super quick. You don't have to wait for the tree i.v. to finish. We have a pretty extensive set of Arbor-Jet's tree i.v. systems with the manifolds and what not. But, this is still quicker. For me, quicker by far. Also don't have to mess with rebuilding the i.v. system due to bad o-rings and what not.

If there's anything else I've forgot, please feel free to let me know what I can elaborate on.

If anybody wants to give it a try, get ahold of me and I'd be happy to send people my rep's contact info. But, I'm kinda hesitant to put his contact info on a public forum.
 
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  • #12
Cool. Do the bags have to hang like an IV for a person? I also have been frustrated by the Arbor Jet IVs deciding to leak from an o ring or another connection. Hows pricing compared to other Ema products? Can you drill smaller holes than Arbor Jet? Tjanks in advance!
 
Cool. Do the bags have to hang like an IV for a person? I also have been frustrated by the Arbor Jet IVs deciding to leak from an o ring or another connection. Hows pricing compared to other Ema products? Can you drill smaller holes than Arbor Jet? Tjanks in advance!

Nope. The bags don't hang. They just get pushed on to the "connector" Then you twist them to kinda confirm a good seating from bag to connector. The bags are pre-pressurized so don't need gravitational assistance.

The holes are 1/4", or you can also get away with 5/16 high helix bits. 5/16 may very well be the recommendation. 1/4" is so much easier to find and works perfectly fine, so that's what I use most.

I think the last box I bought, which was only 12 bags, was $26.81/bag. Which treats 5"dbh. I personally run the bags at $60/bag. Haven't been told to piss off yet. Lol. The thing is you are treating on a 5" increment. So, a 12" tree gets the same amount of product as a 15". So the pricing can be finicky when you start considering aj tree iv stuff going off exact dbh measurement.

With that said, it's been working out really well for us.

Happy to share a bit more info if anyone is interested. Gotta wrap a few things up tonight with work, then chill with the fam a bit.

Will try to kick in more info asap.

Or...Please ask what anyones specific questions/comments/concerns, and I'll address those specifically.

Good discussion here.

Yet one more reason to LOVE THE TH!
 
Nope. The bags don't hang. They just get pushed on to the "connector" Then you twist them to kinda confirm a good seating from bag to connector. The bags are pre-pressurized so don't need gravitational assistance.

The holes are 1/4", or you can also get away with 5/16 high helix bits. 5/16 may very well be the recommendation. 1/4" is so much easier to find and works perfectly fine, so that's what I use most.

I think the last box I bought, which was only 12 bags, was $26.81/bag. Which treats 5"dbh. I personally run the bags at $60/bag. Haven't been told to piss off yet. Lol. The thing is you are treating on a 5" increment. So, a 12" tree gets the same amount of product as a 15". So the pricing can be finicky when you start considering aj tree iv stuff going off exact dbh measurement.

With that said, it's been working out really well for us.

Happy to share a bit more info if anyone is interested. Gotta wrap a few things up tonight with work, then chill with the fam a bit.

Will try to kick in more info asap.

Or...Please ask what anyones specific questions/comments/concerns, and I'll address those specifically.

Good discussion here.

Yet one more reason to LOVE THE TH!

Awesome info, thanks!
 
Why do you favour the Arborjet? I'm Always looking for new perspectives...

Prior to investing in the Tree IV system we were using the capsules from Mauget and ...tree-tech (is that the other company?)

They were good on many things but had limitations. The biggest for us: low PSI made pine injection impossible. We sat and watched pine sap back flow into the the capsules. Wtf.

With Arborjet we can crank up the the PSI to match the tree species.

The other thing I like is customizability. With some systems you can customize by using more or less of a product. Tree-äge. Great for bark beetles. But it's also good for twig girdlers... except for it's so thick it isn't good at getting out to the twiggy growth. Can just add more water and it makes it move better in the tree.

There are lots of moving parts. We send the crew out with lots of extras. Twice a year I go through and swap out a hundred tiny o rings. There's a lot of maintenance. But for me, it works.



love
nick
 
Thanks for that Nick.
The Wedgle system came with a specific tool for making hole in conifers and a needle tip with more holes...have not had the chance to use is on any conifers yet so can't comment to its efficiency on them.
Most of my work is/will be elm beetle, and so far, so good with the Wedgle.
Have replaced a couple of O rings so far, but only as recommended by the manufacturer after a season's work, as long as I clean it well at the end of the day, things so far are good.
I have to clean it really well because the Bayer 'Silvashield' crystalizes as soon as it hits water. I can't buy it in pre loaded packs because they can't export it to Australia, so I have to buy empty injection bottles and fill them myself. That so far is the only down side of the Wedgle system, it gets a bit messy and I have to keep everything really segregated, one set of filling tubes for water, one set for product.
 
Great thread guys.

I use QUIK-jet Air by arborjet with the plugs. No nonsense and easy set up. I use Silvasheild on insect and stemix plus for general health.
 
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  • #20
Watch that Wedgle. While there is no drilling involved, it does cause some cambial seperation and often times some localized necrosis.
When injecting conifer, have everything set and ready to go. The tree will start to pump resin to the wounds quickly so you have to be FAST with the injection.
 
Thanks JD...I'm dealing mainly with Elms for leaf beetle.
I have seen the bark lift when injecting smaller trees. The old knarly ones seem to handle it better.
 
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  • #23
Ugh treemender. Good luck.
We did about 745 ash one one estate and it took forever to get them done. Summer injections with the older formulation of Tree Age was as frustrating as it got.
 
Mender...have those trees been injected previously or is this the first time?
 
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