Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this product to continue my transition to a more nearly organic approach to pest control in my garden (I still resort to Malathion for certain pests). Now, after two thirds or so of the season is behind me, I want to put in my report. I used the Monterey Spinosad product on vegetables (squash, eggplant, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and okra), fruits (primocane raspberries before flowering, apples, plums--both Japanese and European Gage varieties, quince, peach, black currants, red currants, and gooseberries), and one ornamental--hollyhocks. I used a 2 gallon RoundUp pump sprayer set to deliver almost a mist and followed the directions carefully about making sure the product remained well mixed and never saw a single sign of burning on any of the plants, including those with new growth, which was effectively all of them, including the various fruits (I mention this here because it was a complaint of one user). When applying it to flowering plants, I tried to spray well after sunset, but even so at times I did notice a few pollinating insects were still active (the product is said to be safe for bees once it has been dry for thirty minutes). That said, the number and kinds of insect pollinators now out in my garden is amazing. I was watching yesterday as a honeybee tried to get into three pumpkin blossoms in succession, before finding one with some room (the first two had three and four bumblebees respectively, the third only one). I should note that until late June I had not seen a single honeybee anywhere in my garden, but now there are many of them out and about. They really seem to love the Cleomes or Spider flowers. Some bad news: Spinosad is not effective against all insect pests. Shocking, right? Anyway, having seen a few posts on GardenWeb and elsewhere by people claiming it works to prevent squash borers, I used the product on my summer squash plants, beginning on July 11th (after removing the spun row cover) to try to control squash vine borers. Unfortunately, my 7 to 10 day application intervals were either too long to prevent squash vine borers from successfully getting into my yellow and zucchini squash plants, or the product does not work against them. I view the latter explanation as the more likely reality as vine borers are not listed on the label. It also does not control cucumber beetles or Japanese beetles (nor does it specifically claim to control either pest). I didn't spray for specifically for them, but when I applied the spray they were both present on various plants and were not inconvenienced by its use that I could tell. On the other hand, the product label does say "leaf-feeding beetles" are controlled by it under its guidelines for use on ornamental plants. Next, the control of cabbage worms and flea beetles was excellent (Note: flea beetles are not specifically listed on the label). I did use spun row covers on my cole crops till the end of June, but the Imported Cabbage butterflies have remained active in and around my garden (one landed and began laying eggs even as I was removing the spun row covers!), and yet since shifting to the spinosad product I haven't seen a single caterpillar or "worm" on any of my cole plants. The eggplant in my garden can and have in the past quickly become stunted by flea beetles. The spinosad product knocked them out and seems to protect the plants for at least a week, though after that they can quickly move back in. I accidentally performed a very good control test on this particular pest when I failed on the second application to spray three eggplant I'd planted in a somewhat obscure location. Those three plants, left untreated for 19 days, were riddled with flea beetle holes by the time I did spray them and have not really recovered. The product also seems to have completely prevented weevils from damaging my hollyhocks, which have always had a problem with these insects. Of course, I haven't seen a weevil on them yet this summer, so maybe the weevils just took a year off. Unlikely but possible, as the hollyhocks are now in a different location than they were. The product label again does not specifically list weevils. I used Spinosad on almost all the fruiting trees and the currants, gooseberries, and primocane raspberries to control both tip-boring larvae (on the peach and primocane raspberries after I noticed a problem) and as a preventative measure on the raspberries to suppress fruit flies. I stopped that last attempt as soon as flowering commenced. Regarding fruit flies, I haven't seen any yet, though I expect the nasty spotted winged drosophilas to show up now that the fruit is starting to ripen. They were a big problem in August and September last summer. Overall, I think the Monterey Spinosad spray is great when used correctly for the insects listed on the label.