Versatile, flexible pest control options

Photos courtesy of Central Life Sciences

Central Life Sciences is known for insect control that is environmentally cautious yet effective. Two such products with years of proven results are Enstar® AQ and Mavrik Aquaflow®. Dannis Warf, regional sales manager with Central Life Sciences, highlights some of the reasons why these products are most effective for greenhouses.

Mavrik Aquaflow is an insecticide that kills insects at their adult and larval stages. Whiteflies, aphids, thrips, root weevils, beetles, caterpillars, glassy-winged sharpshooters and mites are a few of the insects Mavrik Aquaflow can control. “And the nice thing about this particular product, [it] gives you the immediate knockdown, but also gives you a long-term residual control. It does not harm the plants. It’s mixed with water, so there’s no phytotoxicity when you apply it. It has a very flexible application rate, so it can be used for aggressive, immediate control for tough infestations. And it can also be used as a maintenance program to help [keep] rebounding insects [from] coming back. It helps with insect resistance when used in a rotation with other insecticides,” explains Warf.

Enstar AQ is a great candidate to use with Mavrik Aquaflow, as it works differently as an insect growth regulator. “It keeps the insects from developing from the egg stage to a full adult stage, interrupting its life cycle when it pupates. When you have no new adults means no new insects. The nice thing about that is, it prevents insect resistance, as well as it is a very safe product to use around plants, because it’s not phytotoxic. It has a nice re-entry time of only four hours,” Warf continues. Additionally, you can use Enstar AQ through irrigation systems or drenching systems, a drip or micro jet, or overhead irrigation.

“Everybody knows why insects are bad in a greenhouse or nursery because they cause damage to the plant and will affect their growth. If you’re using products like Mavrik and Enstar in your regular treatment program as a preventative or even corrective program, you will mitigate those losses exponentially. You’ll have better-looking plants, and therefore better profits. The other nice benefits of both products are that they are not restricted-use products, which means you do not have to have [a] special certification or license to apply them,” says Warf of these products’ benefits. Since these products do not require certification from the state, you can also save time, money and labor. These U.S.-manufactured products also come in easy-to-use and easy-to-measure quart and gallon sizes.

Furthermore, these products can be used in a variety of contexts. Enstar AQ is primarily an indoor product, but Mavrik Aquaflow can be used in residential settings, non-commercial and commercial buildings, industrial offices, institutional buildings and even private homes. Enstar AQ works for interior landscapes, lath houses, shade houses and atriums. The very low lethal dose of Enstar AQ makes it “one of those products that should be part of every rotational product to control insects, because there’s no resistance. Enstar AQ can be mixed with any other product that’s out there, whether it’s our product or anybody else’s. It gives you the peace of mind knowing that you’re not developing new broods of insects that are going to be harder to control,” says Warf. Enstar AQ is also great to use when shipping plants, as it kills unsightly fungus gnats. “People don’t like insects flying around their plants when they’re unpacking them. It creates a negative consumer image and therefore hurts your profits,” Warf adds.

Central Life Sciences is also there for support as you use their products, whether it’s over the phone or by coming out into the field. “The last thing we want to do is for somebody to use the product incorrectly, whether it be not enough of it or too much of it. If you don’t use enough, you’re not going to gain control. If you use too much, it could cause some damage, or it could cost you a lot of money, and we don’t want that to happen either,” says Warf.