SB Plant Invigorator concentrate (500ml)

SB Plant Invigorator concentrate.

SB Plant Invigorator concentrate (500ml)

£20.00 incl. VAT

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SP Plant Invigorator is a foliar feed for many edible crops. It also effectively controls many important pests such as aphids.

Description

SP Plant Invigorator is a foliar feed that can be used on an extensive range of ornamental and edible plants. The spray contains a wide range of nutrients and micro nutrients that encourage growth and improve the condition and health of the plants when sprayed on the leaves.

Working through a “physical mode of action” (the manufacturer’s term), SB Plant Invigorator also controls many important pest species, including Whitefly, Aphid, Spider Mite, Mealybug, Scale and Psyllid. Despite this valuable pest control action, SBPI is not called a “pesticide” as it does not contain an “active ingredient”, but rather its soap-based surfactant has a disruptive action on the skin and breathing apparatus of small soft bodied insects. For more on the mode of action please see “Additional information”.

The physical mode of action means pests can not become resistant to SBPI, and – we are told by the manufacturer – the spray will not damage birds or bees and most natural insect predators (please see “Additional information”). For best results SBPI should be applied very thoroughly to both upper and lower leaf surfaces to the point of run-off from the leaves.

SB Plant Invigorator is non-toxic and leaves no harmful residue on the plant, so it can safely be used on edible crops.

Used by professional and amateur growers and gardeners worldwide.

SB Plant Invigorator was invented, trialled and manufactured by Stan Brouard Ltd in Guernsey. For more information about SB Plant Invigorator see their website: https://sbproducts.co.uk/

For the SB Plant Invigorator product safety sheet see https://sbproducts.co.uk/safety-data/ready-to-use-safety-data/

To date, SB Plant Invigorator has been tested on many plant families and varieties (click here for list), and no negative response has been detected. Consequentely, it is assume SBPI is save to use on all edible plants, however – as with all foliar sprays – it is recommended that a test is carried out on a single plant before applying to a whole crop. It is best to apply SBPI in cloudy conditions, i.e. NOT in full sunshine.

 

 

 

 

Additional information

Mode of action

SB Plant Invigorator liquid contains a specially formulated soap mix to act as a surfactant – a surfactant reduces the surface tension of a liquid to increase its spreading and wetting properties. This improves the spread of the nutrients over the whole leaf thus improving SBPI's effectiveness as a foliar feed.

The soap mixure also has a detrimental effect on most soft-bodied insects. To work it must have direct contact with the pest, and for SBPI to have greatest pesticidal effect it must be sprayed on the plant until it is completely saturated.

It is not clear exactly what the mode of action is but insecticidal soaps have three modes of action:
1) Dehydration – Soap disrupts the wax layer on the surface of soft bodied insects, so water loss occurs.
2) Cytolys – Soap disrupts insect's cell membranes
3) Suffocation – Soap damages insect's tracheal, causing blockages and suffocation.
For more details see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qS6nt1zuq8
Also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insecticidal_soap

Soaps are non toxic to mammals, so SBPI is safe to use.
Effect on insect predators

Soap solutions only have a detrimental effect on small, non-flying, soft-bodied insects. This means pollinators, ladybirds, and most adult insect predators will not be killed or damaged by an application of SBPI.

SBPI also has no detrimental effect on the aphid mummies produced by the parasitation of aphids by aphidius wasps.

Where I am not clear, as up to now have not been able to find any information, is the effect of SBPI on the larvae stage of predatory insects, e.g. the larvae of lacewings, hoverflies, ladybirds and aphidoletes. The manufacturers tell us that SBPI is safe to use in conjunction with an active IPM programme, and that commercial growers do use it. But we are unsure, and stop using SBPI as a regular foliar application over the summer, and only use it on hotspots of aphid infestations.
Cost

The 500ml concentrate of SB Plant Invigorator produces 50 litres of liquid for spraying. However, the recommendation is to spray SB Plant Invigorator on all the leaves, upper and lower surfaces, completely until the liquid drips off. Unfortunately, that uses a lot of liquid. The manufacturers also recommend applying SBPI weekly. SBPI is expensive, and using it as recommended makes it VERY expensive. We wish it was not, but it is.
We use SBPI but to save money do things slightly differently:
1) We only apply weekly (manufacturer's recommendation) when the plants are young and small. These applications are for its foliar feed while the plants' roots develop.
2) After the first month we not make regular applications of SBPI and only use it for pest control when there is a serious aphid outbreak. For our regular pest control method we release natural predators, and we do regular applications of fertilisers for our plant feed.
3) The recommendation is to apply SBPI liberally on both sides of every leaf. However, aphids reside mostly on the underside of leaves and in the shoot tips, so we do not spray on the upper surfaces of the mature leaves. In addition, in its role as a foliar feed, again, most of the nutrients are absorbed from the underside of the leaves.
Soft water

The surfactant in SB Plant Invigorator is soap-based. In the past soap-based products worked best when diluted with soft water. We live in a hard water area, so this always meant having to use rainwater.
On talking to the manufacturer this does not seems to be an issue with SBPI. Its effectiveness as a bug-killer and a foliar feed is not effected by the type of water used to dilute the concentrate. However, there are two points:
1) If you use hard water the diluted liquid must be used the day it is mixed. It will not store.
2) If you use soft water the foam that forms when adding the water can be problematic. To avoid the foam from forming add the water gently, running down the side of the sprayer.

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