Additives are very important in the application of pesticides. It can be said that the success of a pesticide is half of the original drug and the other half is the additive.


In the past, auxiliaries often played a role as a auxiliaries for pesticides. In recent years, they have been put on the bright surface by some pesticide manufacturers to carry out excessive promotion. For example, the plant essential oil (orange peel oil), mineral oil, silicone...


The voice is so high, what do they do? What are the differences between the various additives? How do we choose the right auxiliaries in practical applications?






Plant essential oil


Plant essential oil is a secondary metabolite with volatile aromatic odor extracted from plants (leaves, branches, roots, peels, grains). Most of the plant essential oils have strong antibacterial effects.


In agriculture, the most popular ones are the essential oils extracted from flowers, stems, flowers, leaves and fruits in plants with good adhesion and permeability.






Mineral oil classification and application


Mineral oil is classified into agricultural spray oil grade and oil oil emulsion grade according to the difference in source and physical and chemical properties.


(1) Agricultural spray oil


The agricultural spray oil has the characteristics of low toxicity, environmental friendliness and low residue, and can be used as an insecticide (sputum) agent, a bactericide, an auxiliary agent, etc., and is used in the growth period and the dormancy period of the crop.


(2) oil emulsifiable concentrate


Since the oil emulsifiable concentrate may contain substances that cause crop phytotoxicity and cause residues of agricultural products, it is only used as an insecticide ( 螨) agent in the application, and is used for clearing gardens during the winter dormancy period.






Silicone


In agricultural production, agricultural silicone additives are almost omnipotent and are widely used in various types of pesticides such as insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides to improve their efficacy.










Plant essential oil VS mineral oil VS silicone






1. Use and mechanism of action


Uses: Plant essential oils and mineral oils can be used as insecticides and fungicides at high concentrations, and can be used as auxiliaries at low concentrations. Silicone is mainly used as a pesticide adjuvant and cannot be used alone as an insecticide or fungicide.






(1) as a pesticide


As a pesticide, mineral oil mainly uses physical suffocation to block the pores of insects, destroy the cell wall of the bacteria, and interfere with breathing to achieve a certain effect of preventing disease and preventing insects.


The plant essential oil mainly achieves the effect of preventing disease and preventing insects by dissolving the waxy layer of the pest surface and the phospholipid layer of the pathogen spore.






(2) as a pesticide additive






The essential oils of plants mainly utilize the strong penetration and expansion of limonene, so that the conventional pesticides can quickly penetrate and absorb, and improve the control effect.






As a pesticide oil additive, mineral oil mainly reduces the surface tension and contact angle of pesticide spray droplets on plant leaves, so that the product can be better wetted, spread, adhered, improved in permeability and rain-resistant. Improve the efficacy.






Silicone has good wetting properties and permeability, which can quickly spread the liquid on the foliage, increase the contact area of the liquid with crops and insects, and improve the insect control and weeding effects. In addition, it can also promote the penetration of the systemic drug through the pores, improve the rain-resistant scouring force, and reduce the amount of pesticide used per unit area and water consumption, reduce pesticide pollution, reduce pesticide residues, save time, labor, and medicine.






2, security comparison






(1) Although mineral oil is a mineral-derived pesticide, it has low toxicity, broad spectrum of control, and is environmentally friendly. However, improper use (such as at high temperature) is very likely to cause phytotoxicity. At the same time, it is used in the late stage of fruit growth. Will bring pollution problems. In addition, the combination of mineral oil and pesticides that are prone to phytotoxicity will aggravate the occurrence of phytotoxicity. For example, azoxystrobin is highly permeable, and if mineral oil is added, the risk of phytotoxicity is high.






(2) Silicone has a strong destructive effect on the waxy layer of the plant leaves itself, which will lead to the decomposition of the stratum corneum of the epidermal cells of the leaves, which will reduce the water-holding capacity of the plants and easily lead to damage of plant cells. Moreover, in a high temperature environment, or when the wax of the blade itself is thin, the addition of silicone may easily lead to the occurrence of phytotoxicity.






(3) In comparison, plant essential oils are derived from nature, extracted from plant sources, are environmentally friendly, safe and have no residue, are safe for natural enemies of pests, safe for ladybugs, bees, etc., and can be mixed with most pesticides. . The highest security.






3, the use of contrast






(1) Plant essential oils are safe for crops and can be used in flowering, young fruit, fruiting and dormancy periods.






(2) While mineral oil has many limitations in use, it can not be used in the flower buds and tender shoots of the fruit trees. Especially in citrus, one is easy to cause phytotoxicity, and the other is to affect citrus color.


When making clearing potions, plant essential oils have obvious advantages over mineral oils, which can effectively prevent yellowing leaves caused by mineral oil, and are safer than mineral oil when clearing gardens.






(3) Silicone is mainly used as an adjuvant in the use. Although many agents have synergistic effects after adding silicone, not all of the agents can be added with silicone additives. For example, some pesticides have actually added some surfactants during the production process, and these pesticides may cause phytotoxicity if they are added with additives such as silicone. Such as azoxystrobin, pendimethalin, etc., if mixed with silicone additives, it is very toxic.






Pay attention to the use of silicone:


(1) The amount of use must be strictly in accordance with the instructions, do not increase the concentration arbitrarily, it is easy to cause phytotoxicity.


(2) Avoid high temperature application.


(3) The silicone is diluted according to the corresponding multiple, and when mixed with the agent, the mixing step is generally:


First, inject half a bucket of water into the sprayer, then pour the silicone into the sprayer, shake the sprayer to mix the silicone evenly, pour the applied medicament into the sprayer, and fill the sprayer with water until it is full.






4, price cost comparison


Plant essential oils are relatively safe, but they are more expensive and costly. The relative cost of silicone and mineral oil is relatively low and the price is relatively cheap.