Spraying is one thing. Not saying so on some kind of label is quite another. The latter is where I start to take issue (- regarding personal purchases. As I did some research this morning, it's obvious this is a serious, critical problem for BEES!) I don't like not having necessary info to make an informed decision, and to then know how to handle plants I've purchased, should I decide to do so based on a full range of info. The two issues are too connected to separate, and obviously there's a lot of totally uninformed or misinformed boneheads in corporate offices.
Here's some interesting links I found.
This is disturbing:
http://thegoldengecko.com/blog...
P. Allen Smith is obviously bought and paid for - again/still. If I thought he was an actual gardener, it might be interesting to estimate how many bees have been killed at his corporate HQ, I mean house.
http://www.pallensmith.com/art...
So Bonnie is putting
imidacloprid on their plants, possibly among other chemicals, I'm not sure. (All plants, some? Couldn't find any info about any of their plants NOT sprayed.)
I found many government crop production manuals from various US university sites and other countries, recommending various ways to use Imidacloprid and what to use it for - in regard to tomato, pepper, and potato plants in particular. Not necessarily in regard to starter plants to sell, but for harvesting crops.
Imidacloprid is a chemical in many brands of insecticide. It is a neoniconitoid type of chemical. This family of chemicals has gained notoriety because of its toxicity to honeybees. Obviously, applying neoniconitoids to plants visited by bees is a terrible idea. More and more it seems like the universities are just shilling for the chem companies. Their advice for every problem is almost always some kind of spray.
I found this on a .pdf at CA dep't of food and ag:
Q: Can I eat fruits and vegetables from plants treated with Meritยฎ?
A: If Meritยฎ is applied to the foliage, imidacloprid may be found on the outside of fruits
and leaves of treated plants. Produce can be harvested 24 hours after treatment
and should be washed before eating. If Meritยฎ is applied to soil, imidacloprid is
taken up by the roots and distributed throughout the plant to provide long-lasting
control against insects. Imidacloprid has been detected in stems, leaves, and fruits
of treated plants.
To read the full 'fact sheet' on Merit, click below. Sorry, this is the link from google, but all I could copy to paste here, the .pdf window it opened didn't have a URL visible.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t...
It does go on to say that it's not known to cause heath problems for humans, but one should know that if it's not tested, it's considered safe. As long as nobody does any testing, this stuff's safe to eat by the pound! Not my policy, the EPA/FDA's.
From the searching and reading I did, I would be shocked if there are any non-sprayed starter plants in any non owner-operated stores. And that it's obvious we're eating a lot of this stuff (Imidacloprid) if buying 'regular' (non organic) produce.
