Q.What Product To Use To Eliminate Lace Bugs On Azaleas And When Is The Best Time To Apply The Product?
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Go to your local garden center and see what do they have available. I bought a systemic insecticide for a large infestation years ago but, you can also release beneficial insects, spray the leaves with insecticidal soaps/horticultural oil sprays or use an insecticide whose active ingredient is malathion, dimethoate (Cygon), or acephate (Orthene) and repeat per label directions until control is obtained. Lacebugs can detect when azaleas are getting stressed by too much sun and this may attract them so, if you can, plant them in morning sun and afternoon/evening shade. Review the product label directions to determine when to apply as it varies. Release beneficial insects early in the morning or late in the evening as the sun is about to set because the low light will help them not to be so active as to fly away and cause them to settle in their new home or close to your home. At the end of the growing season, do not release beneficial insects as there may not be enough food sources to keep them; consider using sprays instead. Lacebugs may return in future years so keep your counter measures available for a few years and apply them about a month before you first detected them or in Spring.
