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choice for insect management during the growing season, or for when rapid results are needed. However, it is worth repeating that all systemic treatments are reliant on transpirational pull, thus the trees need to be watered for the best uptake. Third, this application method gets the same results as the soil applications,but uses half the amount of chemical.This not only saves money on product costs,but reduces the chemical in the environment.How can the same product get the same results against the same pest when half the amount is used? It turns out that systemic bark spray treatments are much more efficient at getting the treatment in the tree,thus need less product.Also, bark treatments do not have issues of the products binding to organic matter in the soil,which often limits the quantity of product available to transfer into the tree. Using bark spray applications it takes approximately 30 to 60 seconds to walk around the tree wetting the bark from the base up to about eye level. Photo provided by Rainbow Treecare Scientific Advancements systemic bark sprays of dinotefuran, soil applications of dinotefuran, and soil-applied treatments of imidacloprid, the bark application performed at a statistically significant equivalent as the more traditional soil applications.Additional studies have compared these methods for the treatment of scale insects and hemlock woolly adelgid, and found the results to be comparable to treatments by other application methods. Initial research of dinotefuran bark sprays incorporated Pentrabark (alkylphenol ethoxylate,polysiloxane polyether copolymer,propylene glycol) a bark surfactant shown to help open lenticels and assist in the movement of treatments into the vascular system.This surfactant is more frequently combined with phosphites (Agri-Fos) for the management of phytophora diseases like Sudden Oak Death and Beech Bark Canker.The researchers discovered that, while Pentrabark was essential for penetrating bark with phosphites,it did not increase the uptake ability of dinotefuran. The molecular structure of dinotefuran allows it to be highly soluble in water, and thus transfers easily through lenticels into the vascular tissue. There are three primary reasons why this application method is gaining popularity with arborists and other tree health care professionals. The first is the speed of application. On average, it takes about 30 to 60 seconds to walk around the tree wetting the bark from the base up to about five feet high. Even compared to quick applications such as soil injections, this is a significant labor saver, allowing the same applicator to treat many more trees in the same timeframe as other treatment methods. Spray applications are well known for operational challenges such as rain and wind, and although bark sprays are still subject to these limitations, needing to wet only the lower portion of the tree makes it more flexible than treatments aimed at covering the foliage of a 90-foot tree. Second, as these treatments are quickly absorbed into the vascular system, they are also quick to work.Treatments of dinotefuran sprayed on the bark on Monday can be protecting the entire canopy by the weekend. Soil application of closely related products, such as imidacloprid, can take 6 to 8 weeks to reach the effective levels bark treatments can do in days. For this reason,bark treatments are quickly becoming the www.arborage.com Systemic bark treatments can save trees, time and money. Like all tree health care treatment options, this is another tool in the toolbox. Each situation will dictate what product and application method makes the most sense for the time of year,the pest in question,the location of the tree, and, of course, the client's management objections. Choosing your tools wisely is still the name of the game, but now you have another tool from which to choose. Brandon M. Gallagher Watson is director of communications at Rainbow Treecare Scientific Advancements,and is an ISA Certified Arborist (#MN-4086A). Arbor Age / May/June 2013 15