An Essential Cure For Trees Damaged By Imprelis Or Sahara Herbicides

The first reports of conifer damage associated with the Imprelis®, a new DuPont herbicide, started rolling in from the Midwest in early June. By mid-month, multiple reports of damaged conifers from Michigan to Georgia were confirmed. On June 17, DuPont issued a statement recommending that Imprelis not be used near White Pines or Norway Spruce, nor near the root zones of other trees.

It did not take long for Doug Fenner of Banner Sales and Consulting, Inc., our Growth Products Distributor in MI, OH, IN, IL and WI or (North Central US) to come up with a solution to combat the herbicide damage on conifers and decidious trees and shrubs.

Long familiar with the ability of Growth Products' Essential Plus and Companion Biological Fungicide to help prevent and reverse damage on diseased, summer-stressed and root-damaged trees, Fenner quickly realized that Essential and Companion might work equally well with trees stressed by herbicide damage.

Accordingly, Fenner created an "Essential Cocktail" of three Growth Products liquids including Essential Plus, Companion, and Micrel Total (see table for rates per gallon of water). The magic mix can be used as a soil drench and/or a soil injection.

A local arborist used a similar cocktail on trees that had been damaged by misapplication of the herbicide Sahara® in 2009 with great success. (An article on caring for Imprelis-damaged trees that includes photos of Sahara-damaged trees treated by Fenner in 2009 can be found online at: http://expeng.anr.msu.edu/news/article/what_to_do_with_imprelis_affected_trees.

Essential Plus is a key ingredient for several reasons. The humic acid complex in Essential has a very heavy molecular weight, which allows it to serve as a binding substrate for herbicides in the soil. The humic acid, along with other carbon-rich ingredients, also adds vital organic matter to soils, hastening the neutralization of harmful herbicide residues - whether they are soil residues from conventional glyphosate herbicides or from new synthetic auxin herbicides such as Imprelis. In addition, there seems to be no desorption, meaning that the herbicides remain bonded to the humic acid and do not release back into the soil in their original state.

Even as Essential neutralizes the herbicide, it also promotes healthy, balanced growth for tree recovery through an array of bio-active ingredients such as kelp, yucca extract, L-amino acids, vitamins, enzymes, magnesium, calcium, and iron. Its gibberellic acid - a natural growth-promoting hormone - specifically counteracts the negative effects of Imprelis, which contains aminocyclopyrachlor, a synthetic growth regulator that inhibits or kills plant growth.

Add Companion's powerful Bacillus subtilis - which is a naturally occurring beneficial bacterium - and Micrel Total's micronutrients which are chelated for immediate uptake by trees, and the result is a stunning combination that can turn-around even heavily damaged trees.

Because all of Growth Products' liquid solutions contain exceptionally low salt indexes (or contain no salt at all), they pose virtually no phytotoxicity risk. It is therefore safe to apply the "Essential Cocktail" at any time of the year.

Additional links to reports of Imprelis damage include:
www.ppdl.purdue.edu
iaturf.blogspot.com
www.nytimes.com

PRODUCTS		MIX IN 100 GAL / WATER	COMMENTS
	Essential® Plus 1-0-1	1 gallon	Rich concentration of organic ingredients (carbon based) including humic acid that binds up salts and residual herbicides in soils.
	Micrel Total 5-0-0	40 oz.	Eight chelated minors to help the tree through stress.
	Companion® Biological Fungicide	32 oz. ( 1 quart)	Builds up the community of beneficial soil microorganisms and protect damaged roots from disease.

Growth Products, Ltd., is an industry leader in providing technologically advanced and environmentally friendly liquid fertilizers, biological fungicides, natural organics and chelated micronutrients

Imprelis is a registered trademark of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Sahara is a registered trademark of American Cyanamid Company. Essential and Companion are registered trademarks of Growth Products, Ltd.