I have tried a number of things including grubbing to no avail.
I remember in Qld it was tackled with a grub.
I wish to find a solution with a chemical can someone suggest one? I
would like an experience of success
with the suggestion. fluff

(frank luff) wrote in message . au...
I have tried a number of things including grubbing to no avail.
I remember in Qld it was tackled with a grub.
I wish to find a solution with a chemical can someone suggest one? I
would like an experience of success
with the suggestion. fluff

The grub was the larval phase of the South American beetle
Cactoblastus cactorum.
Contact the Department of Agriculture in your state or possibly your
local council they should be able to give you advice that pertains to
your area and may even have an existing erradication program.

Roundup will work with repeated application. Other chemicals will work
including diesel, petrol, kerosine, and all the nasty ones that have heaps
of long term hangaround effects, but I prefer not to have to worry as much
about my health.

On my farm in SEQld which was originally a prickly pear selection many years
before I purchased it I use roundup on a regular basis.

The small plants up to two inches tall die with one spray, up to four inches
two sprays a couple of weeks apart, from there up it takes a number of
sprays and a bit of time but it will eventually die. By the time you have a
plant six feet high it will take a couple of years of regular spraying of
the green bits to kill it completely.

I use a Yates 6 litre garden sprayer and mix the roundup about one cup
roundup to fill with water. I modified the nozzle (cut off the twirly thing
inside it with a knife) to spray straight like a water pistol and this lets
me hit just the plant I want to hit rather than spraying everything
downwind. I give each one a 360 degree liberal application and accept the
killing of the surounding grass for a foot around.

Don't leave bits on the ground if you break them off as each bit will grow
into a new plant. They will grow back after fire but are easily attacked
during the first growth spurt.

Hope this helps,
Peter

You know why the rice bubbles that are at the top of the bowl dry out faster
than the ones on the bottom when you get too lazy to do the dishes? You know
the ones that you have to chip off with a cold chisel after a couple of
days?

It's because they are closer to the sun!

See there's a little bit of science in every post!

In article ,
"Bushy" wrote:

On my farm in SEQld which was originally a prickly pear selection many years
before I purchased it I use roundup on a regular basis.

What happened to Cactoblastis?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Jeez; if only those Ancient Greek storytellers had known about the astonishing
creature that is the *Usenet hydra*: you cut off one head, and *a stupider one*
grows back..." -- MJ, cam.misc

What happened to Cactoblastis?


It gets a run of it, but it doesn't get them all. And I have to wander round
with the spray getting the bloody parthenium and a bit of the lantana.
Besides, it takes a while for the grub to eat them out and I like to be able
to walk through the paddock without running into "them there f........
prickles"!

Peter