one could argue that shipping bulbs hundreds / thousands of miles is , in itself , unethical on purely envirnonmental factors?
The question at hand was about spraying.
In part my original post was about spraying but more generally the applications of insecticides and fungicides at all levels in bulb production, which, I guess none of us really know the extent of. I was presuming that the bulbs are chemically treated as bulbs after harvest to protect them from whatever nasties the growers "think" they need protecting from as well. My particular concern is noenicitinoids as they are very long lasting (years or maybe decades?). My question was also about whether the cheap bulbs contained more chemicals as the original quote claimed. I question this as chemicals are expensive and if, as claimed in the article, cheap bulbs contain more chemicals, that would increase production costs, or so you would think.
As has been pointed out, most bulbs purchased in the UK and Europe are grown in Holland, which of course is subject to EU rules. Nionics are due to be banned or have been banned for non food crops and some food crops too in the EU but I'm not sure if that is in place yet.
Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
I had always assumed (perhaps wrongly) that the main difference between cheap and expensive bulbs was their size i.e. cheap bulbs are usually smaller, so not mature and don't produce either bigger flowers or more of them. Not true?
It has never occurred to me that the bulbs might be sprayed - against what?
I’ve a feeling that in the past (don’t know about nowadays) bulbs were dusted with something (sulphur) to help prevent fungal problems … but I’m struggling to think of bulbs other than lilies which might ‘benefit’ from neonics 🤔
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
This is a quote from the above: "Neonicotinoids are used as a flower bulb drench to keep aphids and other sap-sucking insects off plants, and are common pesticides in the bulb industry. The half-life of neonicotinoids is estimated somewhere between 34 days and three years as they break down in the soil; it is not only flying insects that are affected during that time, but bacteria, amoebae, worms and insects in the soil, too. Even when the levels of toxicity are too low to kill soil fauna, studies have shown that they impair earthworms’ ability to tunnel. Every bee that visits your bloom, every worm that tunnels around your bulbs, is tasting a tiny bit of poison."
And here is the article my original post quoted from:
Posts
https://broadleighbulbs.co.uk/wp/
😊
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The question at hand was about spraying.
As has been pointed out, most bulbs purchased in the UK and Europe are grown in Holland, which of course is subject to EU rules. Nionics are due to be banned or have been banned for non food crops and some food crops too in the EU but I'm not sure if that is in place yet.
It has never occurred to me that the bulbs might be sprayed - against what?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Can't think of any others, apart from as Dove says, lilies and red lily beetles.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/30/alys-fowler-plant-organic-bulbs-bees
This is a quote from the above: "Neonicotinoids are used as a flower bulb drench to keep aphids and other sap-sucking insects off plants, and are common pesticides in the bulb industry. The half-life of neonicotinoids is estimated somewhere between 34 days and three years as they break down in the soil; it is not only flying insects that are affected during that time, but bacteria, amoebae, worms and insects in the soil, too. Even when the levels of toxicity are too low to kill soil fauna, studies have shown that they impair earthworms’ ability to tunnel. Every bee that visits your bloom, every worm that tunnels around your bulbs, is tasting a tiny bit of poison."
And here is the article my original post quoted from:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/sep/11/how-to-grow-next-years-tulips
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.