Actinovate NI20755 Lawn & Garden Fungicide, 20g

Actinovate is a fungus eating bacteria.Actinovate works and works extremely well if you mix it with the proper water.Actinovate bacteria may succumb to the bacteria killing properties of chlorine, chloramine, or fluoride that govt entities may put in your drinking water. Do not use city supplied water with Actinovate, use bottle drinking water or distilled water.Actinovate packages ALWAYS have an expiration date on them. If yours does not, return it to Amazon as a defective product. The lack of an expiration date almost guarantees to be expired product and someone removed the batch number/expiration date sticker. The expiration date is the date the number of live bacteria is not expected to be enough to meet the standard for tested product effectiveness. IN THE PRODUCT PHOTO ABOVE THE EXPIRATION DATE HAS BEEN PHOTOSHOPPED OUT! THE MANUFACTURER PUTS AN EXPIRATION DATE ON EVERY PACKAGE OF ACTINOVATE, NO EXCEPTIONS!!!Actinovate can be mixed with Spinosad products (Bonide’s ‘Capt Jack’s Dead Bug Brew’ and Monterey Lawn and Garden’s ‘Garden Insecticide’ – both products are exactly the same bacterial Spinosad products.) This is useful when treating or preventing citrus scab (Actinovate) and citrus leaf miner (Spinosad) at the same time. As with Actinovate, Spinosad bacteria may succumb to the effects of chlorine, chloramine, or fluoride in the water.

I purchased this the week before I transplant seedlings out to have fresh, viable inoculant. Instead I received a package over a year old, with a matter of weeks until the "best by" date is reached. I won't be able to evaluate the efficacy of this product since it it is so old. Given the high cost, I expected to receive something that would be good throughout the growing season. Check your expiration date before opening! I can not recommend purchasing this product through Amazon.

Update: it is summer the following year. I am happy to add two newer photos, that show that evidently, this treatment worked for that sapling. The other one had unrelated problems come up. So, currently I see it this way: the treatment is pricey, yet was preferable to replacing the sapling. Your perspective may vary. I would say that if you go this direction, then do so at the first sign of trouble so that a small amount is sufficient. I cannot report on the effectiveness for powdery mildew, as our property is not having that issue, this year. So, the treated areas look like the rest of the lot.Original review: I was prompted to use this by cedar rust on the apple saplings, and powdery mildew on many plants. The first time I ordered, I was sent one that was expired. I intended to send it back, yet I was ill at the time and never got around to it. This is a very expensive product so that is a great loss. I did order again, and got some healthier new growth from the apple saplings. There were only small spots of improvement on the plants that have powdery mildew. The apple trees would have needed more treatments, I think, and the weather turned so it wasn't seasonal to continue. Now that one will expire, too. I wouldn't buy this again: it is too expensive, and the quick expiration times mean you have to "use it or lose it." It would be cheaper to just replace the saplings. BTW, there isn't enough in the 20g to do large trees. I pretty much would have needed it all just for the 2 saplings, so keep that in mind. I hope that this is helpful to you. Please let me know, and good luck with your plants.

I just purchased this package of Actinovate and it appears that this is from last season since it seems to show an expiration date of 7/24/17. This won't even get me through this season if the expiration is accurate.

Great product but a bit difficult to review. Soil borne pathogens can be the end all for many gardeners attempts at success. In particular, any number of the fusarium wilts races. Once this pathogen resides in your soil, it will remain there, active or dormant, for many years. Many backyard gardeners, including myself, are not afforded the luxury of crop rotation and prefer to plant non disease resistant varieties. (Heirlooms) This product and the like (Root Guardian) are not magic bullets. In order for beneficial microbes to be effective, a balanced symbiotic relationship must become established! I shall list some do's and don'ts in effort to simplify this process.The full benefits of this product, or the like, can only be realized through a complete organic approach. One needs to understand the difference between conventional and organic philosophies to begin with. The conventional approach as advertised by Ortho, Miracle Grow, etc, teach us to nourish the plant. The organic approach teaches us to nourish the soil. Think in terms of how your body would respond to consuming nutrient deprived foods topped off with synthetic vitamins in disproportionate quantities as opposed to eating nutrient rich foods as nature intended. Sure, you will survive embracing the former, but you will thrive embracing the latter. Same holds true for all living things. So first you must make sure to properly nourish your soil then your soil will nourish your plants. Rule 1. Location. Make sure what you wish to grow receives adequate sunlight and proper growing season length. 2. Compost, compost and compost. Forget the idea of synthetic 10-10-10 fertilizers. (See disproportionate quantities above) The use of these types of fertilizers can also cause unpredictable PH changes and are easy over used. Organic adjuncts such as bone meal, blood meal, wood ash, etc, allow one to tailor the needs for different plant requirements. 3. Plant your crops from quality seed stock. This will not only eliminate purchasing over grown, root bound and chemically treated nursery stock, but will allow you to treat your seed from day one. Never use chlorinated tap water to dissolve any microbes for you will render them useless. Never use chlorinated tap water period. If you must irrigate your garden, there are hose end chlorine filters available. 4. Adjust your soil PH towards the alkaline side regarding the plants preference. (Most undesirable microbes prefer acidic soil) 5. Assuming that you have amended your soil with compost and the appropriate adjuncts, till in this product at the proper time for planting to a depth of at least six inches. This will ensure an adequate supply of beneficial microbes are available to the plants root system. 6. Choose mulch which will not compress to firmly. Straw, cocoa shells and eel grass to name a few. Salt hay, contrary to popular belief, is a poor choice for most vegetables as it decays too slowly and often harbors molds. All mulches should allow a free exchange of oxygen and water between the soil surface and the atmosphere. They should also be biodegradable enough to be incorporated into the soil at the end of the season or composted. Re-using mulch invites over wintering insect eggs as well as undesirable pathogens to be re-introduced the following year. 7. Re-apply this product at 8-12 week intervals just prior to a thorough irrigation or rain event. 8. Watering, the tough one. Do not over water. It is best for most plants to allow the first inch or so of topsoil to dry before watering. Constant surface moisture is a sure fire method of incubating all kinds of diseases and undesirable insects. This is one reason for choosing the proper mulch and its quantity. The "blanket your plants with 2-4 inches of mulch" approach is just plain wrong unless you are selling it. Generally, mulch should be applied with a light hand early on and amended according to weather conditions and plant varieties. This varies tremendously regarding different geographic locations but the same rule still applies. As the weather gets hotter and drier, the more mulch one should apply. I told you this was going to be a difficult review for me.