Brunnings Sprays Are The Same

I have some aphids on my indoor plants, was looking for a way to kill them rather than water-washing the plants. Bought a bottle of Brunnings Rose Spray the other day from Woolies to try it out. Yesterday I noticed the Bug Kill Spray next to the Rose Spray and thought I probably should get that one instead. Upon inspection, they have exactly the same active ingredients: 0.1g/L Tau-Fluvalnate, 0.05g/L Myclobutanil. Apparently Brunnings have a whole range of sprays, I didn't look into all of them. This is so confusing. Thought this might help someone else out there to not buy both.

Also for black spots on roses or any type of fungus, baking soda works wonders, the trick is to find a spray bottle that do not become clogged up by it. Or use less baking soda but spray often.

Comments

  • It also might blow your mind that many bug sprays for plants have the same active ingredient, Pyrethrin/Pyrethrum.

    • So does Panadol for:

      • Headaches
      • Period pain
      • Fever
      • Muscle aches
      • Etc.
      • +2

        What's even funnier is that so many buy branded tablets that have the exact 500mg as cheap brands for 3 times the price.

      • Nurofen got in trouble for this. They had differently packaged tablets, all with exactly the same ingredients, that said they targeted different specific pain.

        https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/full-federal-court-ord…

    • So is it really a game of marketing? Or are there discernable differences. When they only list active ingredients, I always wonder what else is in it that might make a difference. For example, a spray will kill bugs, that's the active ingredient, but it might also contain things that makes it smell good.

      • +2

        The two important things are concentration and active ingredients. Everything else is arguable. Maybe the spray bottles are better in one brand vs another.

        Just like in medicine, some big brands like Telfast uses fexofenadine hydrochloride as the key ingredient and it cost much more than a generic brand. But you be thinking, there must be some other subtle differences. Perhaps is the answer, Telfast's filler agent might aid breaking down of the pill and is more efficient in delivery of the active ingredient? Maybe? Who knows.

        Smart consumers look for what gives them value.

        • -1

          It's interesting you brought up Telfast. I had a huge reaction last year where my face was blown up like a baloon. Went to the ER, they gave me steroids and some generic antihistamine. I went back a day later as nothing had changed. They gave me steroids and Telfast. I had my face back in a few days. I asked what was different in the antihistamine, they just shrugged.

          I know from a herbal medicine point of view, you want to avoid plants that have been cultivated at certain locations that are prone to heavy metals, even if it's the same herb. Maybe that's the same thing, these substances all come from somewhere, and the processing could add/subtract a lot to the efficacy of the end products.

          • +6

            @Alley Cat: Most likely additional time between days was the factor in your generic antihistamine / Telfast action.

            • @xuqi: Don't you think the doctors would have said that if it's the case? It would align with their interest to send me home with the same generic antihistamine and play the wait game.

              You are free to make your conclusions though.

  • Just as the same things stop pain, pretty much no matter what the pain is caused by, the same things kill bugs, pretty much no matter what sort of bug it is. My neighbour wants me to spray on my side of the fence for termites that might be there, but what is sold labelled as a termite spray will kill pretty much any insects that are there.

    • But you will not necessarily want to use a termite spray to kill a fly. I'd like to think these things are made to the right strength so they do not overkill.

      I hope you don't have a termite problem, these things are pure trouble.

      • What my neighbour wants me to spend a very large amount of money cutting down the 15m tall mature gum trees that are on my side of the fence, trees I bought my house because of, because he's convinced that the termite infestation in his house must have come from my trees. That the termites are in the roots of my trees, and that unless the trees are cut down the termites will keep coming into his house, and the trees might fall on his house. The trees show no sign of being unhealthy. I don't know how seriously to take his concerns because he has whinged about the trees every since he bought his place.

        • They charge you to cut down a tree and separately to move a stump from what I've heard, gardening can be a strangely lucrative business. Sounds like they are looking for someone to blame for their own problems. I'm sure if there're termites in the tree, your building inspectors would have picked it up. 15m tall would take years to grow and someone with a heart of stone to want to cut down.

          Eucalypts/Gum Tree
          They grow about 0.25 cm per year in a mature state, are great inspirations for paintings and photography, and are mostly native to Australia.

          On the other hand, you might want to protect your gumtree from his termites.

          • @Alley Cat:

            15m tall would take years to grow and someone with a heart of stone to want to cut down.

            I bought in here not because it meant I owned a tree, but because the leafy streets lined with similar big mature gum trees. A little while back the local council decided that 30+ years meant it was time to them to "renew the streetscape". For them to cut down most of the big kerbside trees in the suburb, one street at a time, and replace them with saplings.

            • @GordonD: That's rather sad. There was a case near my hometown where the council re-routed a road to save an old tree. They either get it or they don't.

              • +1

                @Alley Cat: I couldn't get the local council to respond on the subject. So I have tried to get the state Environment Minister to step in, on the basis that he had been on TV saying more urban tree coverage was state government policy. The first answer I got from his office was that it wasn't his responsibility, it was the responsibility of the Local Government Minister. The second was the council "must have had a good reason" to cut down the trees. The third was that cutting down trees in my suburb was part of a council program "to even up the tree coverage across the council area". The responses from the Minister's office just get stupider each time. So its not just the council that's the problem.

                • @GordonD:

                  to even up the tree coverage across the council area

                  Christ. That would be to plant more, not to cut down. My guess is they went for the cheaper option, presumably it costs a lot more to buy established trees and plant them.

                  Kudos for going all the way up though, it's always good to know there are people out there who care <3 There's really no bargains to be had on a dead planet, to say the least.

        • " that the termite infestation in his house must have come from my trees."

          That's about as sensible a claim as " the mammals are coming from your shed". "Termites" are a large group. Those you find in old pallets, packing boxes and similar environments may wish to chew your house, those in living trees might not - in the same way a sheep wouldn't take much pleasure in a pork chop when sitting in a clover field…

          Offer to let him have an arborist check them - if he comes back with "pest controller" then regard that the same way as an offer from a used car salesman to advise you on the benefits of speed-stripes and red paint.

          That said, these guys do a good job of explaining the risks and may be helpful in offering a good place to start, depending on how good your eyesight is:

          https://termite.com.au/sa/termites.html

          • @terrys:

            Offer to let him have an arborist check them - if he comes back with "pest controller" then regard that the same way as an offer from a used car salesman to advise you on the benefits of speed-stripes and red paint.

            That's basically the situation. He said his pest controller said the termites in his house came from my trees. Without ever entering my property. The arborist I called said my trees were healthy, except for the galahs' habit of chewing on the bark.

        • Termites seem to move around a bit when they are upset by having their nest destroyed. So when a Street tree with termites is removed, or a nearby neighbour gets them exterminated/treated this seems to often set off migration. There is no way the Council would have even checked for termites as they removed the trees. If there was a nest they would definitely be on the move. They follow moisture too, so the last few years being wet might have given them some travel opportunities.

          So for me, I’d get my place checked/treated if it’s been a while since it had been done. I’d also get advice from the pest control folk on how to manage the trees, and would also consider getting an arborist to give some advice. I’d be really surprised if the advice from either would be to chop down trees Willy Nilly.

          I’d do this not to particularly keep your neighbour happy, but to protect your trees and home.

    • +1

      FYI spraying active termites really just kills those you can see and encourages them to go elsewhere on the property.

      You really need to destroy the queen either by finding the nest or baiting them with compounds that are then spread through the colony

      • My plan is to follow the instructions for the "management of subterranean termites" on the imidacloprid-based termicide/insecticide I have purchased. They say first locate the termite nest. I can find no sign of one. I presume what I'll have to do will involve soaking the area around the base of the tree, so it gets taken up by the roots, then if any termites eat the roots they take it back to the queen and that kills the nest.

  • Vacuum cleaners work very well for aphids and those small green grasshoppers.

    • Actually you can just hose aphids off.

    • I have a small population of the pink ones that lives in the centre of some of the plants. So all new leaves are damaged. Vacuum would take the leaves before anything else methinks. They are small indoor plants too.

  • While it's true that the active ingredients are the same, it'll be the "Ingredients determined to be non-hazardous" as the balance of volume that would make the difference.
    https://brunnings.com.au/sds-library/

    Perhaps some natural additives that make the second spray better for Roses.

    It'll be like saying "HEY! These two beers have exactly the same abv, from the same brewery, yet this one is twice the price! What a ripoff!"
    Like beers only having to state the alcohol content, and not the exact ratios of other ingredients, when you see "Active constituents" on chemicals there's heaps of other "stuff" in there. But if it's non-hazardous, they don't have to list it.

    In this case, 0.15g/L equates to 99.985% of other stuff in there to vary.

    • I wonder if that is the case, but they are not indicated anywhere so it feels a bit meh. They could have just said 'specially formulated for Rose plants' next to the active ingredients.

  • GordonD.
    There is a very good chance that your trees are hosting the termite nest. Are there any other large trees within 2 or 3 hundred meters?
    The best solution is to get an experienced pest controller to place some baits around and if they become active then it is a simple process to kill the nest by poisoning the baits. Once the workers take the poison back to the queen and it dies the whole nest dies. Be aware that they may be already eating your house and causing thousands of dollars damage, this is what happens before you become aware of there presence.

  • Why do so many knobs buy branded paracetamol when nearly every brand contains 500mg. It's the exact same dose that helps with the pain. Panadol is no better than supermarket brand but 3-4 times the price. There's obvious craziness for you.

    • Why do so many people buy from the supermarket in "I need it now" size and expense when there's panamax? $2.99 for 100.

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