Insecticide spraying

clementine · 5th April 2008, 02:59 PM

Olá, G'day

I took some shots of our Portuguese neighbour spraying his fruit trees today.
(Glad he didn't spot me doing it, maybe his eyes were stinging)
He has a motorised backpack that blasts out the spray.
I was amazed that he was not wearing a mask.
I've seen others with big spraying units on the back of tractors,
riding through their orchards, spraying away with no masks.
This spray can't be alright to breath in can it? Doesn't it harm the skin in any way?
This:

And this:

JayD · 5th April 2008, 03:08 PM

Hi,
Anything that is vaporised or is particulised then blasted into the atmosphere has the potential to harm your health,Think about it, He's breathing would have more laboured carrying around that back pack sprayer so he would definately have no weeds or bugs in his lung..LOL.

All jokes aside this bloke should be wearing a respirator especially in this day of information about how to deal with the dangers of doing this type of job.

This is one job where monkey see monkey do! Definately does not apply!

clementine · 5th April 2008, 03:37 PM

Hey JayD,

This is the second spring we've seen him do this, probably done it all his grown up life before we came, like the rest of them here

I wonder if they're aware of the DANGER and if they are, maybe their not bothered, a bit like smokers that carry on smoking!

Ekka · 6th April 2008, 06:44 AM

Unless he was spraying a low dose natural product like neem or euc oil etc he'll be cutting time of his calendar.

I bet it was an insecticide.

You know, inside our house I use a fly swat rather than spray, and I'm a 99.9% striker. You get the odd fly come in, why spray that crap everywhere ... SWAT the buggers and that's it, more satisfying too!

Just clean the blood and guts up with a tissue and chuck him in the bin.

clementine · 6th April 2008, 10:51 AM

Your right about the flies,

swatting is best and fun watching the kids (trainee swatters) chasing the little blighters around the house.

Mossie season is upon us here again. One got me on the lip (bastid) the other night and my son has 2 bites this morning.

The mossies are a difficult beast to get with the swatter cos by the time you've gone to get it, they've moved so damn fast and they are easy to loose sight of, then you can never find the little tucker again.
We leave nowt to chance and if we spot one, we put one of the kids on surveilance in case it moves, while I grab the spray and the missus is on back-up with the swatter.

Still the odd one slips by the security and gets us, we usually find them in the bathroom the next day full of our blood.

Ekka · 6th April 2008, 03:00 PM

Those old fashioned sticky strips are good too, they get the mozzies and little midgee mongrels.

The mozzies head for wet areas like the bathroom, put a sticky thing in there.

clementine · 6th April 2008, 03:53 PM

Yeh! Good one, we'll do that.

We've used plug-ins before but they leave a dirty streak up the wall, not sure what fumes they give off either.

I even cover the basement keyhole with sticky tape each night before bed and I've also caught them coming down the chimney now we've stopped using the fire so I have to give that a spray to thwart them.

The Problems worldwide!

Bermy · 9th April 2008, 04:26 PM

We have a large Portuguese community here, they came over in the 1880's to work in agriculture, most from the Azores...

To this day, (bless 'em all as very, very hard workers) even the young fellas, they are so old school...PPE not, machete to cut everything...excellent plantsmen and farmers, but horticulturists, few and far between, with a few notable exceptions.

When I was an apprentice I worked at the Government nursery...we were potting up the spring bedding, and Manuel was in the greenhouse drenching the seedlings with Captan and Thuricide, both powders, he was smoking roll ups, his fingers were yellow with the fungicide and so were his cigarettes...!!! He WOULD NOT wear PPE. Mind you he had beer stashed all over the property too...quite the character.

He left to go back to the Azores and died before his 50th birthday...sad

clementine · 10th April 2008, 02:05 AM

Hey Bermy..

I bet there's a few "Josés" out there, every other bloke is a "José" here.

A sad tale, perhaps and 50 is no age to be dying

As long as he enjoyed the work, beers and smokes and never spent a moment worrying about his health or how long he was going to live (like we all do in western society) then in a way I envy him.

Ignorance is bliss, so they say.

5th April 2008, 02:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
clementine Mature tree Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Central Portugal Posts: 282	Insecticide spraying Olá, G'day I took some shots of our Portuguese neighbour spraying his fruit trees today. (Glad he didn't spot me doing it, maybe his eyes were stinging) He has a motorised backpack that blasts out the spray. I was amazed that he was not wearing a mask. I've seen others with big spraying units on the back of tractors, riding through their orchards, spraying away with no masks. This spray can't be alright to breath in can it? Doesn't it harm the skin in any way? This: And this: __________________ Meddle not in the affairs of dragons - for you are crunchy and taste of chicken! Builder in Central Portugal Last edited by clementine : 5th April 2008 at 03:30 PM.

5th April 2008, 03:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
JayD Over mature heritage tree Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Sydney Posts: 886	Re: Insecticide spraying Hi, Anything that is vaporised or is particulised then blasted into the atmosphere has the potential to harm your health,Think about it, He's breathing would have more laboured carrying around that back pack sprayer so he would definately have no weeds or bugs in his lung..LOL. All jokes aside this bloke should be wearing a respirator especially in this day of information about how to deal with the dangers of doing this type of job. This is one job where monkey see monkey do! Definately does not apply! __________________ Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Last edited by JayD : 5th April 2008 at 03:40 PM.

5th April 2008, 03:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
clementine Mature tree Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Central Portugal Posts: 282	Re: Insecticide spraying Hey JayD, This is the second spring we've seen him do this, probably done it all his grown up life before we came, like the rest of them here I wonder if they're aware of the DANGER and if they are, maybe their not bothered, a bit like smokers that carry on smoking! __________________ Meddle not in the affairs of dragons - for you are crunchy and taste of chicken! Builder in Central Portugal

6th April 2008, 06:44 AM	#4 (permalink)
Ekka Eric Frei Administrator - Brisbane L5 (Dip) Hort Cert III Arb + some Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 6,847	Re: Insecticide spraying Unless he was spraying a low dose natural product like neem or euc oil etc he'll be cutting time of his calendar. I bet it was an insecticide. You know, inside our house I use a fly swat rather than spray, and I'm a 99.9% striker. You get the odd fly come in, why spray that crap everywhere ... SWAT the buggers and that's it, more satisfying too! Just clean the blood and guts up with a tissue and chuck him in the bin. __________________ Remember to use the "search" function, if you have answers/questions post them so everyone can benefit. Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping Brisbane Tree Care, Consultations and Arborist Reports Forum Sponsors

6th April 2008, 10:51 AM	#5 (permalink)
clementine Mature tree Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Central Portugal Posts: 282	Re: Insecticide spraying Your right about the flies, swatting is best and fun watching the kids (trainee swatters) chasing the little blighters around the house. Mossie season is upon us here again. One got me on the lip (bastid) the other night and my son has 2 bites this morning. The mossies are a difficult beast to get with the swatter cos by the time you've gone to get it, they've moved so damn fast and they are easy to loose sight of, then you can never find the little tucker again. We leave nowt to chance and if we spot one, we put one of the kids on surveilance in case it moves, while I grab the spray and the missus is on back-up with the swatter. Still the odd one slips by the security and gets us, we usually find them in the bathroom the next day full of our blood. __________________ Meddle not in the affairs of dragons - for you are crunchy and taste of chicken! Builder in Central Portugal

6th April 2008, 03:00 PM	#6 (permalink)
Ekka Eric Frei Administrator - Brisbane L5 (Dip) Hort Cert III Arb + some Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 6,847	Re: Insecticide spraying Those old fashioned sticky strips are good too, they get the mozzies and little midgee mongrels. The mozzies head for wet areas like the bathroom, put a sticky thing in there. __________________ Remember to use the "search" function, if you have answers/questions post them so everyone can benefit. Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping Brisbane Tree Care, Consultations and Arborist Reports Forum Sponsors

6th April 2008, 03:53 PM	#7 (permalink)
clementine Mature tree Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Central Portugal Posts: 282	Re: Insecticide spraying Yeh! Good one, we'll do that. We've used plug-ins before but they leave a dirty streak up the wall, not sure what fumes they give off either. I even cover the basement keyhole with sticky tape each night before bed and I've also caught them coming down the chimney now we've stopped using the fire so I have to give that a spray to thwart them. The Problems worldwide! __________________ Meddle not in the affairs of dragons - for you are crunchy and taste of chicken! Builder in Central Portugal

9th April 2008, 04:26 PM	#8 (permalink)
Bermy Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bermuda Posts: 67	Re: Insecticide spraying We have a large Portuguese community here, they came over in the 1880's to work in agriculture, most from the Azores... To this day, (bless 'em all as very, very hard workers) even the young fellas, they are so old school...PPE not, machete to cut everything...excellent plantsmen and farmers, but horticulturists, few and far between, with a few notable exceptions. When I was an apprentice I worked at the Government nursery...we were potting up the spring bedding, and Manuel was in the greenhouse drenching the seedlings with Captan and Thuricide, both powders, he was smoking roll ups, his fingers were yellow with the fungicide and so were his cigarettes...!!! He WOULD NOT wear PPE. Mind you he had beer stashed all over the property too...quite the character. He left to go back to the Azores and died before his 50th birthday...sad __________________ Keep smiling, people will wonder what you are up to! (especially if you're gunning a chainsaw!)

10th April 2008, 02:05 AM	#9 (permalink)
clementine Mature tree Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Central Portugal Posts: 282	Re: Insecticide spraying Hey Bermy.. I bet there's a few "Josés" out there, every other bloke is a "José" here. A sad tale, perhaps and 50 is no age to be dying As long as he enjoyed the work, beers and smokes and never spent a moment worrying about his health or how long he was going to live (like we all do in western society) then in a way I envy him. Ignorance is bliss, so they say. __________________ Meddle not in the affairs of dragons - for you are crunchy and taste of chicken! Builder in Central Portugal

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