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Hotbox Sulfume

Hotbox Sulfume

Following on from a query on the BNCS Forum about this product I thought I would investigate further.

In recent years the amateur grower has seen the range of both fungicides and pesticides, available to use, dramatically reduced. In addition the cost of chemicals from garden centres is high. The idea of a new method of controlling problems such as red spider mite and rust in carnations is certainly of interest.

The device heats up sulphur to a temperature of 145 to 155 deg C which vaporises it but does not cause oxidation. (The oxides ((SO2)) are toxic; sulphur itself is not).

I have been trying the device out for a couple of months and in view of the traffic on the Forum I thought it would be worth sharing my initial thoughts. During the winter months the main problems I was experiencing were rust and greenfly (the later particularly a problem with artificial lighting. Having been spraying regularly with both a fungicide and pesticide I stopped spraying in all the glasshouses and started using Sulfume in two of them. The device was put on a time switch for about 6 hours and alternated between these two greenhouses every three of four days. At the onset there were a few patches of rust remaining but plants were clear of greenfly. March and April are of course times of increasing growth for PF’s under glass. However the plants generally seem to be growing well. There has been no spread of rust at all in the treated houses and the few remaining patches are quiescent. Most striking was the recurrence of greenfly in untreated houses which as you can see from the photograph was severe.

It is not the time of year for red spider but I will keep an eye open for this and update the report later in the year. Interesting was the browning of moss growing on the surface of compost and it may be that this will be controlled. I will particularly be interested to see if there is any effect on wilt diseases as the warmer weather arrives.

I have to say my initial impression is extremely favourable and I intend to continue using in the year ahead. I am not sure how often or for how long to use the device; I expect it will be a matter of trial and error.

No review would be complete without a criticism! I found the design a potential problem with entry of the electric flex into the middle of the base. This made it liable to tip if accidentally caught in passing.

This resulted on one occasion hot sulphur spilling onto a couple of plants. My concern was that it would prove fatal. However I was delighted to see after a few days that the plants were not adversely affected, only the leaves were marked.

Then after a week or two I noticed that the sulphur just brushed off and there was no damage to the plant at all! It was reassuring to see that there was no apparent toxicity. The solution to this problem is simple. A piece of tape around the flex and the handle means that if the flex is pulled by mistake the container does not tip over.

I will be updating this report as the year proceeds and it would be interesting to hear of other members experience. There is a section on the Forum where you can enter the discussion directly.

There is a direct link to the Hotbox site from our useful suppliers page

James Dennison
BNCS Web Editor
May 2008