AbstractFactors likely to influence the uniformity of treatment and the stability of the insecticides incorporated into peat blocks were investigated. When an Adelphi horizontal mixer was used, 90% of the blocks contained the mean dose (±10%) after dry‐mixing the diazinon granules for 3 min. Treatment was slightly less uniform using a concrete mixer or a spade. Between‐block variability was greatest when diazinon was applied to the wet surfaces of prepared blocks; in this process, sprinkling granules by hand was less erratic than spraying a liquid formulation. When granular, wettable powder, or emulsifiable concentrate formulations of diazinon were incorporated using the Adelphi mixer, neither the between‐block variability nor the subsequent stability of the insecticide were significantly influenced by the formulation used. Insecticide stability was studied by incorporating chlorfenvinphos, chlorpyrifos, diazinon and phorate at 10 mg a.i. per block in January, March, May and July. The relative order of persistence was chlorfenvinphosChlorpyrifos>phorate≫diazinon. There was little loss of insecticide (<10%) from the blocks treated with chlorfenvinphos or chlorpyrifos, and the stability of the insecticides was unaffected by seasonal temperature changes, but the rate of loss of diazinon increased markedly from January to July. The rate of oxidation of phorate to its sulphoxide and sulphone analogues increased gradually from January to May but was much slower than in the field after a bow‐wave application. With all insecticides, there was no significant difference in loss rates at 25 and 10 mg a.i. per block. After incorporation into three moss peats and two proprietary blocking composts, there was no consistent difference in the rates of loss of either diazinon or of total phorate residues, although the rates of oxidation of phorate and its sulphoxide were not similar in all the peats and composts. It was concluded that, despite the substantial water content and high insecticide concentrations, the principal factor determining insecticide behaviour in the blocks was the adsorptive capacity
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