Two jobs, many rose bottles
Garden-centre aisles sell ‘rose care’, ‘bug killer’ and ‘fungus fighter’ as if they were flavours of the same spray. The SDS names the tool. Blackspot and mildew → a fungicide. Greenfly, caterpillars and mites → an insecticide or a physical smother. Ant runs → permethrin dust or a spinosad bait, not a foliar spray. Slugs → ferric phosphate bait. Weeds → a herbicide — see the weedkiller guide.
Do not tank-mix a triazole with a pyrethroid, a neonic with an oil, or any of them with a weedkiller, just because the labels are pink. One chemistry, labelled crop, labelled interval. Triple-rinse the sprayer between jobs.
Contact fungicides — copper and sulphur
Vitax Bordeaux Mixture is copper sulphate pentahydrate plus hydrated lime (CAS 7758-98-7 on the copper). Classic 1% Bordeaux is 100 g of each powder in 10 L, copper poured into lime, sprayed the same day. It sits on the leaf. Repeated copper builds in soil — stay within seasonal limits. Never pour garden Bordeaux into a swimming pool.
Vitax Yellow Sulphur is elemental sulphur (CAS 7704-34-9). An 8 g/L wettable wash or a light dust is a contact mildew tool and a soil acidifier, not a systemic triazole. Some apples, pears, gooseberries and currants are sulphur-shy. It is flammable dust — FFP2 when puffing.
Three triazoles — rotate, do not stack
Rose Clear Ultra concentrate is myclobutanil at about 0.875 g/L in the bottle — 0.91 g of 96% technical in 10 L matches that working spray. Provanto Fungus Fighter is tebuconazole at 25 g/L; 4 ml/L or 1.04 g of 96% technical in 10 L lands at about 0.1 g/L. Fungus Clear Ultra is triticonazole at 10.2 g/L; 15 ml/L is about 0.15 g/L.
Same DMI group, three CAS numbers (88671-89-0, 107534-96-3, 131983-72-7). If blackspot laughs at one, swap group (sulphur or copper where the crop label allows) rather than pouring a second triazole into the same tank. Tebuconazole often carries a Repr. 2 warning — read the SDS; do not spray if you are pregnant.
Insects — soap, oil, pyrethroid, neonic
Start with the least persistent tool that matches the pest. SB Plant Invigorator-style sprays are dilute urea plus potassium soft soap — a physical smother for aphids and mites, about 10 ml/L soap with 5 g urea. BugClear Fruit & Veg Ultra is rapeseed oil at 17 g/L (CAS 8002-13-9); 19 ml of refined oil made up to a litre with a drop of washing-up liquid matches the trigger. Oils scorch some ferns and African violets; shake as you spray.
Provanto Ultimate Bug Killer is deltamethrin at 15 g/L (CAS 52918-63-5). Outdoor band is 0.5 ml/L — a contact pyrethroid, very toxic to aquatic life and to bees while the spray is wet. Doff Rose Shield RTU is a different pyrethroid: cypermethrin at 0.05 g/L (50 ppm, CAS 52315-07-8) plus myclobutanil — a mixed rose trigger, not deltamethrin and not a pure fungicide. BugClear Ultra concentrate is acetamiprid at 5 g/L (CAS 135410-20-7); 10 ml/L on ornamentals is a neonicotinoid that moves in the plant. Different HSE numbers. Do not treat soap or oil as a licensed substitute where the label requires a pesticide — and do not treat a pesticide as a first reach for a few aphids on a windowsill.
Ant dust is not a foliar spray
Nippon Ant Killer Powder is permethrin at 0.488% on talc (CAS 52645-53-1). A 0.5% crawling-insect powder at about 8 g/m² on runs and nest entrances is the same dust. Cats are highly sensitive to permethrin — keep it off bedding and grooming areas. It is not DEET, not deltamethrin foliar spray, and not a lawn weedkiller. Nippon Ant Killer Liquid is a different product: spinosad at 0.081% in a sugar bait (CAS 168316-95-8). There is no honest household mix from agricultural spinosad — buy the amateur-labelled bait.
Autan Tropical is DEET for skin (CAS 134-62-3). That teardown lives on the wellness hub. Never put garden ant powder on skin, and never spray DEET on roses.
Slugs and weeds are other aisles
Ferric phosphate slug bait (CAS 10045-86-0) is a molluscicide, not a fungicide and not a herbicide. Daisies in grass are mecoprop-P plus dicamba or the Weedol Lawn three-way. Path weeds are glyphosate or pelargonic. See the weedkiller and moss guides — do not reach for Rose Clear because the box is in the same bay.
Buy amateur packs you can legally apply
Professional agricultural EC and SG packs may be illegal for a householder. Buy amateur-labelled listings the same way we treat BAC 50. Store locked; keep off ponds; spray at dusk if bees are foraging; compost or dispose of rinsings as the label says. The calculator shows cost per working litre — it does not replace the MAPP/HSE number on the pack you actually buy.
FAQ
- Is Rose Clear the same as Provanto Fungus Fighter?
- Same job family (systemic triazole fungicides) but different molecules. Rose Clear Ultra is myclobutanil (CAS 88671-89-0). Provanto Fungus Fighter is tebuconazole (CAS 107534-96-3). Fungus Clear Ultra is a third triazole — triticonazole. Rotate groups if blackspot persists; do not stack them in one tank.
- Is BugClear Ultra the same as Fruit & Veg Ultra?
- No. BugClear Ultra concentrate is acetamiprid (CAS 135410-20-7), a neonicotinoid systemic. Fruit & Veg Ultra RTU is rapeseed oil (CAS 8002-13-9) at 17 g/L — a contact suffocant. Different HSE numbers, different bee and harvest rules.
- Will a fungicide kill greenfly?
- No. Copper, sulphur and triazoles are for fungal disease. Greenfly is an insecticide or physical-smother job (deltamethrin, acetamiprid, rapeseed oil or soft soap). A rose ‘3-in-1’ gun that also lists aphids is a mixed pack — read the SDS, not the flower on the label.
- Is Nippon ant powder the same as Autan DEET spray?
- No. Nippon powder is permethrin dust (CAS 52645-53-1) for ant runs. Nippon liquid is spinosad bait (CAS 168316-95-8), not the same dust. Autan Tropical is DEET on skin (CAS 134-62-3). Never put ant powder or bait on skin, and never treat DEET as a garden insecticide.
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Lawn & garden
Rose Clear Ultra Concentrate
Rose Clear
- Retail pack
- £11.991 litre
- Raw active
- Myclobutanil 96% technical88671-89-0
Rose Clear Ultra is myclobutanil at about 0.875 g/L in the concentrate bottle — a triazole fungicide sold in a rose-shaped label. Technical myclobutanil powder dissolved to the same ppm is the same systemic without the garden-centre premium.
Lawn & garden
Fungus Fighter Concentrate
Provanto
- Retail pack
- £9.99125 millilitres
- Raw active
- Tebuconazole 96% technical107534-96-3
Provanto Fungus Fighter is tebuconazole at 25 g/L in a 125 ml rose bottle. Four millilitres per litre lands at about 0.1 g/L — the same DMI triazole as a weighed pinch of 96% technical. It is not myclobutanil (Rose Clear), not sulphur, and not Bordeaux copper.
Lawn & garden
Ultra Concentrate
Fungus Clear
- Retail pack
- £10.99225 millilitres
- Raw active
- Triticonazole 96% technical131983-72-7
Fungus Clear Ultra is triticonazole at 10.2 g/L in a 225 ml rose bottle. Fifteen millilitres per litre lands at about 0.15 g/L — the same DMI triazole as a weighed pinch of 96% technical. It is not myclobutanil (Rose Clear), not tebuconazole (Provanto Fungus Fighter), and not sulphur.
Lawn & garden
Bordeaux Mixture
Vitax
- Retail pack
- £5.99175 grams
- Raw active
- Copper sulphate pentahydrate + hydrated lime (Bordeaux)7758-98-7
Bordeaux mixture is copper sulphate reacted with lime — the same blue wash Victorian gardeners used. The sachet is a portioned blend; buying copper sulphate pentahydrate and hydrated lime separately fills many seasons of the same spray.
Lawn & garden
Yellow Sulphur
Vitax
- Retail pack
- £4.99225 grams
- Raw active
- Flowers of sulphur (elemental sulphur 99%)7704-34-9
Vitax Yellow Sulphur is 98% elemental sulphur (CAS 7704-34-9) in a 225 g puff pack. Flowers of sulphur from a 1 kg horticultural bag is the same dust — a contact fungicide and soil acidifier, not a systemic triazole and not Bordeaux copper.
Lawn & garden
Ultimate Bug Killer Concentrate
Provanto
- Retail pack
- £8.9930 millilitres
- Raw active
- Deltamethrin 15 g/L emulsion concentrate52918-63-5
Provanto Ultimate Bug Killer is deltamethrin at 15 g/L in a 30 ml garden-centre bottle. Half a millilitre per litre outdoors lands at about 7.5 mg/L — the same pyrethroid as a 1 L amenity pack of that 15 g/L emulsion. It is not permethrin ant dust, not SB soft soap, and it is very toxic to aquatic life and bees when spray is wet.
Lawn & garden
Ultra Concentrate
BugClear
- Retail pack
- £10.49200 millilitres
- Raw active
- Acetamiprid 5 g/L soluble concentrate135410-20-7
BugClear Ultra is acetamiprid at 5 g/L — a neonicotinoid systemic, not a pyrethroid dust and not soft soap. Ten millilitres per litre lands at 0.05 g/L, matching the ornamental label. A 1 L amateur pack of that 5 g/L SL is the same molecule without the 200 ml garden-centre pour.
Lawn & garden
Fruit & Veg Ultra Ready to Use
BugClear
- Retail pack
- £6.50800 millilitres
- Raw active
- Refined rapeseed oil emulsified to 17 g/L8002-13-9
BugClear Fruit & Veg Ultra is rapeseed oil at 17 g/L (CAS 8002-13-9) — a contact oil suffocant, not acetamiprid (BugClear Ultra concentrate) and not deltamethrin. Nineteen millilitres of refined rapeseed oil made up to a litre with a drop of washing-up liquid matches the trigger. It is not a neurotoxin and it will scorch oil-shy plants.
Lawn & garden
Ant Killer Powder
Nippon
- Retail pack
- £3.50150 grams
- Raw active
- Permethrin 0.5% crawling-insect powder52645-53-1
Nippon powder is permethrin at 0.488% on talc — a pyrethroid crawling-insect dust in a 150 g shaker. A 1 kg bag of the same 0.5% permethrin powder is the same dust without the puffer-pack markup. It is not DEET, not glyphosate, and it is very toxic to cats and aquatic life.
Lawn & garden
Ant Killer Liquid
Nippon
- Retail pack
- £4.9925 grams
- Raw active
- Amateur-labelled spinosad ant bait 0.081% (same liquid)168316-95-8
Nippon Ant Killer Liquid is spinosad at 0.081% (CAS 168316-95-8) in a 25 g honey-sweet bait — Vitax SDS, not a spray. It is not Nippon Ant Killer Powder (permethrin dust) and not Provanto Ultimate Bug Killer (deltamethrin). Technical spinosad SC is a professional foliar insecticide: there is no sensible UK household bulk path that a householder can legally mix as ant bait. A 4 × 25 g pack of the same labelled liquid is the only honest stack.
Lawn & garden
Rose & Shrub Shield Bug & Fungus Killer
Doff
- Retail pack
- £5.501 litre
- Raw active
- Cypermethrin 5 g/L amateur emulsion (diluted to 50 ppm)52315-07-8
Doff Rose Shield RTU is cypermethrin at 0.05 g/L plus myclobutanil at 0.075 g/L — a pyrethroid and a triazole in one trigger. Cypermethrin (CAS 52315-07-8) is not permethrin ant dust and not Provanto deltamethrin. The fungus half is the Rose Clear molecule. Dilute a householder-labelled cypermethrin concentrate to 50 ppm for the bug job.
Lawn & garden
Plant Invigorator & Bug Killer
SB
- Retail pack
- £14.99500 millilitres
- Raw active
- Horticultural potassium soft soap57-13-6 / 61790-44-1
Dilute foliar urea plus a potassium fatty-acid soap that smothers soft-bodied insects. A 500 ml bottle at 10 ml/L makes about 50 litres; the same working spray from bulk soap and urea is pence per litre.
Lawn & garden
Slug & Snail Killer Pellets
Doff
- Retail pack
- £7.49800 g tub
- Raw active
- Ferric phosphate slug bait (~1% FePO4)10045-86-0
Metaldehyde is gone. What remains is ~1% ferric phosphate in a cereal pellet. The 800 g tub is a small bag of the same bait sold in 2–5 kg buckets to allotmenteers. You are paying for the child-resistant lid.
Wellness & supplements
Tropical Insect Repellent
Autan
- Retail pack
- £7.99100 millilitres
- Raw active
- DEET 99% technical134-62-3
Autan Tropical is DEET at 50% in a spray bottle. Technical DEET dissolved in isopropanol to the same strength is the same repellent without the travel-aisle markup.
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