Brunnings Bug and Fungus Kill, and where not to use it

March 25, 2025

Brunnings Bug and Fungus Kill is a ready to use spray that does two jobs in one bottle, because it carries an insecticide and a fungicide together, and that combination is exactly why it's worth understanding before you start spraying it around.

What it's actually for

It's registered for roses and ornamentals, and that is the sentence to hang onto. It handles the usual sap suckers and chewers that turn up on ornamental plants, so aphids on new rose buds, caterpillars and budworms working through the foliage, thrips, and mites. On the fungal side it's aimed at the ones that ruin roses every year, which is black spot, rust and powdery mildew.

The bit that matters most, and the reason the label says ornamentals

It works systemically, which means the plant takes it up and moves it around inside itself rather than it just sitting on the surface. That's what makes it good on a fungal problem that has already got a hold, because you aren't relying on hitting every spot. It's also exactly why it isn't a veggie patch product. Something the plant has absorbed can't be washed off, so a systemic spray belongs on your roses and your ornamentals, and it doesn't go anywhere near anything you're planning to eat. If the problem is on a food crop, that's a different product and a different conversation, and it's worth having that conversation before you spray rather than after.

Keeping the bees out of it

Don't spray an open flower. Insecticides don't know the difference between an aphid and a bee, and a rose in full bloom is exactly where the bees are working. Spray in the early morning or the evening when it's cool and there's nothing flying, spray the foliage rather than the blooms, and if the plant is covered in open flowers then either wait or pick a different approach altogether. The same goes for spray drift, because a still day keeps it on the plant you're aiming at instead of on the neighbour's herbs.

Using it without making a mess of it

Read the label before you start, because the rate and the plants it's cleared for are both printed on it, and the label is the authority rather than anything I can tell you.
Spray in the cool part of the day. Anything oily or systemic going onto hot foliage in full sun is asking for leaf burn.
Cover the undersides of the leaves, because that's where aphids and mites actually live, and a spray that only hits the top of the leaf misses most of them.
Wear gloves and keep it off your skin, and keep kids and pets away until it's dry.
Don't spray it every weekend on principle. Spray when there's a problem worth spraying, and check first whether the ladybirds have already got on top of it.

When not to reach for it at all

Plenty of pest problems sort themselves out, and a few aphids on one shoot is not a garden emergency. If you can rub them off, rub them off. If the predators are already in there working, spraying will kill them along with the aphids and you'll be worse off in a fortnight than you are now. The times this bottle earns its place are when black spot is stripping a rose bare every year, or when something is eating faster than the plant can grow.

Shop related products

Brunnings Bug & Fungus Kill RTU 1L. The insecticide and fungicide in one ready to use bottle, for roses and ornamentals.
Multicrop Kocide Blue Extra Fungicide 30g. A copper fungicide, which is the other way at black spot and a lot of leaf diseases.
Multicrop EcoPest Oil Insect Spray. A horticultural oil, which smothers scale and mites rather than poisoning them.
Multicrop Pyrethrum Long Life Insect Spray 1L. A contact knockdown, and it has no systemic action at all.

Did you know we also keep the Brunnings rose spray concentrates in the shop, in both the 250ml and the 1 litre, and they aren't all listed on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf before you drive in.

The rest of the pest and disease range sits in our garden centre, and if you bring in a leaf or a photo on your phone we'll have a look at what's actually going on before you buy anything.