Which new mite killer is best for the price?

[Lusi]

Hi all,

I have several different gardens that have been neglected during my move to this house. All plants and trees appear infested with bugs and diseases. Spider mites spread on the constant wind, ants, birds, humming brids, and thousands of red and black bugs that have destroyed every fruit tree i have and now cover every plant and veggie. Nothing kills them, mites get free rides. i've tried all the usual sprays, too many to list. Any and all forms of Neem don't work, so don't go there or to the sprays that cost a bundle, like a fee sponsors.

For now, I need to kill and repel the mites, then work on the bugs carrying them in and destroying plantsmtoo. I've been looking into three new type mite kilers, and have found these:

Ladybug Spray
No Spider Mites
Mitey Wash

Has anyone here used or heard about these three products? They all appear to work and are less costly than even neem. Mitey Wash is the cheapest of them. Lady bug killer the most popular, and No Spider Mires one I tried a sample of, which worked indoors.. I need one that doesn't need direct contact to kill, and sticks around a bit or repels bugs too. There's always an egg or bug missed. :-(

For the other bugs that carry mites, i'm open to ideas. I need to treat the surrounding trees until I can take the, down, or use a spray that repels pests too. The usual array of organic sprays and mixes haven't killed either mite or red black bugs and I can't afford the sprays from sponsors. Home defense spray is a joke as they waltz across the peremeters.

Here's my needs, whether one spray or three:
1) I need a spray that is affordable to cover every plant within 1/4 acre.
2) one safe for veggies and herbs within 2 weeks harvest, less the better!
3) a spray or combination that both kills bugs and repels them from bringing in more mites.
4) a spray that won't kill or harm good insects, frog, ponds, lizards, and birds. Several sprays have already driven off my frogs. :-((

lMK if any ideas!

 

[Lusi]

How about simplifying this... Which works the best:
Mighty Wash
Liquid Lady Bug
No Spider Mites

Has anyone tried at least two of these?

 

[Lusi]

Wow... I'd hoped. Now is too late to ship for a few days. I can't find squat on comparing them. Best guess is this, so far:
#1 No Spider Mites (kills eggs and adults, my sample of it worked indoors)
#2 Liquid Lady Bug (can spray with the lights on)
#3 Mighty Wash (I've heard it is great, but see no advantage over the others)

ANyone out there??? I found the mite problem is on every plant, especially the leaves inside the plants that are hard to spray. Once again, I thought this was dust from construction, not mites. :-9((( Meanwhile, every plant will get a strip of tanglefoot, then blasted from bottom up with the hose. The plants look beat up, but tomorrow they will be happy again. I guess I also need to remove all lower branches and thin out the ones I can't spread and stake. Any other suggestions? No luck on killing those red and black bugs or the ants that carry mites. Thus, tanglefoot. Home defense spray doesn't kill or repel them from the grow area. WTF?

If it was just the MJ plants and no invasive bugs to spread the mites, this wouldn't be so bad to control. Even my trees are infested!! here's a pic of the garden, add a foot in height though.

 

[TorturedSoul]

There is another possibility, since you grow outdoors in containers. Companion plant something in the same containers.

Mites don't seem to care for onion, garlic, or chives. There may be (probably are) others. Try a ring of onions around the perimeter of the containers spaced 3" apart. If nothing else, they taste good, lol - and rabbits don't like them either come to think of it. I've heard that mites don't like basil.

And, of course, plants containing pyrethrum are harvested to make insecticide. It's made from the dried flower heads of certain plants in the genus Chrysanthemum and people make their own. As the wikipedia article states, even though it is organic (and has been used for centuries) it can be harmful to humans. Much more likely (I'd expect) in its concentrated retail form than when one grows a few plants that contain it, but something to be aware of.

Considering how easy it is to contaminate even an indoor grow with mites, I would focus as much energy on repelling them from your plants as you do on killing the ones that you already have.

Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

 

[Lusi]

Thanks... I've been blasting them with the hose every 2 days, until I figure what to do. It is very difficult to find Pyrethrum strong enough to do the job. "Don/t Bug Me" is a joke! I've used sprays made of Pyrethrum pr Permethrin for years. Fly sprays for the horses, flea drops for the cats. I often borrowed the horse spray for myself when the bugs drove me to it. Do you know what percentage of Pyrethrum is needed for mites, or which is too risky for human contacrt? If indoor, I'd use a fogger with it. Outside... I do have a mosquito back yard fogger. Is it safe or useful for all my garden, as a mite and beetle killer? I've hesitated to use strong smelling sprays... The Maltion drove away my tree frogs and half of my lizards. They are just now coming back, a week later. I also have several praying mantis nymphs in my gardens that I wish to keep. This is why I've been looking at those more natural mite sprays. However, I also need critter safe sprays for these beetles. :-(

I never thought of onions... I have marigold seeds and garlic cloves buried, but it will be quite a long wait. At least onions are sold with a large enough bulb to deter pests. Now chives would be perfect!Will get some.

I fear if I can't control these, a missed egg could sneak in when I take clones and check for males, inside. There are several strains I wish to keep. :-(

I think the winning choice is the "No Spider Mites" spay. It claims to kill eggs to and is usable up to harvest. The sample I had smelled lovely. LOL All I have to do is find a place to get here quick. If I can afford to, I'll get all three and test them on a dish of mites and ants.

Thanks for your help! I love to grow outside, even with all the extra pests. The plants are now All in the ground for 2 weeks and are thriving and re-vegging again. I guess outdoor containers in this climate are impossible unless in the shade. Phew! Next year...

 

[TorturedSoul]

If you have beneficial insects, you might want to consider trying some of the predator insects that are sold for mite-control. I don't know how well they'd work out of doors - but it sounds like there are plenty of mites to keep them both well-fed and nearby, lol.

Hope whatever you try is harmless to the praying mantis. I see anywhere from a few to a bunch every time I mow and always hope they are able to keep out of my way. I saw two fight once - the winner had its head torn off and then proceeded to slay the other one. I've heard they can live up to two weeks with no head(!) but I'm not sure how accurate that statement is. It doesn't appear to slow them down any.

 

[Lusi]

You have that many praying mantis?!?!? I'm jealous! I've seen 2 tiny ones and carefully put them on my plants. How do your fare with your outdoor pests? Every time I get a lizard, toad, or frog, I relocate them where the bugs are the worst. There were much more before I sprayed neem. I'll checkmate local store for lady bugs tomorrow. Predator bugs are not cheap, and I'm concerned my many many lizard would eat them all... Including the tiny mantis.

Well, my No Spider Mites spray is ordered. It was 20% off and kills eggs too. Ironically, I saw a new hydro shop open up and wandered in today. They had none of these sprays I look for, but had a tiny free sample of yet another new organic mite spray called "Dyna-Mite". Lol! I also coughed up ten bucks for a tiny bottle of SNS-217. Even if it works, it costs too much for me. I have rosemary oil, somewhere in a moving box. :-( if I can just get a small bottle of Mighty Wash and Liquid Lady Bug, I can have a nice experiment. One flower I use to test things on is hopelessly covered in mites. I can clip a few leaves, put em in bags, and test away. Live plants would be better, but at least I can scope the single leaves to see what happens.

Best yet, all of these products are mantis safe... But if they don't like the smell or taste much, they'll leave like the tree frogs did. Mites are too small to interest the frogs much any way. I should have put tangle foot on my plant stems before the mites showed. Next year...

Thank you for your help! When things settle down again, i'll finish my journal. The results of my pot tests were pretty neat, along with many other useful products. I never knew buying a house was so much work. Too buzzy repairing things to even unpack.

Happy growing!

 

[TorturedSoul]

You have that many praying mantis?!?!? I'm jealous!

Yeah, that many, lol. Don't get me wrong, I like them and all - but I've got so many that they're annoying. I let part of my yard go a little wild and only mow it sporadically. When I do, it takes me twice as long as it should because every few feet I end up stopping and (gently) flipping one out from in front of the mower... In addition to however many get out of the way on their own. One of these days I'll probably get snake-bitten because I've become so used to seeing the grass move to one side or the other of the mower that I don't pay as much attention as I should to whether it was from something landing on it or from something slithering past at ground-level.

They seem to be about equally mixed between green and brown. I think the brown ones might be from China(?). And I think I've seen some mixed.

But I don't have lizards, frogs, rabbits, etc. I've got some pretty carnivorous cats. I only ever saw one carrying a mantis in its jaws once - maybe they taste bad (or maybe it got hold of the cat's tongue, lol)?

I never knew buying a house was so much work. Too buzzy repairing things to even unpack.

That, Ms. Lusi, is what is known as a Freudian slip.

Happy growing!

And the same to you.

EDIT: Hey, I just remembered that spider mites are soft-bodied. Pick up a bag of diatomaceous earth and sprinkle some all over the surface of the soil in each and every pot. It won't harm the plants, but it'll do a number on most insects that crawl across it. Dehydrates them deader than a 1973 calendar.

 

[Lusi]

LOL! Buzzy, yup that describes it. I crashed hard today when all that flying about nonsens caught up with me. This iPad seldom autocorrects the correct word, like reading MadLibs.

Are all of these adult mantis or nymph? Surely the sound of the mower resembles driving over twigs. :-( what bug infestation do you have a problem with there? All those mantids have to eat something, just as all my lizards do. Maybe you can sell them on craig's list... Hell I'd buy some. LOL As I was reading this, I was thinking of the rattle snakes I've rousted out while bush hogging a long neglected mess of weeds I call a lawn. Maybe you need a mantis sized cow catcher on the front of your mower.

I forgot about diatomaceous powder and didn,t know it controlled mites too. Will it cut ants too? I looked for that this spring, to keep out slugs and caterpillars, but never found it, just as I never found lime here. That would be great to put around my flower beds, and less messy than duct tape with tanglefoot. The need to mKe the antidote for that, Tanglefingers remover. It defies lye soap and alcohol.

Perhaps a local store can order this and lime for me. (The PH for my water from the spigot is 8.2) Thanks for the tip!

 

[Lusi]

I forgot to follow this one up with results... This is from memory and is for outdoors. These might work fine, inside.

1) neem: fails to prevent, deter, or kill as a spray. Outdoors was too expensive and difficult to use a drench. On a leaf of mites under a scope, it seemed to shock them, but didn't kill the adults after 24 hrs.

2) the usual choices from a Home Depot. Failed, all of them. Choices not safe for consumption might work if enough time passes before harvest. Didn't bother with leaf test

3) Safer naturaL miticide (will dig up the name if anyone asks) failed. The leaf test seemed tom work, but this spray only kills on contact. Outside, on one entire test plant there were still mites 24 hrs later.. Cost wise, this was affordable

4) Mitey Wash. Leaf test wasmgood. Failed to eliminate mites on test plant after 24hrs, which means I found love mites on more than one leaf. All test plants were saturated

5) SNS spray with the rosemary.. Leaf test, good. Plant test, this was the worst of the organic sprays. There were many mites 24hrs later! Furthermore, I used one ENTIRE $11 bottle (around 4oz) on a plant and there were mites. I wonder if the bugs just looked dead on the leaves... By live mites thennext day, I mean adults, not hatchlings. Too high in cost. If they lowered their prices, more people could afford to try them. Come one, rosemary oil? It's andime a dozen, why do much $$$?
***Same goes for the spray I tried that is ionized water. All these organic sprays cost me around $10 per 2' high plant, one use, not even a second for eggs!

6) liquid ladybug leaf test, good. Plant test, live mites in 24 hrs, Extremely expensive!!!

8) No Spider Mites: worked great in bloom indoors last year. Outside, useless andnexpensive. Leaf test was good. Plant test failed

9) home made sprays: tried garlic, rosemary extract, cinnamon extract, tea tree oil, tobacco, soap, alcohol, tobacco, neem extract, and a bunch of other mixes. All failedmto killmor repel established mites.

10) diatomaceous earth: as a barrier, it likely helped, but I couldn't find enough info on using it as a powder to coat the leaves. how?? As a barrier, it might have worked if i didn't water every 2 days. An inch wide thick ring about the garden didn't last long enough to test. I'm testing sulfur powder on my zucchini fight now sincenthe sprays all failed here too.

11) tanglefoot. Before the plants were large enough to touch, this kept a lot of crawlers off! Especially ants and aphids. I have none, not even whiteflies. The plants touching screens or the fence definitely had the worst infestations. Tip, wrap some yellow duct tape around the stem and put the tanglefoot on stem and supports.

12) pyrethrum, strongest on the market is called "Pyganic". Leaf test, good. Plant test, not. If I had used this earlier to prevent bugs, it would have worked. The organic farm down the street sprayed Pyganic one time in June andnhas no bugs of any kindnthat imcould find. They gave me a free sample to mix 5 gallons. This is highly concentrated and the strongest pyrethrum I could find for sale. At $50 a qt,and 1oz per gallon, it will last a long time!

13) permethrin. Synthetic pyrethrum form. I used a high concentrate used tomspray cattle. Leaf test, failed. I swear it created more mites!! It wasn't worth testing on a plant.

There was one more test, but my memory is dry. This was a few months ago. When I find it, i'll put it up Here. Obviously, it failed.

-----------

So, my plants are in harvest.... what DID work? Up until now, I was 100% organic because me screens kept out bugs and bees that spread bugs. The wind cannot be tamed! I finally caved in and bought a pintomof Avid for $100. It will last me a very long time, might outlive me. Why? Avid is systemic and stayed in the plant for 6 weeks, killing all suckers that bite a leaf, including any bugs that hatch after spraying. This does not kill,eggs like Floramite, just bugs to include white flies aphods and more. In one dose, 2 months later I am still mite free. The spotted leaves and mite bodies remain, but the buds are new growth and still mite free.
*******Avid is a dangerous chemical and should be used carefully!! It is NOT supposed to be used on edible plants. Do NOT use while in bloom. Do NOT use if you are under 6 weeks until harvest. DO wear long sleeves, gloves, pants, and cover all exposed skin. Don't spray if windy. Wear a respirator and protective goggles. I bent over too far with my back pack sprayer and got it all over me. It burned a bit as I did a strip down and washed exposed skin. Do NOT use in light or hot weather, follow instructions!!! People using this often double the dose. I did not and it still worked.

In the future outside grows, I plan to use Avid once in mid July. Prior to that, I will order Pyganic pyrethrin and use it before bugs, starting in early June and on my entire property to include the fruit trees and flowers. mites are everywhere! Pyganic kills all bugs on contact, not just soft bodied suckers. I also use BT and mix in Dawn with all sprays to stick it tomthe leaves and deter caterpillars.

So, Dawn, Pyganic, and BT will be my #1 arsenal foe bugs next year. I also use Bayer Imachloprid on trees and while dormant, and on ornamentals. Bugs become resistant if one spray is used over and over. I will keep up the tanglefoot and mess with diatomaceous earth since I bought 50 pounds for a few bucks. Maybe it could be used to dust the leaves, before trichs form.....??

Hope this helps someone else...

 

[Perfect Sun LED]

The best results I have had is with floramite, but you cannot use in flower. Must use two weeks before flower. It is very strong. Wear a painters mask or gas mask or at least a face mask. I prefer to fill a tote up, or bucket, then add the right amount of floramite, then dip the plants as much as possible. Or fill up a small container that is short and rectangle. Hold it up to branch, and dip each branch as you move around the plant. This is much more effective than spraying.

Then 4 days later spray with mighty wash. My brother in law had decent results with mighty wash.

Also, use a vacuum with a brush tip and vacuum every day.

I had pretty good results with a bit of dish soap, and boiled clove in water and about 20 habanaros boiled in 1 gallon of water. Spray this every day. It is harsh, so use googles and a mask.

 

[Perfect Sun LED]

I never used avid. It scares me.

 

[ojaijim]

Do not screw around ! Use "Mighty Wash" ! Knocks em dead AND the eggs ( They explode ) ! This stuff kills on contact ! Drench the plant , then rinse it off ! It WORKS ! I've spent thousands of dollars on sprays , oils , homemade stuff and foggers ! 2.5 gallons for 72 bucks=DEAD , DEAD . DEAD ! I at first didn't buy this stuff because of their horrible packaging ! Did some research here in California and this is what large growers use ! "Floramite" stays in your plants !

 

[stonekeeper7]

I just bought 10 pounds of diatomaceous earth to fight everything. I have it on the lip of the pots and all over the floor and soil. I hope that the fact that this has a PH of 8, it won't change the PH of my soil and effect the girls. I also put together a combination of things that I read on various blogs. I took a cigarette and soaked in water. Poured through a screen into a spray bottle. I added a dash of vodka, canola oil, liquid soap,borax and baking soda. Borax kills all insects, especially ants(mix with maple syrup and water). I sprayed under and over. Waiting to see if they come back. Before I did all that I had fungus gnats. Got the yellow cards and caught about 30. I mixed 1 cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide in a gallon of water and fed the girls. That, with the diatomaceous earth ,has kept them in check. Now I probably need some nutrients to replace the good things I killed in the soil. Any suggestions? I will be budding in a week. The strains are ;Trainwreck;Obama:Burmese Kush and Maui/bubble/gift

 

[stonekeeper7]

How can i see spider mite web strands but not see a mite or eggs anywhere??

 

[FrankyG]

Put ladybugs on them, praying mantises, mulch, mothballs and coffee grinds around each plants...I wouldn't spray them with any Chemicals, spray them with a strong jalapeño/water solution....Bugs don't like that too much...lol

 

[4Dutchess]

I will be using Azamax spray and drench this year. Im not sure whats best.

 

[mcspade]

Indoors I haven't found anything better then Mite Rid. Regular infestation, one spray and done. Heavy infestation, one spray, repeat 7 days later. Dead, done and gone. 30 some bucks for 45 mls. Ratio is 5 mls to 2 ltrs. = 18 ltrs of spray.

 

[4Dutchess]

Is Mite Rid the stuff bought at the drug store in the lice section or at the grow shop?

 

[mcspade]

I ordered it on line from a grow shop. Do a Google search to find some. I couldn't find any locally.