You can use many insecticides on blackberries, but it isn't organic. That does not mean they are toxic. Many organics are extremely toxic! Many chemical sprays breakdown fast, read the label! Stark Brothers has these suggestions for blackberries: At the First Sign of: â Bonideî Captain JackâÂÂs⢠Deadbug Brew for fruitworms, thrips, leafrollers and more. â Bonideî Citrus, Fruit & Nut Orchard Spray for aphids, mites, blight, thrips, powdery mildew, rust and more. â Bonideî Thuricideî Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT) for omnivorus leafroller. â GardenTechî Sevinî Concentrate Bug Killer for aphids, fruitworms, Japanese beetles, mites, rose chafer, leafrollers and more. â Bayer Advanced⢠Complete Insect Killer for aphids, mites, leafrollers, fruitworms, Japanese beetles, rose chafer and more. I would still test any product on a small area first. This post was edited by Drew51 on Wed, Apr 17, 13 at 2:14

Your photos are not too convincing, in my opinion. These red mites you see...do they move around quickly? Predatory mites, which I have seen on occasion, scamper around readily. They are beneficial. Bad mites barely move, when you blow on them gently they get agitated and start to move some more. If you think you have bad mites, before you resort to harsh chemicals, make sure your cactus plants are being watered well. Sucking animals prefer dehydrated plants because the juices are more concentrated. Also, frequent spraying of plain water on the skin may be enough. Do this twice daily for a few weeks, it really seems to disrupt them. It's easier with cactus plants, than it is with leafy plants which need spraying under the leaves. Situate your plant outdoors for as many months as possible if you can. Fresh air and rain cures many ills. Plants kept indoors in stagnant air are not healthy. x

Terry, you're almost right in thinking that dish detergent is the same as "insecticidal soap". Here's the difference: Say Proctor and Gambel (Or whoever) is making a batch of a popular dish soap. They will use whatever ingredients will work for that production run. Now say it's a year later-same product, same basic recipe, but another supplier has one of the ingredients for a little cheaper. P&G is going to use the cheaper ingredient for that run, even though it may not be identical to materials used in prior runs. That's an oversimplification, but since these materials are designed to be sprayed on plants, it may pay off in the long run to use only those products formulated to be safe to do so, ie. no phytotoxicity. On the other hand, you might have real good luck and never run into this problem. +oM

You won't find spider mites OR beneficial predatory mites in your worm bin. The beneficials predate on spider mites, which will only be found on green plants. You have some sort of worm bin mite, about which know pretty much nothing. BUT with one click into Google using 'worm bin mites', I found you a bunch of articles to read. Click on google images first to see the duplicate of your picture. Which was excellent, by the way. By the way, there are many, many species of mites and they are found in all kinds of habitats. Each tend to be very habitat specific, meaning that you can often come pretty close to identifying them by observing where they reside. Here is a link that might be useful: Worm Bin Mites