Horticultural oil is a term used to describe ANY oil product used to control pests and diseases on plants. They can be petrochemicals OR plant based (mineral or vegetable) Hoosierquilt is right about neem being a type of horticultural oil. That's quite a bad infestation of mites you have, tia. As Houston suggests, I believe that I would treat it to a real 'bath' in the sink or tub before deciding on which treatment(s) to use. Some plain water and a soft sponge or cloth should be your first attack. I like the use of a horticultural oil (your choice of which kind) for the control of both spider mites AND scale insects. I strongly suggest that you use a commercial product...with an actual label to read and follow. Even petroleum based oils are safe to use on indoor plants, though I would spray outside just because of the potential for a mess. I believe that all plant growers should have a hort.oil on hand other than Neem. Oils (mineral OR plant based) work solely by smothering the soft bodied critter, its nymphs and eggs. Commercial products dry with very little visible residue or odor. How long between treatments depends upon the product you decide to purchase. Horticultural oils are useful in controlling mites, scale nymphs, aphids, whitefly nymphs. If I were to cite the things that Neem oil can help with, the list would be lengthy! Alcohol is also very helpful in controlling certain pests on citrus and other plants. I keep a little plastic spray bottle filled with 1 part alcohol to 3 or 4 parts water. Some people use it full strength. It's useful for mites, mealybugs, aphids, and the nymphs of whitefly. I've attached a short but sweet fact sheet that briefly explains what Horticultural oils are and how they work. Here is a link that might be useful: Click to see!

Liz, fertilized soil will not be enough for citrus. A couple of things - first off, I suspect your potting medium is too wet and soggy. I know you've repotted, but none of the container folks here like MiracleGro soil, it just compacts and doesn't breath well enough for citrus roots. If you search for "511" mix in this forum, you'll get a great container potting mix. MeyerMike can help you out with that for sure, his citrus do exceptionally well with 511 mix. Secondly, and due to that, I am suspecting you have something fungal going on. When you see round spots like that, it is almost always something fungal in nature. You don't need a microscope to see mites. I can see them with my 57 yo "mature" eyes :-) Mites give a very classic appearance to leaves, they look speckled or stippled. Your leaves are not displaying that at all. Black spots under the leaves sounds like Greasy Spot to me. You'll need to treat with an anti-fungal agent. Also, a tree that pours its energy into blooming, while failing is a tree that is in trouble. It feels that it is dying, so this is its last ditch effort to reproduce itself. More sunlight, better potting soil, switch to a better fertilizer with micronutrients like Foliage Pro by DynaGro may all help. The fruit that fell off looks like wind damage scarring. I would pull off all the other little fruit right now, and let's see if we can get your little tree to put its energies back into its canopy, instead of the fruit. Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: University of Florida: Citrus Greasy Spot

have you peeps already.. perhaps in another post ... discussed why these plants are in front of a fireplace ... how far the lights are from the plants ... the effect of bringing them indoors in a timely fashion [prior to any cold damage] ... and the effects of sitting in front of a cold chimney on an icy winter night in most of snow country ... [in my MI ... its the coldest place in the house ... even with the damper closed] the reason i ask ... is that i am not sure FGnats kill anything as the title suggests... they may want to make you kill yourself.. but plants??? i am focusing on the title.. and the fact.. that there may be a multitude of reasons why these plants are suffering/stressed ..... beyond mites and gnats ... it is not uncommon to have a tree brought indoors.. to lose all its leaves.. simply for that fact ... let alone somehow.. holding on to flowers ... etc .... good luck ken ps: the number one reason for FGs ... is not letting your media dry enough ... and that is hard to do.. as it sheds leaves.. because your only inclination.. is to water it more.. thought the reason is the change of light level ... probably not media moisture ... a vicious circle... to say the least ...

Steve, I think that's what they call a Velvet Ant, it's a wingless wasp. Spider Mites don't have stingers, and even if they did they're way too small to penetrate human skin. They have mouth parts similar to regular spiders but use them to rasp the surface of the plant and then they suck up the juices. The tiny stipple spots are where they've scratched and sucked up the plant juice. A close up of the Two Spotted Spider Mite. This is a common one, but they're many kinds. And how they look to the naked eye, up close. You can see the fine webbing with mites crawling on it. They're the tiny dots. It does look fairly different than regular spider webs. And here you can see the stipple spotted damage on a leaf; This is a pretty bad case on a lemon tree. The webbing, the tiny mites and the stippling can all be seen here. If you click on the pics, most will show it as a larger picture.