With the thought in mind that a large part of a plant's ability to resist pests is linked directly to its vitality level, I think I'd follow this course: I would use a pair of scissors to unceremoniously prune the ivy back to lengths equal to the outside dimensions of the container. IOW, run my scissors around the outside of the container, using it as a guide for where to snip. If the plants are root bound in any way, which includes being root bound in the original root ball, I would correct that condition and repot into a well-aerated, free-draining soil that you'll be able to water correctly for the winter without having to worry about the soil remaining soggy so long that root rot or suppressed root function rising up as a limiting factor. For now, I would site the plant outdoors in open shade to take advantage of better light and air movement, higher humidity (if you have air conditioning), and insects that make mites their prey; OR, I would use applications of pure, cold-pressed neem oil at 2 week intervals. If you start neem applications now, you should be rid of the infestation before it's necessary to bring the planting indoors. Then, every 2 weeks I would include a spritz of the plant's foliage with a neem oil/rubbing alcohol/insecticidal soap (very safe) solution, and I would continue to use that strategy prophylactically, simply because of the plants bent toward being a mite magnet.

Judging by what comes up when I googled Disulfoton, I'm going to second rhizo's alarm. It's not supposed to be particularly volatile, so I'm not sure how you're smelling it so strongly (not doubting that you are, just puzzled by the discrepancy: how much did you use?), but whatever. It's not one of the nicer ones. If you have a place out of the house you can move the plants to, move them. If you don't, either change the soil completely or discard the plants. If you decide to change the soil, it might not be a bad idea to have a second person there while you do it, and have a phone handy. The early signs of human toxicity are blurred vision, fatigue, headache, dizziness, sweating, tearing, and salivation, and it gets worse from there. Disulfoton is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, which means that it mostly affects the nervous system (all nerve gases are ACh inhibitors, though not all ACh inhibitors are nerve gases), so it's not to be messed around with. Some people are genetically much more susceptible to ACh inhibitors than others, so it's possible that you're one of those people and that's why you're having a stronger reaction than you "ought to." None of this should be cause for panic. (Panic is never helpful anyway.) You need good air to breathe, so get the plants elsewhere for the night. You need to do something more permanent about the soil eventually, so make plans to change it or dump the plants. Make sure you have someone else around when you do whatever you decide to do, so you don't have to worry about being able to get emergency help if you should need it. And all this will be settled back to normal in a week.

I don't know about that, but what I do know is there is a tremendous amount of information on the ACES web site as well as other Internet sites. The trick is in determining which information applies to your specific location, climate and soil type. I remember hearing that we couldn't grow raspberries down here near Montgomery because of the summertime heating. However, when I read a lady had terrific success growing them down near Mobile under a grove of pecan trees, we were inspired to try and bought about 200 plants. We tried for two years and had some minimal success, but since we didn't grow them in a shady area, the day and nightime heating pretty much cooked them and they died off the third year. Lesson learned: pay attention to the details of an article and the location where the plant is being grown (e.g., under a pecan grove and in an area where there cooler evenings). Cherry trees also fall into this catagory. We planted 24 cherry trees and have two Dwarf North Star varieties left. Lesson learned: Just because the chill hour requirement for some fruit trees might be in the same range as where you live, doesn't mean they will grow like they do farther North. The same goes with Granny Smith apple trees and their susceptibility to fire blight (based on ACES information). It eventually killed 12 of the 14 apple trees we planted. Buy apple tree varieties that are resistant to fire blight. However, we have had great success with blueberries, blackberries, peaches, nectarines, persimmons, plums, plumcots and our outdoor hydroponic vegetable garden and are still quite motivated to continue with our farming adventure and recommend it to anyone who has ever thought about growing fruit and vegetables in their backyard. There is definitely plenty that will thrive in our warm and humid Alabama climate.

when used as directed, any pesticide available off the shelf of any open to the public retailer is safe. the key here is the first phrase, WHEN USED AS DIRECTED. every one of my garden hoses has a label that states "this hose or it's components contains lead, a substance know to teh state fo California to cause cancer". i don't plan on eating the fittings, so the lead ain't gonna hurt me. i also do not drink from my pesticide dispensers, and i wash off fully immediately after applying pesticides. i have been directly sprayed before, and i can tell you it ain't no fun. when i worked for the USDA doing pesticide experiments, we were working a field hand counting bugs on the cotton. a crop duster sprayed the wrong field and soaked 7 of us. we all had to take off for a few days due to nausea and our eyes burning. this is why fields have signs up that NO ONE may enter for any reason. when i spray around my house, the same things goes, no people allowed in the area until it dries. and no, i am not baiting people with posts about pesticides. pesiticide use is very common in my area. most folks still use the sevin dust, i switched to liquid for both ease of application and less collateral damage to the environment.