How do you kill spider mites?
Krstofer
19 years ago
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patsy_b
19 years agopansysoup
19 years agoRelated Discussions
How to kill spider mites?
Comments (5)Spraying with horticultural oil may help a little, but the only systemic I know that works reliably is Avid, and it's expensive. I bought the smallest bottle I could online and it was 8 ounces for about $90...which makes up about a 10 year supply for me because it's highly concentrated. It contains abamectin, which is not a poison per se, but a reproduction inhibitor. You do have to be careful as it also can hurt bees. I dilute it per the instructions and add a few milliliters of horticultural oil. I did a quick search on Google ("spider mites" +Avid) and here is one place that sells it. I know nothing about this company, but at least you can check out the info: Avid...See MoreAre spider mites killing my boxwoods
Comments (8)I live in Columbus Ohio and we had a very mild winter this year, so I don't believe it is weather related. We do have a dog, but he prefers to kill our grass :)and is too lazy to walk that far from our back door. I went to a local garden center today and they told me to bring back a few samples for them to look at...plan on doing that tomorrow. They were planted back in 2006 and we've never had any problems with them, they all looked good going into fall/winter. My husband just came up with an idea this morning I wanted to run past the two of you...he power washed our patio a couple of weeks ago, using only water, but had the power washer sitting a few feet away from the boxwoods. Started in the corner, where the first dead spot is and then moved it down to the vicinity of where the second dead spot is. Could the fumes from the power washer done that damage? I know we are going to need to cut away the dead spots, will the boxwoods grow back in that area if it was just the power washer that caused the damage? Is there anything I can do to help repair those two sections?...See Morewill exposing spider mites to 35 degree weather kill them
Comments (10)Harry...I recently tried spraying full strenght rubbing alcohol on some that are on my plumeria. They never batted an eye! I've tried nearly everything on the market, within reasonable costs, and home made crap as well. You also have to rotate the products you use or the pests will soon shrug it off. I thought mites were tough. I don't believe there is any pest more tough and adaptable than thrips. It's a battle that will go on forever. Even the big money pesticides($200+)/pint have no guarantees of cleaning them out. If a plant is not too large and you have the time and the patience...get a bucket of soapy water and a wash cloth and start cleaning the leaves by hand...even branches. I've done this more times than I care to remember and it is the only way I've found to get rid of a particular outbreak. It's only a break in their cycle though. Most of these pests go thru several cycles and can be found in your soil, mulch, gravel/dirt on the floor, and on the plant itself. Not all methods work on all cycles. It's brutal and they have the upper hand. Systemics don't even always work and growing fruit trees, you need to be careful what you use and when...and there's still a doubt whether it is safe or not, a few claim they are...or whether it will kill the mites. I used a good systemic on the plumeria and it didn't slow them down a bit. Where do you draw the line in the sand? I had them on my bananas in the greenhouse one year. I purchased Cali predator mites and they pretty much irradicated the mites on the nanas. There was no evidence of them on the plumeria all this summer. Why now? How now? Beats the he!! out of me. Humidity? Forget it. You've all heard how high I keep my humidity in the greenhouse. No affect at all on mites. The only thing neem has done for me is to make every object and surface around the plant a sticky mess. Hort oils were not much better. So what to do? Try everything and rotate them. Make sure whatever you use can penetrate their little webbing. Blast your plants with the hose before bringing them indoors. Try beneficial nematodes. Forget ladybugs and green lacewing larvae...waste of time and money. The predator mites may benefit but you have to look at their environmental requirements. You could look into one of the more nasty fogger type pesticides. Pop that off and shut up your garage and turn off all fans. Your garage is not attached to the house so you don't have to worry about anything making it inside. You need to make a stand before the population gets out of control and spreads to other plants. Try to keep plants from touching in the mean time...hard to do I know. Sorry to have rambled on guys but this has become a personal war for me...and I can't stand losing. I will never win this war...I just need to keep at the rebels long enough to wear them down some....See MoreHow do I get rid of spider mites?
Comments (2)Bleach solution (1 tablespoon of bleach to 1 gallon of 95°F, pH balanced, water in a spray bottle or mister) - make sure to clean all surfaces of your room, and bleach them too if possible. Alcohol and Water mixed together (9 parts water to 1 part alcohol) will also kill the bugs on contact and shouldn't hurt the plant. You will want to use a spray bottle or mister. other than that most other pesticides have been banned from what I know...See Morejamesco
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