Pest management is complex, if you want to learn, a good place to start is here: Integrated Pest Management This lecture is presented in two parts. Each part is 90-minutes in length. Recorded in Sacramento County in California's Sacramento Valley, this lecture is by Mary Louise Flint, Ph.D., Director, IPM Education and Publications, UC Statewide IPM Project and Extension Entomologist & Cooperative Extension Specialist. Education: B.S. Plant Science, University of California, Davis Ph.D. Entomology, University of California, Berkeley Appointment: 100% Cooperative Extension Research Interests: Integrated pest management of landscape, agricultural and garden pests; biological control of arthropod pests; alternatives to pesticides; adoption of alternative practices by practitioners; innovative delivery of pest management information. Topics discussed in the Integrated Pest Management Lecture: * IPM references and resources * Preventing pest problems * Natural common enemies * Making less toxic pesticide choices * Controlling aphids, scales, caterpillars, coddling moths, tree borers, snails and slugs, and lawn insects. You can watch the programs now online: Just make sure you have Real Player installed or download it free. Integrated Pest Management Part1 90 minutes Integrated Pest Management Part 2 90 minutes You'll want to bookmark the following link to Professor Flint's Lab Research on: Controlling Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Vegetables and Melons I promise you'll learn one or two things to put in your gardening bag of pest management arsenals. ;)

These mites are beige...the babies appear white but since I started this post I saw a couple adults and they def are soil mites. Not a surprise since I used Repti Bark to make my medium - they do not sell pine bark fines in my area. Obviously I will discontinue that practice! However, since you bring up predatory mites...I did see that once in one of my plants. I have no idea how it got there but boy, it sure did move fast. Even faster than the soil mites. Unfortunately I killed it before I realized what it was. I felt guilty after. But I must again ask of you more experienced indoor gardeners, is it normal to have to deal with pests all the time?

Ladyblues, we have a problem. This is an organic forum where we discuss organic solutions to growing and protecting plants. Your solution, while it may have worked for you, is not an organic solution to those pests. Here's the gist of the problem(s): I didnt want to use any poisons All you used were poisons. Of course everything is poisonous if you use enough of it right? Well nicotine in the amount you used might not present an immediate problem but the fact that nicotine in any amount is disapproved for use in an organic program is a problem for this list. Rubbing alcohol is a poison in almost any amount and it is disapproved in an organic program except to sterilize equipment. The organic problem with any alcohol in organics is that alcohol kills the beneficial microbes living in the soil AND ON THE SURFACE OF THE PLANT. Organic gardening is ALL about promoting and feeding these beneficial microbes. Mouthwash, being 25% alcohol, is just as bad a pure alcohol. Here are two affordable organic solutions to your specific insect pest problems. You can spray with diluted liquid seaweed. Hmmm, this is not really an affordable solution. Here's a much more affordable solution. Dilute milk at a rate of 3 ounces per gallon and spray that on your plants every 2 weeks. I dilute it even more. What I do is when I finish a container of milk, or when my girls finish their cereal in the morning, I rinse the container or bowl with water and pour it into a spray bottle. This is essentially free organic "insecticide." The way these materials work is that they promote and feed the beneficial microbes living outside the plant on the leaf and stem surfaces. Research has shown that there are between 10 and 20 layers of microbes living there - right in the full sun! When these microbes are well fed with protein and carbohydrates (not to mention minerals and vitamins), they will help the plant to protect itself. In essence, the sucking insects seem to avoid these healthier plants. If you use the same materials or others such as ordinary corn meal, flour, soy bean meal, used coffee grounds (another free source), or other ground up nuts, beans, and seeds, on the surface of the soil at a rate of one heaping handful scattered under each plant every month, then your plants will be on their way to resisting all of the normal pests we have. Scatter these materials well so you don't get piles of the stuff. If you get piles they will stink when wet. Good organic materials and practices are not stinky - and they don't have to be expensive or a hassle to use.

Nothing will control soil mealy bug except chemicals. Imidacloprid is the one used most frequently these days. If you have soil mealies and don't wish to use chemicals, throw out all plants infected and start again. "They" are working on finding a bug that will eat up these creatures but so far nothing has been announced. They are working with a nematode predator. Diatomatious Earth is made from ground up sea-creature skeletons which leaves a sharp edge that HELPS to kill soft-bodied soil insects. You add the white powder to your regular soil mix. DE is very inexpensive and can be purchased at feed stores used to kill parasites in cattle. DE will stay sharp in damp soil. But it is used as an aid and not as a cure. In other words, if you have no insects in the soil then introduce DE to your soil, it will help destroy some of them. But do not expect it to get rid of all of them. Do not rely on DE to take care of a soily mealy problem if you already have them. As I said, the two choices for soil mealies are treat them with chemicals or destroy them. They will eventually destroy the plants anyway. Soil mealy bug is the most popular bug in the African violet world these days. And they are not easy to get rid of. Thrips spend most of their life spans flying or on flowers. They do go onto leaves and even into soil. Some may be affected by the DE, but I would not rely on DE to kill them all either. Nancy