Good to know, I found this great recipe online that I will try. I say great but I have no experience with it, though it makes sense to me... This is from another website, not my recipe: So far one formula has come out ahead and there are some instruction changes: 1/4 cup Baking Soda 1/2 cup Apple Cider vinegar 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice 2 drops dish detergent 1/4 Teaspoon Epsom Salts Take a cup of very hot water and desolve the epsom salts,take rest of ingredients and place in a clean 2 liter bottle and let work out. Add epsom solution. Add water to fill to 48ozs(3/4 full).Shake well. TO USE: Cover soil/medium with plastic,with lights off mist plant all over,especialy under leaves, Wait 20 mins,then spritz off with clean fresh water shaking as much water off plant as you can. The fresh water spritz rinse will remove the solution along with the desolved remains of the mites and their eggs. Have fun with your new "Mite Eradicator" Note by MrFixit: Water plants 1/2 hour before spraying. This will help keep your plants from absorbing the spray. This solution has been tested and used as directed will not burn plants,the rinse is very important though as it removes the spent solution before it can concentrate and burn the plant. It also removes most of the dead mites and eggs so you don't end up smoking them. The formula can be diluted further,to 1 liter and it will still kill the mites but isn't as effective at dissolving and removing the mite parts. Since removing the mite debris is desirable,I recommend the stronger solution,just remember to rinse and shake. This formula is alkaline(about 7.8-8) so please remember to rinse. Mite irradication is absolutely assured and guaranteed if used as directed. I've never seen ANYTHING work this well for mite irradication!! I used to gas my booths for mites,it worked but they came back,I haven't seen a living mite in a long time now.They haven't come back,partly because of cooler weather,partly because I hosed the Roses that were infecting everything with the formula and wiped out all the mites during testing. The only thing I wish I'd done different is,I wish I would have done sections of the Roses and preserved some of the mites for later tests.I've had to go searching for victims to test it on and there just aren't any left!! I did find some victims for my final tests in the park where we have meetings,the plants by the river are pretty sickly and infested(were I should say,I walked around with ONE pint bottle and cleaned up most of the area.LOL) If news of this formula were to become widespread,mites would become an endangered species!!!So GOOD HUNTING ! Seasider" "PM'd BankRobber and he told me to post this: I have been experimenting with similar formulas, so far 2 work. Trial #1: 1/2 cup baking soda , 1 cup vinegar , 1/2 cup apple juice. Dilute to 2 liters. Trial #2 1/2 cup baking soda , 1 cup vinegar , 3 tablespoons lemon juice , 2 drops dish soap . Dilute to 40 fluid oz's. I've tried this on: Wandering Jew,Spider Plant,Fushias,Gladiolis,Roses, Sweet Elysium,Clovers,Daisy, Rhodadendron, Lawn(grass) So far it works,both formulas. #2 works best outside and best overall It has killed any small insects I've tried it on except FLEAS(Darn it!) So far its killed mites,thrips(Adult),aphids,clo ver mites, whatever mite type insects that were all over the Gladiolis and it sickened and effected Grass Gnats and mosquitoes.(the mist knocked them down,couldn't find them in the grass to watch if they died but they were having difficulty flying) I'm waiting for long term effects on the plants I've sprayed,before I'll try it on my plants. Try mixing up some and try it outside on whatever you can find with an infestation. The original recipe from a Landscape gardener was: 1/2 cup baking soda, 1 cup vinegar,2cups apple peels. Blend/Puree , filter , dilute to 2 liters. I haven't tried this one yet (no apple peels). The trick seems to be 1/2 cup Baking soda to 1 cup vinegar,diluted to approximately 2 liters. The dishsoap helps wetting & the juices boost effect. #2 seems to help with molds/fungus also.It reduced blackspot on Roses,Gladiolis and Rhodi's and white mold on Roses.( The coast is a perfect proving ground for this stuff!!! We have ALL the bugs and molds !!! I don't have to go far to find infestations of all kinds.) Seasider" "REPORT: For 2 days I have hosed my backyard with this stuff,so far it has reduced blackspot & powdery mildew(white mold),killed all the small insects(size seems to matter on kill,gnats or smaller). The only plants adversely affected so far are FERNS (they don't like it much,wilted some). The fleas seem unaffected as are the garden spiders,wood lice,beetles and other large hard insects. I'm using it far more than necessary to see if it hurts the plants. Repeating doses even after the bugs are dead. The gladiolis were REALY bad with blackspot mold and some kind of black sucker insects about the size of a pinhead.The Glads are doing fine both mold and insects gone! The wandering jew and spider plants are actualy perking up from it.The clover mites? WIPED OUT! Rose mites? WIPED OUT! Grass gnats and mosquitoes? VASTLY REDUCED! Scale insects? DEAD! Aphids?DEAD![THE GARDEN??? (smells like a "Caeser Salad" ! ) ALIVE.] Seasider " "Hey Everyone, I think Seasider is onto something and that's it so cool to see people taking action and experimenting with organic ingredients! I'm certainly going to try his formula! It cost me over $300 to manufacture what I came up with, and that dose not include all the labor and the over two weeks it take to complete each batch! Seasider's stuff is a fraction of the cost, and I can't see any adverse reactions from the ingredients mentioned. Except for invertebrates "the soap" would kill them, but then we don't need it in our fish tank now do we? A key test will be to see if any eggs rehatch or if the plants are reinvested, however respraying with an inexpensive home made product may be worth it to so many! I say GREAT job & keep up the good fight! Please keep us informed of your test. and results! BankRobber!" "Report: There seems to be some mild burning where the solution was left on and collected/concentrated. I would recommend using the 2 liter dilution and spritzing with fresh water afterward and shaking off as much as possible so the formula doesn't collect and concentrate itself to the point it burns tender leaves. I didn't notice any damage except where it had concentrated and dried,so spritzing and shaking off should do the trick.As far as effectiveness goes,wow! The death and destruction it deals to mites is impressive !! Popping browning eggs melting,imploding adults,body parts and debris slowly dissolving......EXTREMELY GRATIFYING !!! TRY IT YOU'LL LIKE IT !! The BORG rule ,of mite terror, is OVER !!!! WARNING !! A member had severe burning that he attributes to residues drawn out of the container by the vinegar. USE A CLEAN CONTAINER !! Do not use realy strong vinegar or any with SULFITES in it. NO SULFITES" BOTTOM LINE IS IT WORKS AND THEY DON'T COME B

It's a real pain having to uncurl each leaf to spray off these aphids. I think they're pretty much under control now with the Tanglefoot in place. But... I've just realized I have a larger ant/aphid problem in the rest of the garden. The ants are totally out of control, farming aphids on other plants that I can't use the Tanglefoot on. Any advice from anyone one dealing with a massive ant population in a garden? If I can get the ants under control, the aphids will be much easier to deal with. This post was edited by cjgw on Tue, Jul 15, 14 at 14:36

All recommendations Mountain Man. First off, 'Gold Nugget' is in the common mandarin category, and not a Satsuma mandarin. And, Satsuma leaves are not ugly at all. They are long and lovely, and the Satsuma mandarin has a lovely more weeping growth habit. Silly thing for the nursery man to say, I think. The insect that your nursery man was probably referring to were aphids, hence the recommendation of Neem. A good hard blast of water to remove the aphids is first in order. But first look closely under the leaves to see if you have aphids. You can then treat with Neem. If you have thrips, they're much harder to see, extremely tiny, and most likely in the flower buds or on new growth. Almost microscopic. You can indeed treat with Spinosad, just be sure to really, really soak the flower buds and get the Spinosad well into all the cracks and crevasses. I see your new growth looks fine. Is you tree staying in a container or going in the ground? If staying in a container, I would suggest re-potting out of the black plastic pot, especially if you're in an area where you have some intense sun, and the black pots can heat up, which can be a bit tough on roots. Patty S.

Hi evaglades:0) It's just me jumping on the pH issue at this time. I am not syaing I am sure, but that it is a most common cause and along with other cultural issues, but not the fertilizers fault which stresses has those nutrients. It rather seems to me that some will blame the actual shortage of a certain element/ nutrient and suggest using it as applications when it is already provided, instead of understanding and or getting to know the actual root of the problem. It is called bandaiding and overloading. To illustrate: My Lilacs were producing no blooms for years. I was told by many, even nusery professionals that all I needed to do was add Super Phosphate and that would solve my problems. I did and that did not work. I then asked a certain friend of mine who is a horticultural expert/teacher and he asked me if I had checked the pH and I never did. Liliacs are known to love high pH soils, above 7.0 and the pH in my soil was only 5.6. I added lime as suggested and the next flowering season my lilacs blloms more than you could know for the first time and ever since. HUGE blossom all over my trees. But also, because of such a boost in the phosphate once it became available, the lilac leaves turned very light green and stunted while focusing on bud formation. Being a landscaper, I should of known this, but needed a reminder. Now all is ok. Same can be had for Fragrans Osmanthis and Hoya: They love sweet soil, and I was feeding them water and vinegar thinking it was good for them too. No blooms for years. I talked to the same friend and he said to add lime to my soil and I stopped the vinegar treatment, and boy did they take off and with blooms. It is true. In order for our plants to perform to their best potential, many keys have to come into play. I am not going to mention a great soilless mix at this time, but I will say that pH plays a major role before your fertilizer does in many instances and we should all know what our plants require in this respect as a very important factor. I got to the root of the problem with my citrus trees, many of which are described here and did not bandaid it with adding more of a certain nutrient that most likey would of been overkill. I first have to know what the pH of the water I am providing them is. I can show you green plants because of this, but I think many have already seen them, and the lack of issues many have by just adding a nutrient here and there. I no longer have to add any one particluar nutrient as long as the fertilizer is well balanced, required pH is met, and watering practices are under control. Yes, pH does play a crucial, important, and vital role to our citrus, and that is something all should check before any type of one particular nutrient is recommended/added, especially when the fertilizers being used by many here already have more than enough of the major and minor nutrients that these beautiful trees require for optimal health that many are saying their trees are deficient in. Checking pH can save a lot of time and possible undue stress on our plants with over loading with certain nutrients already available in the soil if we make teh conditions right for teh roots to have access to them. Did you kow that when our container plants sit in temps of below 50 on a continual basis, NO nutrients are taking up by our trees, especially Nitrogen and Iron/ Is someone going to suggest one spray their leaves with Iron or feed their plants with more when COLD is the limiting factor? It is very beneficial to know this, and since have a good relationship with a grower who specializes in growing Four Winds Growers trees which come to everyone very healthy and deep green, and it took a lot for me to understand this and the importance of using vinegar, lime, gypsum, acidifying products which is something I easily find enjoyable to share with many here and yet can be very detremental to our plants or make all the difference in the world. these products are not ones to be taken lightly along with our fertilizer use. It took years for me to get it right, to keep my trees from having the issues many here describe, and I feel it unfair to not address what has helped mine, or what I have learned from many knowledgable members here who took the time to help me understand this:-) Hope your trees are doing ok too. Please excuse any spelling errors, since I have no time to go back and proof read them. Have a fantastic Friday;-) Thank you Mike