In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:

I was forced down the 'green' route, not altogether unwillingly I
might add, but because I found I had red spider mite and nothing
seemed to control it. So I got some Phytoseiulus, and they saw to them
really effectively. Now I've got thrips, which AIUI are amenable to
conventional insecticide. But having seen how effective the Phyto were
on the RSM, and not wishing to kill them off anyway, I'm going to try
Amblyseius to control the.

Unfortunately, I am preparing to do the opposite, to see if I can
get rid of mealybug with Imidacloprid. It's pretty nasty stuff,
but there doesn't seem to be another systemic I can buy. In my
experience, the biological controls for mealybug are a complete
waste of time.

In the light of a Web search, I shall NOT be using it as a soil
drench, because that seems persistent over a period of a year
or more.

I wish I could think of another approach - it would help a great
deal if I could get some decent information on how it is likely
to overwinter, but so far every reference has been pretty useless
on the matter.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.