"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
Marie Dodge said:

"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
Marie Dodge said:

In reference to wheat flour/buttermilk mite remedy:
Have you found any of these concoctions to work for you?

This one, no, but I have had people say it did work for them.

Actually, I should have said "no, I've never used it myself." I rarely
use any pesticides these day, and even those are mainly limited to soap
and pyrethrin.

I know what you mean. I seldom had bug/insect problems in my gardens. This
is the first wf and sm I've ever seen here. Usually just a few tomato horn
worms, a squash bug or two and a couple Japanese beetles... they've never
been a problem. Only SBV are here every year.


Many people claim Neem Oil worked for
them and it did nothing to even slow them down in my garden.

Neem oil has some very few legitimate uses but is touted as a panacea.
And there is no such thing as a panacea. I would have warned you off
that...

I have no way to know who tried the products they recommend and who just
makes suggestions because someone told them it worked for their brother's
sister-in-law's tenant's daughter.... you know what I mean.


I would like to
know what organic or inorganic actually works on mites other than
Kelthane
which I can't get anymore. Kelthane was the only product I ever had that
killed the mites in two sprayings.

Lime sulfur, maybe, as per info at: http://preview.tinyurl.com/6oozzc
(Lime sulfur is a long-standing remedy for a long list of mites, including
mange mites and chiggers as well as horticultural pests.)

After looking at the one garden today I don't think it would matter anymore.
The season ends here in Mid October. There's no time left to get a pepper
crop. The damage to the plants is too severe. Too many weeks wasted trying
things people recommended that didn't work, or barely worked. The smelly
Organicide is slowing working, but it's too late now. It will take to long.


BUT! I wouldn't expect any remedy (even Kelthane, if you could get it) to
help at this point. But dusts (flour or mineral) are legitimate remedies
for insects and mite pests. Call them 'particle films' and they even
sound
...exciting:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/6j3m22

I would love to find an organic answer. Very interesting read. Thanks. :^)


Which takes you to:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles...ook%20Chapter%
20Particle%20Film%20Technolgy.pdf

That document contains the following line:

"Although not mineral-based, Ghate and Marshall (1962) suppressed eggs
and mobile forms of European red mite and two-spotted spider mites with a
combination of buttermilk and wheat flour."

The kaolin-based product, Surround (R), which is mention in the
document cited above, is available mail-order to home gardeners from
various places (if anyone is interested).

I'll look for it locally. Shipping today often costs more than or the same
as the product itself. And at this point these plants are hardly worth
pouring more money on.

We live out in the country so that's impossible. We're surrounded by
woodland and underbrush, weeds and wildflowers. It would take
thousands of
dollars and aerial spraying would be required. But thanks for the
info.....

Hell, even people who *don't* live out in the country are surrounded by
other peoples yards with plenty of trees, bushes, weeds and flowers
which are *completely* beyond their control, let alone being beyond their
*budget*! Why did you assume I meant such a hugely extensive action?

Sorry, must have misunderstood you.


Perhaps I should have thrown in the word "immediate" before "vicinity."
As in, if you have a row of raspberries, or a hedge row, or a couple
of peach trees next to the garden, spray *them* (they almost certainly
need the protection, after what's happened this year).

Oh... OK. Gotcha. :^)


Next year, you will need to invest in prevention, which is always less
expensive and more effective than trying to cure. (Prevention is
less expensive, though not FREE.)
Right now you are hit hard with "throwing good money after bad"
regret/anger, and the fact that the most reasonable action at this point
is
to destroy everything you planted for this year, which hurts.

HURTS BIGTIME!

Yep, it's got one week for us to see serious improvement. If none, then
everything from that garden is being burned, cremated. The ashes will be
spread out by the road. We're not using anything from the gardens for
compost this year. We found a place to get loads of mulch to compost from
the city. It's all shredded tree limbs, bark and leaves. Next year I'll
start spraying the plants the day I set them out.


--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

After enlightenment, the laundry.