Having found no newsgroups for ornamental plants, agriculture chemicals, or
house plants, I hope someone here can provide some advice. I have a few
houseplants (Brugmansia hybrids) under attack from spider mites. The best
treatment I have found for spider mites is a miticide called Avid. However,
Avid is only sold in large quantities for large amounts of money ($300 US
per container). But I note from reading the Lable and MSDS online
(something more people should do) that the active ingredient in Avid is
abamectin. When searching for abamectin on the internet, I find that it is
chemically very similar to ivermectin, differing only by a double bond vs
single bond in one location. For a chemical diagram see
http://www.alanwood.net/pesticides/abamectin.html and
http://www.alanwood.net/pesticides/ivermectin.html Now ivermectin is
readily available in smaller quantities from the local veterinarian where it
is used to control internal and external parasites in livestock. I use it
for pets too, a practice that is very effective against flea outbreaks, but
off lable. So I plan on aquiring 1.5 ml of Ivomec injectible from my vet,
adding an emusifier (likely a ml or 2 of the premium ag chemical surfactant
blend Merge by BASF) and bringing the volume up to 1 litre with RO water.
This mixture will have an active ingredient level between the lable rates
given for Avid. I can then pour into hand sprayer and apply in accordance
with the Avid lable.

Any comments in regards to my idea would be greatly appreciated.

-Joe