I've got a run of mites that is getting out of hand. I've tried to be
environmentally friendly by trying the Safer soaps, etc. but have had no
luck with them. I'm ready to nuke these mites with whatever I can get my
hands on. I'm tired of fooling around and I'm coming close to losing a few
nice plants.

What miticides are out there that a hobbyist can get his hands on? In
another couple of months I will be bringing the plants inside so I'd like
something that would be household-friendly.

Suggestions and possible sources???

Thanks in advance!

Garland

GARLAND HANSON wrote:

What miticides are out there that a hobbyist can get his hands on? In
another couple of months I will be bringing the plants inside so I'd like
something that would be household-friendly.

Mites, as you've learned, are tough to kill.

The best miticides are very expensive --Avid is $284 per quart from one
source!

I don't think any of them should be used inside a house.

In the bad old days, a product called Black Leaf 40 was used on mites.
It is a 40% solution of nicotine sulfate. It is highly toxic, so it has
pretty much disappeared. IIRC, it is supposedly still available for
use by poultry farmers to control mites in henhouses. I don't know
where you could buy it.

Just Google -miticides- and you will find several places to buy them.


J. Del Col

On 24 Aug 2005 06:55:56 -0700 in . com jadel wrote:

In the bad old days, a product called Black Leaf 40 was used on mites.
It is a 40% solution of nicotine sulfate. It is highly toxic, so it has
pretty much disappeared. IIRC, it is supposedly still available for
use by poultry farmers to control mites in henhouses. I don't know
where you could buy it.

Nicotine smoke bombs were another scorched earth approach
in greenhouses. Unfortunately, Nicotine doesn't kill eggs.


--
Chris Dukes
Suspicion breeds confidence -- Brazil

The mites have been tough this year for me as well. I tried Kelthane. No
luck. Then Floramite (bifenazate)...expensive @ $200/qt. They were still
crawling around the next day. So then I tried the home remedy 1 part
409:1part 70% isopropyl alcohol:2parts water. Next day they were STILL
moving around! Eggs must have been hatching. Finally, I tried Sunspray
UltraFine Oil and 1 day later, I can find no live mites. It's not very
expensive @ around $8/qt...enough to make 12 gallons of spray.

Good luck,

Jeff
"GARLAND HANSON" wrote in message
news:z4_Oe.11677$_f.9932@trnddc03...
I've got a run of mites that is getting out of hand. I've tried to be
environmentally friendly by trying the Safer soaps, etc. but have had no
luck with them. I'm ready to nuke these mites with whatever I can get my
hands on. I'm tired of fooling around and I'm coming close to losing a
few nice plants.

What miticides are out there that a hobbyist can get his hands on? In
another couple of months I will be bringing the plants inside so I'd like
something that would be household-friendly.

Suggestions and possible sources???

Thanks in advance!

Garland

How's your humidity?

If the humidity is good, and you have predator mites, then there
shouldn't be a problem. However, what most people do is get humidity too
low, and the predatory critters don't fare too well. So, the mite
population gets out of control, and people spray. Unfortunately, the
miticide also kills the critters that eat the mites. Vicious circle!

Put the humidity through the roof, get the appropriate predators,
and go from there. There's neoseiulus, phytoseiulus, mesoseiulus, and
galendromus. In particular, Phytoseiulus persimilis (or just "persimilis")
is a good greenhouse predatory control of spider mites.

The only thing harder than pronouncing the name is finding someone
who sells them- and sells good, live cultures. We used to get ours from
British Columbia; the dope growers prefer not to use pesticides on their
plants, and hot, dry artificial lighting really encourages pests- so the
Canucks are way ahead on the biological controls, the way I understand it.

And the only thing harder than finding someone who sells them...
is putting a crowbar in the wallet to fish out enough bucks to try
something that runs a good chance of not working.

As an aside, some of the biological controls are remarkable.
Others are remarkable flops. The art of breeding bugs and using the right
one is getting better.

As for suppliers- do a "Google" search, or call a local
hydroponics store (which will probably just get them in FedEx, same as you
would, and charge you more).

The address in the header isn't valid. Send no email there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

Thanks Aaron for the info. You're exactly right....hot, dry summer weather
here in VA! I'm looking for hurricane remnants to water the lawn and give
us some humidity!!!

I've got some miticide coming that should do the trick. We'll see!

Thanks,
Garland Hanson

P.S. Aaron, we just moved from Gilbert, AZ to the homeland here in VA. How
in the world do you maintain suitable conditions in the summer in
Chandler???

Also, how do YOU know about the dope growers???


"Aaron Hicks" wrote in message
...
How's your humidity?

If the humidity is good, and you have predator mites, then there
shouldn't be a problem. However, what most people do is get humidity too
low, and the predatory critters don't fare too well. So, the mite
population gets out of control, and people spray. Unfortunately, the
miticide also kills the critters that eat the mites. Vicious circle!

Put the humidity through the roof, get the appropriate predators,
and go from there. There's neoseiulus, phytoseiulus, mesoseiulus, and
galendromus. In particular, Phytoseiulus persimilis (or just "persimilis")
is a good greenhouse predatory control of spider mites.

The only thing harder than pronouncing the name is finding someone
who sells them- and sells good, live cultures. We used to get ours from
British Columbia; the dope growers prefer not to use pesticides on their
plants, and hot, dry artificial lighting really encourages pests- so the
Canucks are way ahead on the biological controls, the way I understand it.

And the only thing harder than finding someone who sells them...
is putting a crowbar in the wallet to fish out enough bucks to try
something that runs a good chance of not working.

As an aside, some of the biological controls are remarkable.
Others are remarkable flops. The art of breeding bugs and using the right
one is getting better.

As for suppliers- do a "Google" search, or call a local
hydroponics store (which will probably just get them in FedEx, same as you
would, and charge you more).

The address in the header isn't valid. Send no email there.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ