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porterville,california usa

my local nurseryman diagnosed my problem as spider mites. he recommended a product called "Natures Pest Fighter". its active ingredient is pyrethrins. after buying a bottle i read the label for pests it kills and spider mites isn`t listed anywhere. i`ve been using malathion and diazinon, alternating each aplication. is it worth my efforts to go ahead and use this product for my next treatment or should i save time and get something else? my plants are loosing leaves daily because of these pests. i would nuke `em but then i`d have to find another patch for the next 20 years or so. can you offer any advice?

8/6/2003 1:25:28 AM

Arizona

Mix 4 cups of wheat flour, 1/2 cup of buttermilk in 5 gallons of water. Put in a handheld spritzer and spray to the point of runoff. This should suffocate the little buggers without harming your plants.

This stuff works!!!! I had Spider Mites EVERYWERE, I did this once and the next day I found not one mite. They have never came back.

I always go with a tonic like this before I go buy something. Try it out and let us know how it goes.

Jeff

8/6/2003 1:40:46 AM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Pyrethrins probably wouldn't be labeled for mites. They don't work on mites. The nurseryman needs to do his homework before sending folks out with the wrong stuff.

There has only been one synthetic pyrethroid ever developed that controls mites. Bifenthrin. Active ingredient in Talstar & Capture from FMC Corp. Probably the only insecticide that honestly beats Warrior T in performance. Just no one else knows about it I guess.

http://www.cdms.net/ldat/ld149058.pdf

Malathion supresses mites. Diazinon controls them.

Pick a cool evening & add the Diazinon to a 1% Ultrafine Horticultural Oil solution. Use a compressed air sprayer & direct the nozzle up with the wand almost level with the ground. You're trying to drench the bottoms of the leaves. Then do the tops. If it gets hot the following day - make sure to mist.

Wicked hard to do now that the patch is all filled with leaves & vines huh? But thorough coverage is critical to controlling Mites.

It's not that the chems used don't work. It's that the Mites are hiding under the leaves. Plus there are eggs (too small to see without a good lens) that will hatch right back out unless the oil is in there.

There is one systemic miticide out there. Avid (Abamectin) will penetrate the leaves from above & in some plants, control mites below. That's been my experience with Roses.

http://www.cdms.net/ldat/ld770002.pdf

Steve

8/6/2003 7:14:43 AM

porterville,california usa

thanks again Steve. i`ll try your advice. i forgot to mention that i started using ortho orthenex 2 weeks ago along with either diazinon or malathion mixed together and i still have them. how long does it take for a systemic to become effective? i even made an extention that points upwards for my sprayer to reach the undersides of leaves.

8/7/2003 2:21:08 AM