I cannot get rid of these pesky things (spider mites) Just when I think they are gone, they show up again. I checked Roseania for Avid and I thought the prices were HIGH! Is their a more reasonable place? Any other remedies to try besides Avid? I am desperate....
avid - cheap???
I would afford the Avid.
And from Rosemania.
sarv48 it's worth every penny you'll pay for it. I purchased mine from the same place. They have a small bottle for 99.00. I've only used 1/4 teaspoon out of the whole bottle. One spray was all it took and I haven't seen a mite since.
Do you have a greenhouse supply place in your area? It still may not be any cheaper. I think an 8oz bottle was about $89 at our local supply house. Rosemania's price includes shipping doesn't it?
Avid is really worth the price.
Especially when you think all the money you spend on stuff that doesn't work.....
To get rid of mine, I used this........have to look real quick......lol
Here it is: Garden Safe Fungicide3 Concentrate. 3 garden products in one (Fungicide, Insecticide, Miticide) it's by Schultz and I found it at WalMart. Don't remember how much it cost but it was right around $7 or so and it makes up to 16 gallons. You can use it on roses, flowers, vegetables, trees, fruits, shrubs and houseplants.
Got rid of my aphids, spider mites, and black spot on the roses :)
Remember when getting mites under control, you need to spray three times three days apart. The good thing about Avid, it is an ovacide too, which means it kills eggs. To avoid the mites becoming resistant, it's also a good idea to rotate chemicals from different classes of insecticides. The classes I took at UT recommend using three different classes of insecticides on a rotating basis.
Gardensafe uses Neem oil as the active ingredient which has proven to be an excellent miticide, insect growth regulator and fungicide.The way insect growth regulators work is by keeping the insects from molting. If they can't molt, they can't grow so they die. If you want to mix your own Neem(and save money) buy the Greenlight Rose Defense(99%pure neem oil)and mix it with warm water and a squirt of dish soap as an emulsifier(lowers the interfacial tension between oil and water, which allows stable emulsions with small drops to be formed)
Gardensafe(Schultz) makes another spray made out of natural pyrethrum. This works on mites too but you must spray several times three days apart.
Kelthane is another miticide, kills all kinds of mites. It may be a restricted use pesticide in some states.
good info susie. a local friend told me about the 3 sprays 3 days apart.
avid though isn't actually a systemic, it is absorbed into the leaves, they call it transluminar, lasts 2-3 weeks, and when the larvae/mites start feeding it kills them. apparently kills plant munching insects and not insect eating insects, i like that.
i used a 3 in 1 by ortho, week later neem, week later orthenex.... finally avid. that was my mistke i think was treatments too far apart.
the other problem is everything that says it kills mites doesn't kill all kinds! the one thing i used killed fuscia mites and 2 spotted! no dang good. PLUS i never had mites before so i really had no clue how rampant they are...
i'm waiting now to see if i missed any...what a nightmare.
Susie, i think i had two kinds, with a magnifying glass some of the leaves looked like they had tiny rows of diamonds, that would be broad mites, right? and they like it wet..wettest summer in years and i get mites.
found a site that sells a quart for 226.00
http://www.atlanticfec.com/39-42.htm
Arlene, yes there are several kinds of mites. There are red and two spotted that you can see if your eyes are good, they also make webs. Broad and cyclamen mites live INSIDE the outer layer of the plant tissue. They are harder to kill.
Some insecticides are specific to the insect they kill while others are broad spectrum and kill a wide range of insects. Not all insectidides are miticides. Marrathon is a great systemic insecticide, but isn't an aracnacide, it won't touch mites.
Most systemic insecticides move up the plant with the transpiration stream(water conducting tissue, vascular system). Systemic insecticides have minimal if any activity on spider mites because spider mites remove plant chlorophyll (green pigment) and don’t feed within the vascular tissues. A lot of the miticides have translaminar(local systemic activity)which penetrates leaf tissues and forms a reservoir of active ingredient within the leaf. This provides residual activity against certain foliar-feeding insects and mites.
That also sounds like a really good price for a quart. Now she needs to find three or four others close to her to share the cost! Maybe a rose society or something.
I edited this trying to make what I was trying to say easier to understand.
This message was edited Friday, Aug 15th 4:22 PM
Your SO in the know Calla! You always make it easy to understand. Thanks
gosh, thanks to everyone for all the great information! I am going to have to print it off and read it and reread it. Avid sounds like the way I will have to go - bite the bullet and shuck out the cash!! When it comes to eating or saving the brugs - guess what wins??? (brugs!!)