I haven't read every single post here, but I perused them. At the risk of repeating what someone else has said here... The whole deal with spider mites is that they're immune to about every insecticide, but they can't live in/under water, so the key objective is to drown them. I remember someone mentioning last year that they wondered why the mites didn't just crawl back to the leaf after being knocked off with water...well, they are hopefully dead by the time you knock them off. Adding dish soap to the water just makes the water "wetter", and easier to drown them. I was advised by a rose expert recently, that liquid seaweed mixed with horticultural molassed and diluted with water will prevent them from colonizing on your plants, when applied regularly. I know from experience that this is a solution that your plants love! Tea tree oil is a great fungicide for your plants too.
I'm in love
Gretchen, where do you get the horticultural molassed? I have seen the liquid seaweed at Walmart along with the Tree Oil now that I think of it. When you were advised by the rose expert do you have the exact mixed amounts you used along with the water dilusion? I would sure like to try this come Spring.
It's sunny today but the winds are cold, Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....Thanks in advance dear. You're a sweetheart!
Julie
Brug adddict, I read a post from MaVieRose about the Tea Tree Oil and I think I will try it also. Her recipe was:
1 tsp. Tea Tree Oil
1 TBSP. Palmolive Soap to one gallon of water
Spray every 3 days.
I wrote it down I will owe her a big thank if it takes care of my spider mites this year.
JoAnn
Thanks JoAnn
I just copied and pasted it to my desktop and I'll try it too. Nothing to lose right? I'll be thanking her too!
In my new book it says to treat white flies. 2 tbs of baby shampoo in 1 gal of water spray mist plants liberaly.top and bottom of leaves
I am going to alternate MaVie's recipe with the Safer. Gotta try to trick these little devils, keep 'em guessing!
Jackie
Thanks Doris, I'll try that one and see if it will help here.
Well, I just got done spraying my Brugs and other plants with this wonderfully smelling receipe. It sure smelt a lot better than some of those insecticides or fungicides you can buy on the market.
If anyone has trouble finding Tea Tree Oil, I found a small bottle in the cosmetic section of CVS Pharmacy. According to the Pharmacist, a lot of people use it for skin care, so that's the reason it was in that particular part of the store. Hope this helps.
Thanks Shirley1md, I am on my way to CVS.
You're very welcome! :~)