Contributed by:
Kunta wears a
sarong Submitted:
Images archived 2002
Mites are by far the most hard to get rid of
pests that attack indoor gardens-- weakening the plant
and affecting yield-- badly infested plants yield
poorly. I've used many methods to kill mites, everything
from wishing they'll go away to spraying with toxic
concoctions that would stop a charging rhino is it's
tracks, some things I?ve learned are:
*
Wear gloves and spray in a ventilated area-- have a good
wash with soap afterwards.
* Shake the
bottle before opening, take your time and measure out
the exact ratio of poison to water.
*
It?s best and easiest to attack mites as soon as you
notice them, indoors they can multiply from just a few
to being everywhere in a matter of 5 - 10 days-- hit
them fast and hard.
* Make a habit of
looking under leaves for mites and on the top of the
leaves for pale coloured, groups of " pin dot " signs of
damage, which usually begin on leaves from the bottom
half of the plant-- a quick check for mites every time
you poke your head in the grow room-- that's second
nature to any grower who has been hit hard by them
before.
* Rid the
growroom and it's vicinity of any other plants, or treat
every plant in the house.
* Don?t go near
your grow area if you have been outside and have touched
other plants, always wash and change first.
* If you haven't got an adjustable pump
up pressure sprayer/mister, get one-- a must for all
growers-- use a medium fine spray with a strong pressure
and spray both sides of every leaf, hold the pot up with
one hand and spray the undersides from the bottom up,
then spray the outer surfaces (I give the outside of the
pot, the soil surface and the grow room's walls a spray
as well).
* Spray with a specialized mite
spray in the recommended dosages. There are several
products available from any garden centre, the active
ingredient to look for is "DICOFOL", it kills mites, and
you'll never see one for 3 months end of story. One hit
is all that is needed, I've never had a need to
re-spray-- this stuff has residual killing ability.
In Australia there are two mite sprays that
contain dicofol that I've used-- Hortico's red spider
miticide and Garden King's red spider miticide, both are
one hit wonders.
* Forget those
garlic/tobacco/chilli etc sprays and other store bought
"general purpose" insect sprays-- they never seem to win
the war against mites or require multiple applications
(I?ve never used neem oil or insecticide soaps).
They state on the mite spray bottles that with
dicofol sprays you can eat treated vegetables 7 days
after spraying-- as this poison is only used once (late
veg or early flowering is as late as I would spray or
would need to) and with 50 -70 days between spraying and
sampling, there should be no health issues.
I
don't spray outdoor plants with mites; I let nature take
its course. Around the same time each year I'm attacked
by the same type of insect, caterpillars, grasshoppers,
mites etc. Conditions become ideal, they multiply, they
have their time and then with a change in conditions and
with the help of predators they are gone.
Fast
growing happy plants with the help of natural predators
will resist mites and the plants will outgrow any
damage, if you spray poisons you may kill their
predators as well, upsetting the balance of nature,
causing re-infestations if conditions are right, any
way, it's too hard to spray trees outdoors-- if the wind
changes, you might get a face full of spray, and who can
reach this high!!!!! ha!
Editor's note:
Horticulture soaps (Such as "Safers insecticidal
soap), pyrethrins and neem have limited killing effect,
although if plants are dipped, the killing % reaches
90%+. Multiple applications will be
required.
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