Red Spider Mite killers

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Yorkshire Kris
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Red Spider Mite killers

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Has anyone used this product to kill Red Spider Mite? Did it work?

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/Harr ... PC-141.htm
huporhaha

Re: Red Spider Mite killers

Post by huporhaha »

Sorry - never used it - I don't think its warm enough for Red Spider Mite up here - just midges! As children growing up down south we used to delight in how many we could squash with our fingers :oops: :roll:
Palmer

Re: Red Spider Mite killers

Post by Palmer »

Hi Kris,
I’ve never heard of that product so not used it.
Last year I over wintered several nanas and colocasia in the house and kept them mite free using this product!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PLANT-VITALIT ... 4157f621ee

its expensive but it does work, I’ve been using it again today in the poly

Tony
musa_monkey

Re: Red Spider Mite killers

Post by musa_monkey »

I used various products in the past but now use a DIY solution as follows;

Mix 50% cooking oil - i use whatever is in the kitchen
with 50% washing up liquid.
Shake to mix.

Add 15 ml of the above mixture to 1 litre of water.
It can get a bit lively so add the water slowly.
Spray as necessary.

You get nice shiny leaves and no Red Spider Mite.
Been using this mix for a couple of years now and i find it works as well if not better than any commercial product i have bought in the past.
Ian Cooke

Re: Red Spider Mite killers

Post by Ian Cooke »

Savona is a well established organic pesticide widely used for controlling whitefly. It relies on using regularly, about every 4 days and must be mixed with rainwater or distilled water. Tap water inactivates it. I don't recall it being very effective on red spider mites which really need an acaricide not an insecticide. Red spider is an absolute bastard to control. In a private garden I suggest using the little feed and pest control sticks I've mentioned before.

I would be very cautious using any homemade mixture of household products. It may sound harmless but you may cause all sorts of scorch as its not tested as all commercial products are. Sorry!
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Yorkshire Kris
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Re: Red Spider Mite killers

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

musa_monkey wrote:I used various products in the past but now use a DIY solution as follows;

Mix 50% cooking oil - i use whatever is in the kitchen
with 50% washing up liquid.
Shake to mix.

Add 15 ml of the above mixture to 1 litre of water.
It can get a bit lively so add the water slowly.
Spray as necessary.

You get nice shiny leaves and no Red Spider Mite.
Been using this mix for a couple of years now and i find it works as well if not better than any commercial product i have bought in the past.

I did this back in May to my colocasia and it Bu$$ered them up. Made all the leave shrivel and brown. (thankfully near leaves soon grew back) Maybe added too much of the mixture to water but still won't be trying it again. The alocasia didn't mind the spray but the colocasia certainly did.

I think I will try what Palmer uses. Quite expensive but if it works...

Cheers for the replies and if anyone has any other ideas, keep em coming.

Regards

Kris
musa_monkey

Re: Red Spider Mite killers

Post by musa_monkey »

[quote=
I would be very cautious using any homemade mixture of household products. It may sound harmless but you may cause all sorts of scorch as its not tested as all commercial products are. Sorry![/quote]

They may be tested......but that doesn't mean they are any good.
I found several commercial products caused all kinds of scorching on leaves
which is what led me to to try a milder home made mix in the first place.

Not surprising really as some commercial solutions use very high concentrations of nitrogen (urea actually) which can and does cause leaf burn. This info can be found on the product MSDS (material safety data sheets) which are not often that easy to find but should exist and should by law list the chemicals used in the product.

Hence i am now cautious of commercial products and wouldn't use one without sight of the MSDS sheet. Then again i have no need of them anymore, which is why i now tend to stick with the simple mix that works for me.
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Dave Brown
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Re: Red Spider Mite killers

Post by Dave Brown »

I have used Ebay Item: 120765091717 with good effect on Colocasia in the past. I find Red Spider Mite becomes a problem when a plant is really stressed. ie dried out for a day. The SB Plant invigorator produced some of the deepest green leaves I've had on Coli Mammoth, but I'd test it on a small leaf first just to see if there is a reaction.

I don't think anything works that well on Red Spider Mite, just keeping it under control rather than irradicating it. I may go the live predator route next year.

Musa, Kris, putting oil onto leaves will kill them if they have pores/stoma that easily get clogged. Effectively you suffocate the leaf. :roll: Colocasia seem to be very sensitive to this.

I have used a drop of washing up liquid in 1 ltr of water as a wetting agent. This does not seem to have any detrimental effect, but again try it on a small leaf first. :wink:
Best regards
Dave
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Roll on summer.....
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Ian Cooke

Re: Red Spider Mite killers

Post by Ian Cooke »

musa_monkey wrote:Hence i am now cautious of commercial products and wouldn't use one without sight of the MSDS sheet. Then again i have no need of them anymore, which is why i now tend to stick with the simple mix that works for me.
Commercial products will go through exhaustive testing before being realised but usually with widely grown crops and ornamentals not with the minority stuff we grow here so its always wise to check out a new chemical with a cautious spray before blasting the whole garden.

By the way its actually illegal - would you believe - to use household products as pesticides! At work we always used to use a teaspoon of sugar in with glyphosate which helped it act on difficult weeds such as mare's tail but had to stop as sugar is not approved for use as a pesticide! Not that I think the pesticide police are going to come calling! :roll:
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Chad
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Re: Red Spider Mite killers

Post by Chad »

Ian Cooke wrote: By the way its actually illegal - would you believe - to use household products as pesticides!

I don't think that is quite right. A I understand it, it is still legal to use anything [that it is legal to own] in your own garden. You couldn’t do it commercially – your employer would be breaking the law to ask you to use a product outside its licence in the example you give.

When the ramifications of the law first became clear, Gardeners’ Question time was a delight. Presenters were wriggling to avoid ‘recommending’ well known ‘home remedies’ that their legal team had told them they could not promote.

Musa’s post above gets close to that. I think the upshot was that you can say what has worked for you, but MUST NOT recommend it to others, nor advise them to try it.

On GQ they now have an oral formula of ‘we used to use….’ which they seem to get away with.

Chad.
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