Good morning folks, I normally use a insect soap for pest control, mostly aphids. I may have some spider mites and I know from past experience they are hard to eradicate. Respray every 3 to 5 days to catch the new hatch. I've been googling for knowledge and I keep seeing Bayer Advanced 701290 3-in-1 Insect Disease and Mite Control Ready-To-Use recommended for almost anything that crawls. Any users that can give me feedback.

Please do some more research before you resort to poisons. You will also be killing a lot of beneficial insects.

Is your plant indoors, or outdoors? There are some things that work better for certain situations, and if you have to treat a large area vs. a small area.

Before going the route of using Bayer, check out Azamax - a derivative of neem oil. I've used it on my lemon tree, azaleas and other things (if there's a pest problem) with great success.

Have you tried using Neem oil?

Also, you might try releasing some Green Lacewings. I really like this website: http://www.gardensalive.com. They have a more natural way of dealing with persts. Everything I have ever purchased from them has worked as stated.

All those chemicals are pretty horrific when allowed loose in the garden. And the insects are becoming more and more resistant, meaning the pesticide folks will have to come out with something even deadlier.

My go-to is rubbing alcohol. Its cheap and the insects won't build up resistance. Use it straight in a spray bottle. If you do have to cover a large area, Neem is the best choice. It only harms insects that suck on your plants and its not toxic to humans, other animals or good insects.

Spray it after the sun has set to lessen any leaf burning. It takes a week or so to work so be patient but once in the plant, it will last the rest of the season. I spray it on my pepper seedlings the night before I plant them out. No Aphids for the entire season.

Daisy

All these replies in 30 minutes, what a great forum. Thanks everyone. Indoor plant, I have read some about Azamax and Neem oil. Spraying rubbing alcohol is a great idea, I have used alcohol with q-tips to combat soft scale. I well hold off on the chemical warfare, the azamax has good reviews.

Before purchasing any pesticide, look it up on the internet, and carefully read the entire label and MSDS. There is a lot of info there that isn't publisized in general. One thing you may not be able to find without calling the manufacturer is the shelf life of the product after opening the container or mixing.

I do use some chemicals from time to time, but I find if I try to keep some harmony in my garden, things take care of themselves. I really like using beneficial insects. But right now, and for the past 3 years, our office has had a fungus gnat problem - our first gnats of the summer have just started to appear. We have tried all the natural remedies, to no avail. A coworker will walk around spraying bug spray everywhere, which alarms me to no end, since I have asthma, and also worry about breathing in too many chemicals. Another coworker seems to have come up with the best solution - she puts a few drops of bleach down all the drains about once a week. They seem to breed there. So if anyone comes up with a better solution for fungus gnats in the office, please let me know.

What specific plants or is it a whole general area? Flowers, bushes, vegetables or trees? 3 in 1 is a systemic can get into flower buds and harm bees. Just like most things timing is everything. If you need drastic measures usually take them when plants are more dormant. If I have something in a rose cane that needs a systemic I do it before bloom season. That way pollinators are not affected. Neem oil is good but if it's too hot out it fries your plants. If you can make it through this season with soap, in the fall, winter and very early spring use neem oil spray saturate the ground around your plants. That is where insects can also over winter. May you find a good solution and have joy in your heart.

The big issue with systemics like the Bayer 3-in-1 is that the insects develop immunity to it very quickly - on my plants it took less than a year. My neighbor (who has a Masters in Hort and worked for the state as a pesticide inspector) says that the home made "mechanical" remedies like soap and oil sprays are much more effective in the long run.

A systemic that is in a plant for a while eventually kills off most of the bugs, so you think you have a good result. What you don't realize is that there were survivors, and once they breed, their offspring will be resistant to the stuff you use. So the next time you put it on - Pffft! Nothing happens!

For spider mites or aphids, just a regular spray of plain water works very well. If you can put your plant in the kitchen sink or in your shower and just spray it down, the plant will love it, and the mites will be washed away. You need to do this maybe every 2nd week or so in warm weather.

Otherwise I like soapy water spray, just 1/2 tsp of dish soap to a quart of water works as well as fancy, expensive insecticidal soap. Cost is a fraction, as well.

Thanks for all the great advise, I'm going to just keep using my soap spray as I have been. Last time I had spider mites on house plants, many years ago, I wasn't very successful at winning the battle.

Using insecticidal soap should be good, just need to spray every 4-5 days for a few weeks, in order to get all stages of the mite. Spray top and bottom of leaves liberally, to the point where it's dripping off (so set the plant on something easy to clean/pick up and won't get on furniture/rugs). Then just let it dry.

This is only half of a suggestion: conditions indoors must be favorable to the spider mites, if they are thriving. If you can change some condition they need, they may go away on their own.

But I don't know what spider mites like or don't like!

If they need it to be dry, you could spray them 2-3 times a day, or build up humidity with a saucer-and-pebbles and.or tent of plastic film. And take them into the shower occasionally and spray hard on the leaves, especially while holding it upside-down (and clogging your drain with potting mix).

If they need it to be moist, oh well, don't spray them other than with soap-and-alcohol.

If a fan keeps them from settling and staying, run a fan.

But it isn't a whole idea until someone more knowledgeable tells us what spider mites like and hate.

Many decades ago, I reluctantly used malathione to reduce the number of spider mites. Now I wouldn't use an organophosphate to save a crop's life. If you put the chemical-structural formulae next to each other, of organophosphate insecticides and organophosphate nerve gases, the differences are so slight they are hard to see right away. A friend who did a paper on that had three categories: organophosphates designed to be war gasses, organophosphates used as insecticides, and organophosphates that were BOTH.

What an ironic instance of "swords beaten into plowshares"!

"I invented this really potent nerve gas, but it is so toxic they won't let me use it on enemies in wars!"
"Don't worry, sell it to Monsanto and they'll spray it on our food crops."

Bon appetit!

Spider mites love warm, dry conditions. Here, they aren't so much affected by humidity but they go away completely once it starts to rain regularly. I think either they drown or they are washed off the plants by the water.

Or if I remember to hose off the plants they like regularly. That's all it takes. They absolutely love my Brugmansias and will decimate them in preference to almost anything else in the garden. As long as I spray the plants with the hose every few days (if there's no rain) I have no problems with mites at all. I love the Brugs but their real value is as a sacrificial lamb to attract all the spider mites for miles around so I can drown/wash them into oblivion.

I used to fuss with soapy water and neem oil and alcohol and other stuff. No more. Hose the plants, done deal.

I have an article about research that showed diluted soybean oil works well for spider mites. If anyone wants to try it I'll look up the dilution rate.

An article on spider mites, link below, written by entomologists may also be of interest. Note they say oils may be the most effective treatment available to homeowners and that insecticidal soap is only marginally effective.

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/s...

Edited to add, diluted soybean oil also works for aphids. I do agree with Elaine though, hot and dry is what spider mites like, they also like leaves that are high in nitrogen.

I have looked for Azamax and cannot find it. Is that the brand name or is it sold under something else?

As long as the bug question is here, what would you recommend for whiteflies on my lantana? Those stupid plants have whiteflies even in the summer. They positively SWARM out of the plants (I have 2 lantana). I am to the point where I am ready to spray the snot out of them and put them in a garbage bag for a few days.

I like to use rubbing alcohol, "straight up", in a sprayer bottle. I thought that RA was for mealybugs.............does it kill or repel other noxious bugs?

I have used the 3 in 1 in the g'house in the winter, as I have quite a few plants in there, but I do try and rotate my spray brands.

If you could find something to attract the mites to it, you could then toss THAT out.
Say for instance, I have heard that snails in a pond like lettuce, so if you float some lettuce in there for a few hours, the snails collect on it, and then you just toss it out. So if you find some leaves or another plant to attract the mites to, you may be able to at least control them that way.

Try a brugmansia - they'll attract every mite. Even a cutting in a jar of water will attract them, and then is easily thrown away.

Anna, Azamax is available on Amazon.