Sounds like you'd prefer to use natural pesticides, so you may not want to do this, but -
Something was murdering my tall garden phlox years ago. Unusual because here they are usually pest-free. I sprayed with Sevin and then learned that Sevin actually makes spider mites increase! Who knew?
I was also having something eat into my daylily buds resulting in a lot of misshapen flowers. I didn't know if I might also have thrips. So, I got a systemic spray called Bonide online. Could not find any systemic SPRAYS at any box store, only granules to put around base of plant. Since this might kill good creatures in the soil, I want a foliar spray that would focus the insecticide on the plant itself, not the surrounding soil.
The Bonide totally stopped all my spider mite problems on the phlox, and all my other insect probs on the daylilies. It costs about $16 a quart, but I mix it about 1.5 TBSP per gallon, so it goes a long way.
Not organic but it works, and only 1 spraying was necessary to get rid of spider mites. I also spray the leaves of a weeping elm and weeping beech, which are prone to tent caterpillars and it stops that too. I use natural fertilizers and soil amendments and would rather not use chem pesticides, but when they are wiping out my plants, I resort to them.
