Organics for mites

Scrappy4 · Oct 19, 2010

I understand neem is organic, or could be, the bug irritant stuff in neem is azadirachtin. It shows up in AzaMax, mite rid and probably more mite mixes. Anyone use these mixes? Were they effective? more so than say dyna gro neem?

I ask because I just was gifted some clones/mites. They look great but under magnification the underside of several leafs had mite eggs/babies. I sprayed with pyrethrum right away, and want to start a regular treatment as they grow. These are unrooted clones, so after spraying with pyrethrum about two hours later I sprayed them with water to rinse. My normal routine is to spray with dyna gro neem oil mixed with dr bronners soap and water at two week intervals in veg/early flower. I think finding them right away and the cooler fall temps will help me in my control. Would it be worth it to buy some azamax, or stick to what I have on hand. thanks .......scrappy

supermanlives · Oct 19, 2010

i dont regret buying azamax way better than regular neem

Albertine · Oct 20, 2010

Azatrol worked well for me,, but I believe the final say for it's success was getting 100% coverage and smothering them than the aziradactrin itself. What I saw in spraying is that the hairs on the leaf would protect the mite from coverage, and they weren't going away over a period of days due to the antifeedant properties. When I switched to a pump sprayer and got total drenching coverage, I was unable to find anything alive after the first spray.
It also seems that a spray cycle needs to be more like every three days max rather than once a week in order to break the egg cycle. Although, after the drenching I was finding only dead looking eggs also - wrinkled looking. Ended up spraying twice total with drenching, and they never came back. That was 3 - 4 months ago.

jaykush · Oct 20, 2010

if you have a lavender bush or know of one close by you can make your own mite killer.

IncredibowlBoss · Oct 20, 2010

I had some mites on a clone and started doing some horticultural research and came across essential oil of Rosemary as an effective organic mite treatment.
Here's an excerpt from my grow blog:

Now, I'm pretty dedicated to natural and organic methods (for myself and our plant), so my first thought was to look more into Neem oil (which I had laying around the house). While I was searching online, though, I came across this post describing how to use rosemary oil to get rid of spider-mites. I was intrigued (mostly because I think Neem oil stinks!), and did a little further research. First, I found this page on spider-mite control from the University of California - Agriculture department, which recommends rosemary oil for controlling spider-mites on organic strawberries. Then I found this 2005 University of British Columbia graduate thesis on using rosemary oil to control spider-mites - on page 30, the author states "Rosemary oil is relatively effective against insect and mite pests. The aromatic vapor of rosemary has ovicidal and larvicidal effects on several stored product pests and the two-spotted spider mite.". Apparently, the smell can repel thrips, too. The lethal concentration for mites was found to be 13.19 ml/litre. The author, Miresmalli, concludes "that rosemary oil can be considered an acaricide/ibsecticide against the two-spotted spider mite," which, given all the data he provides in the 107-page document, is good enough for us. There's some indication that eucalyptus or peppermint oil could be up to 30% more effective, and if the buggers come back, we'll explore those routes.

...

To make the rosemary anti-mite spray, I mixed 10ml rosemary essential oil into 710 ml distilled water with 2 drops organic dishsoap to help the oil emulsify with the water. A note: the lethal concentration according to the study would be 9.3649 ml oil/710 ml water - I erred on the side of killing the hell out of these pests.

Clackamas Coot · Oct 20, 2010

On the recommendation of Jaykush I made up a lavender tea. Blew my mind - literally.

Very, very effective.

CC

Scrappy4 · Oct 20, 2010

Would lavender essential oil work? I'm plumb out of lavender plants, but could grow some for future problems, we already indoor grow basil, rosemary, oregino, lettuce, ect. But for now, AzaMax, or continue neem oil spraying?.......scrappy

Marco61 · Oct 20, 2010

jaykush said:
if you have a lavender bush or know of one close by you can make your own mite killer.

Please explain more. You have me interested.

jaykush · Oct 20, 2010

not sure on the lavender oil, i have only used plant material. from memory that stuff is pretty expensive though. lavender is a good plant to have around, for growing purposes like this, and for using.

Please explain more. You have me interested.

simply take some lavender sprigs( sticks with flower buds on them) and strip the flower buds off. take a 1 liter bottle, add a 1/4 cup or so of lavender flower buds. let soak for 48 hours, then strain the plant material out well. dilute 1:50 and spray your plants lightly on infected areas, make sure to get under the leaves. repeat in 5 days. so far everyone i have told it to and has tried it has had success in killing mites, coot said even the eggs die which is pretty cool.

bonsai · Oct 20, 2010

jaykush said:
simply take some lavender sprigs( sticks with flower buds on them) and strip the flower buds off. take a 1 liter bottle, add a 1/4 cup or so of lavender flower buds. let soak for 48 hours, then strain the plant material out well. dilute 1:50 and spray your plants lightly on infected areas, make sure to get under the leaves. repeat in 5 days. so far everyone i have told it to and has tried it has had success in killing mites, coot said even the eggs die which is pretty cool.

I can see the lavendar bush in our herb garden from where I'm sitting. It looks nervous, I think it knows what's coming :muahaha:

Thanks Jay!

jaykush · Oct 20, 2010

cutting the flower stalks off actually encourages new growth with most lavenders. we cut ours about 6 times a year for drying and selling( and using in our garden). cut the flower stalk above where two healthy nodes start.

tonto · Oct 20, 2010

jaykush said:
simply take some lavender sprigs( sticks with flower buds on them) and strip the flower buds off. take a 1 liter bottle, add a 1/4 cup or so of lavender flower buds. let soak for 48 hours, then strain the plant material out well. dilute 1:50 and spray your plants lightly on infected areas, make sure to get under the leaves. repeat in 5 days. so far everyone i have told it to and has tried it has had success in killing mites, coot said even the eggs die which is pretty cool.

this is so awesome
thank you

DimeBag65 · Oct 21, 2010

hey jay, glad you have a post over here about this as well, i still havnt tried it since i thought i had everything under control, im going to mix some up for next week and spray my outdoor, ill report back about how it goes, hope all is growing well your way :joint:

Mr Celsius · Oct 21, 2010

Azatrol/Azamax

Liquid pyrethrum

SucraShield - Sucrose Octanoate Esters (SOE)
http://www.naturalforcesllc.com/ssfacts.asp

All very effective and works on a small or large scale.

I like the idea of lavender, but I don't know how much you would need for a larger crop.

jaykush · Oct 21, 2010

I like the idea of lavender, but I don't know how much you would need for a larger crop.

put it this way, you could make enough to cover a 1000 sq ft canopy for less than 5$.

NUG-JUG · Oct 21, 2010

lavender spray.. kills the eggs too!? that is something..awesome, the neem oil usually takes a few applications. on that note; i bought Fert-I-Lome neem based spray that's organic with 70% neem oil. imho it's better than a jug of dyna grow pure neem for a smaller garden since it mixes with water way easier for not being 100% neem

Mr Celsius · Oct 21, 2010

jaykush said:
put it this way, you could make enough to cover a 1000 sq ft canopy for less than 5$.

Jay, can you post up a guide with the pros for everyone please?

Clackamas Coot · Oct 21, 2010

RE: Lavender Oils

There are 4 or 5 companies in Oregon that sell various plant extracts - from nettle to comfrey.

One company sells extracts that are made from a CO2 process vs. alcohol or whatever.

Anyone know the advantages (or disadvantages) for this type of extraction method?

Thanks!

CC

jaykush · Oct 21, 2010

Jay, can you post up a guide with the pros for everyone please?

what do you mean? i already posted how to make it.

Scrappy4 · Oct 21, 2010

Clackamas Coot said:
RE: Lavender Oils

There are 4 or 5 companies in Oregon that sell various plant extracts - from nettle to comfrey.

One company sells extracts that are made from a CO2 process vs. alcohol or whatever.

Anyone know the advantages (or disadvantages) for this type of extraction method?

Thanks!

CC

This site http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf00054a045 touts CO2 extraction

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