[moses wellfleet]

these are Phytoseiulus Persimilis i have had them in my rooms for one year now and they have been very effective in keeping mites under control, i love the little bastards they have become my friends!

[mad librettist]

Could you make a new thread with the predator name in the thread? We have a sticky that acts as an index to all the biological control thread. Each thread is kept separate so one does not


have to read 80 pages to get what you need.

hh keeps the index thread. Give him a shout.





Ps nice thread

[moses wellfleet]

ok delete. there is no interest anyway

[Bullfrog44]

Big interest, just didn't want to litter the tread until it was renamed.

[mad librettist]

Originally Posted by moses wellfleet

ok delete. there is no interest anyway

You are so wrong!

Gotta be patient with the community. Especially with this type of thread.

[h.h.]

I always wait for Mad and the others to "approve" the threads before adding them to the list.
While I'm interested, I don't know enough about them to comment. Many people aren't interested until they have a problem in which case they'll be able to look in the stickies.
As it is the list has stagnated and needs new listings. Thanks for the thread and some excellent pictures.
If you care to retitle as Mad suggested you can follow the examples in the index for your title.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=224594
If not I'll wait a couple of days and post it as is. No difference to me, but it may help simplify the index for others.
We're up to 10!!!

[BurnOne]

Moses Wellfleet-
GREAT TOPIC. +rep.

Burn1

[TheNewGuy]

I'm definitely interested in these, was about to order some and I'm trying to decide how much of them will die off during shipping because of the cold winter temperatures and if its worth it. Has anyone ordered these and had them shipped in the winter or during colder temperatures.

[mad librettist]

hey you know what? it doesn't matter what the thread title is. we can call the link whatever in the sticky

[moses wellfleet]

ok the reason i never mentioned the species in the title is because i use 2 species of predatory mites, amblyseius californicus as well as persimilis, and the names are quite long.

persimilis is your first choice because it is extremely aggresive and moves quickly through the crop preying on mites in large numbers and it reproduces quickly under optimal conditions. it is also visible to the naked eye so you can see the progress. but unfortunately it doesnt like exactly the same climatic conditions as the red spider mite, tetranychus urticae.

while spider mites love hot dry conditions persimilis prefers a temp of 25 degrees celsius with a relative humidity above 70%.

that is why i also introduced californicus which has greater tolerance of hot dry conditions so the spider mites cant find a hot dry corner in the grow room where they will be safe from the persimilis. the californicus is unfortunately very difficult to see with the naked eye, unlike the bright red persimilis that can be clearly seen attacking the spider mites.

my spider mite problem was quite severe when i introduced the preds but obviously you want them as early as possible so that their population numbers can be effective against the mites

i have heard of them wiping out the spider mites completely and then dying out from lack of food. but in my case, a year later they are still there feeding off their herd of tame mites which is far too small and insignificant to harm my crop. in my view this is the correct balance to achieve then i will never have to purchase the preds again.

in fact some companies offer spider mites for sale along with the predatory mites so that you can achieve this balance before the rogue mites find and destroy your crop.

Originally Posted by TheNewGuy

I'm definitely interested in these, was about to order some and I'm trying to decide how much of them will die off during shipping because of the cold winter temperatures and if its worth it. Has anyone ordered these and had them shipped in the winter or during colder temperatures.

you cannot send them in the regular mail they must be shipped the same as a live animal, like a domestic dog or cat.they need to breathe and freezing temperatures will kill them. your supplier will no doubt have this arranged with the shipping company.