Sorry to bother you all but can you help me?

[b54red]

I use the SP2 backpack sprayer which I believe is available from Hudson now. It is a terrific sprayer which achieves high pressure with little work and is of very high quality. It is also great for spraying the bleach spray which doesn't ruin the pump like it can on some types of sprayers. It is also easy to clean and I like being able to mix up enough spray to do my whole garden at one time and not have to go back to my shed and mix another batch constantly like I had to do with my old pump sprayers. If you have a decent sized garden it is worth the investment and even if you have a fairly small garden it would be worth it for me in the ease of use and time saved.

Bill

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by b54red

I use the SP2 backpack sprayer which I believe is available from Hudson now. It is a terrific sprayer which achieves high pressure with little work and is of very high quality. It is also great for spraying the bleach spray which doesn't ruin the pump like it can on some types of sprayers. It is also easy to clean and I like being able to mix up enough spray to do my whole garden at one time and not have to go back to my shed and mix another batch constantly like I had to do with my old pump sprayers. If you have a decent sized garden it is worth the investment and even if you have a fairly small garden it would be worth it for me in the ease of use and time saved.

Bill

That SP2 is nice! One batch and done is convenient indeed.

[beachedwalrus]

Well my strategy of spraying with horticultural soap, neem oil and diatomaceous earth did not work. All three are completely ineffective against the mites. As a matter of fact i have sprayed with 3 types of soap 4 times in 4 days and still there are live mites running around. They just run over the food grade diatomaceous earth (Fine food grade) and continue breeding and attacking my plants. They are basically a nightmare as i have tried almost everything. (Soap, insecticidal soap, horticultural soap, neem oil, azamax, diatomaceous earth, sulfur). Nothing works and there is nothing really on the market here in Australia that targets them.

Also i think the diatomaceous earth dries out the leaves of the plant which kills them even faster. Not sure what to do now.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by beachedwalrus

Well my strategy of spraying with horticultural soap, neem oil and diatomaceous earth did not work. All three are completely ineffective against the mites. As a matter of fact i have sprayed with 3 types of soap 4 times in 4 days and still there are live mites running around. They just run over the food grade diatomaceous earth (Fine food grade) and continue breeding and attacking my plants. They are basically a nightmare as i have tried almost everything. (Soap, insecticidal soap, horticultural soap, neem oil, azamax, diatomaceous earth, sulfur). Nothing works and there is nothing really on the market here in Australia that targets them.

Also i think the diatomaceous earth dries out the leaves of the plant which kills them even faster. Not sure what to do now.

Maybe you have a different type of mite down under than we have. I've heard stories of all the killer bugs and snakes.
Seriously if you have applied the DE in a complete manner it should really work on the mites. I was literally losing all of my plants and within three days of using the DE as I described the plants started to recover. Since our dry hot weather has not let up yet the need to reapply after a little shower is constant. I have received about an inch and a half of rain in over 2 months and almost all of it came down in doses of about a tenth of an inch at a time. Just enough to mess with my DE and fungicides but not enough to wet the ground which has been perfect conditions for mites. I have reapplied the DE several times over the last two weeks and it has worked wonderfully for me but I am using a very heavy concentration of DE. I have noticed some leaves and whole stems drying up and dying but I just think that is the leaves with the most spider mite damage. None of my newer growth that wasn't heavily infested with mites has died or dried up from the use of the DE. I didn't notice any leaves drying up on the few plants that weren't heavily infested with mites either.

Is Permethrin available for you to purchase or Malathion? Either one will work to get rid of spider mites with the addition of a lot of dish washing soap. With the Permethrin you will need to apply it at a higher than recommended rate along with about two tablespoons of Dawn dish washing liquid per gallon of water. It will need to be applied every 3 days til the mites are under control making sure to spray the tops and bottoms of the leaves and all the stems. It is better to do this very late in the day to lessen the effect on bees. Malation is much more potent and when applied at the recommended rate with the same amount of Dawn will usually stop them with only two sprays about 4 days apart. Malation requires a much longer wait time after using before you can harvest and it can cause some leaf burn on tomatoes. I don't use the Malation anymore but if the DE failed I would have definitely used the Permethrin but with its limited toxicity it has to be applied a lot to be effective and I prefer the even less toxic DE since it doesn't have to be applied nearly as often and I don't have to worry so much about getting it on me.

Bill

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by beachedwalrus

Well my strategy of spraying with horticultural soap, neem oil and diatomaceous earth did not work. All three are completely ineffective against the mites. As a matter of fact i have sprayed with 3 types of soap 4 times in 4 days and still there are live mites running around. They just run over the food grade diatomaceous earth (Fine food grade) and continue breeding and attacking my plants. They are basically a nightmare as i have tried almost everything. (Soap, insecticidal soap, horticultural soap, neem oil, azamax, diatomaceous earth, sulfur). Nothing works and there is nothing really on the market here in Australia that targets them.

Also i think the diatomaceous earth dries out the leaves of the plant which kills them even faster. Not sure what to do now.

I mix soap with DE. If you spray too much soap it does dry leafs. The heavily infected leafs will dry anyways. Spraying from the bottom up is important.
If you use different types of insecticides, you should let each stay on the plant for at least couple of days. Not spraying everyday.

I noticed that surrounded area can be hosting mites too. It is important to spray it as well. They like to make webs in crocks or structures.
Good luck. Do not give up. It takes couple of weeks to see results. Give it few days and spray again.

[Lorri D]

Maybe try tomato leaf tea spray. It it my go to spray when I have tomato plants around. Just make sure to use healthy leaves with no blight etc.

[Gerardo]

I hope your super mites stay down under. Sorry you have to deal with such tough critters.

Have you tried rotating things a bit?

Say applying DE + soap, then after a few days a synthetic pesticide, then some Neem, then another synthetic pesticide. Sort of a combined shotgun approach to disrupt their life-cycle with all modes of action at your disposal.

And I would second the suggestion to pay close attention to all non-plant hiding spots.

Best of luck eradicating them.

[beachedwalrus]

Originally Posted by Gerardo

I hope your super mites stay down under. Sorry you have to deal with such tough critters.

Have you tried rotating things a bit?

Say applying DE + soap, then after a few days a synthetic pesticide, then some Neem, then another synthetic pesticide. Sort of a combined shotgun approach to disrupt their life-cycle with all modes of action at your disposal.

And I would second the suggestion to pay close attention to all non-plant hiding spots.

Best of luck eradicating them.

I'll give it a go. Trying neem and soap every 4 days on some of the bushes. I am testing what works. The issue is i have so many bushes and spraying takes up time. The younger bushes are starting to get attacked and i have took all precautions to stop the mites from getting on them. I sprayed soap + DE over a week ago and they are still highly active on every bush. The thing is didn't have tomato plants for a period of time, the next ones i planted (From seed) got russet mites so either there is something in the garden harbouring them or someone in the area has them and they are being brought in by insects or animals.

Also what soap does everyone use? Dish soap? I am using horticultural soap but its not cheap.

[meadowyck]

The best control that I have found and read up on for spider mites, is to change the environment they love. So if it is hot and dry, make the environment moist, by spraying 2-3 times a week on the underside of the leaves. Spray bottle if small plant, for shrubs, garden hose.

When you have a somewhat moist environment, the mites hate it and move on. Then you don't have to use chemical, or DE. (I'm a big DE user) I just don't like using it on things that bees or other small insects might be on. As DE will also harm the Beneficial's.

just another 2cents for what it is worth.

[efisakov]

I use this attachment to a hose. Just mix well all the ingredients and spray. This price is for Lowes. Makes it much easier. The bottle is small and I have to refill it few times. But it is easy to handle and it works for me. I got it last year and it is still working.

[beachedwalrus]

I have a 6l pressure sprayer so that isn't really an issue. This week i did 3 thorough sprays 2-3 days apart making sure all parts were wet (Stem, underside of leaves, top of leaves, tomatoes/flowers). I sprayed with eco-oil (Works similiar to soap) and neem. Then i did a respray of neem and horticultural soap, then soap and DE and still there are some on the trees. They are reduced in number but they just are just ridiculously hard to get rid of.

Going to keep doing this for a few weeks, see if i can break the cycle.

[efisakov]

You will. DE works slowly but sure works.

[beachedwalrus]

So my spray rotation for the week is

1. Eco-oil (Horticultural oil made from canola oil) + neem
2. Neem oil with tea tree oil + horticultural soap
3. DE + horticultural soap.

Hardly a mite in sight but alot of damage has been done already. I also found the bushes i didn't use DE on don't have the lower leaves drying up as much. I really think the combination of oil/soap and neem have made the difference over a week and a half. Though i am worried that the neem might affect the flavour of the tomatoes, lets hope not.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by beachedwalrus

So my spray rotation for the week is

1. Eco-oil (Horticultural oil made from canola oil) + neem
2. Neem oil with tea tree oil + horticultural soap
3. DE + horticultural soap.

Hardly a mite in sight but alot of damage has been done already. I also found the bushes i didn't use DE on don't have the lower leaves drying up as much. I really think the combination of oil/soap and neem have made the difference over a week and a half. Though i am worried that the neem might affect the flavour of the tomatoes, lets hope not.

Be careful applying neem in the heat too often as it can cause some serious leaf damage in my experience.

We had a bit of rain two weeks ago and I was unable to get out and reapply the DE until a few days ago and the mites were making a real comeback. I mixed my DE and Dawn dish washing liquid in a separate container and filtered it into my sprayer then added a good dose of Permethrin and did a thorough spray. It worked much faster on the mites than previous applications and I think it must be the Permethrin wiping out the adults and killing them before they could lay more eggs and the DE must have worked on the new ones emerging because my plants look great now.

Bill

[Gerardo]

Glad to hear you got it under control. Good news.