sirdoofus

Do a test run with a few of them instead of the entire lot.

Keep in mind it really isn't any different than a good drenching. I find a lot of 'experts' on houseplants recommend letting them sit in water for 20 minutes or so anyway with each (infrequent) watering, which is what I almost always do with mine.

Of course I would let them drain thoroughly afterwards

And as an aside, I do not rinse off the soapy water after the treatment.

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Who keeps calling me nuts??

PeteMoss

Yes I flood/drench them every time i water, and they usually drain out pretty well anyway, i just haven't had them actually sit submerged that long. i pour water until it overflows and then lean them over to drain for a few minutes.

PeteMoss

So that was a whole production. I'll update if i see any mites in the next few days

sirdoofus

Yes, please keep us posted. Did you do the whole bunch, or just a few?

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PeteMoss

All of them; i figured it would be messy and i wouldn't wanna do it again.

I didn't really have the right sized plastic bags and/or enough on hand so i just used masking and duct tape to cover the planter tops. i didn't lose much dirt from any of them, but collectively there was a ton of perlite floating in the container that got everywhere.

smeash

Your plants will be fine, as long as you didnt put too much bleach in the water, and didnt leave them in there for a week. I have had infestations so bad that i have hose all the soil till it was just bare roots, and repotted in new soil. Plants are far more resiliant than we give them credit for!

PeteMoss

No bleach, just dish soap

PeteMoss

I’ve been checking everyday. Hopefully I don’t jinx it but I haven’t seen one mite. It’s only been a week though. I’ll try to update in a few weeks again

cincinnana

I have a crazy infestation on my Cardinal climber vines.

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sirdoofus

That sucks. I am assuming it's outdoors?

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Who keeps calling me nuts??

PeteMoss

Aaaand they’re back

sirdoofus

Oh man that bites. I was fully expecting that to work and I am really sorry to hear that the little buggers are back. You are 100% sure there isn't another source of contamination nearby?

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PeteMoss

I don’t think so. Any new plants I got since then I have put through the same half hour drench process. The new velutina and some viney thing are both clean. Just the big (1 gal dwarf cav) banana and a palm seedling or two I could actually see them crawling on.

FWIW I do keep the windows open most of the time... I suppose they could crawl up to the second floor and in through the screens ��

Also FWIW the big banana snapped at the base lol. It was putting out skinny leaves two at once all bunchy and kind of leaning, I f’d with it a little and it just went “crack” and I decided that’s the end of that, the most susceptible plant is now gone. Didn’t see any on the sucker made so I tried to save it.

I ordered some predator mites finally. Hopefully that works at least until next spring

sirdoofus

I have wondered about them blowing in from outside in this scenario too. However, I keep plants next to opened, screened windows and, knock on wood, haven't had a problem yet. Although, they are on the second floor without anything near the windows that might harbor the little bas#&%$*.

Hopefully the predators keep things in check. Good luck and I am interested to hear how it goes for you.

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subsonicdrone

higher humidity will help the predators to outcompete the prey

TropicalUpNorth

I'll be very interested to hear the results!!

First time I had bananas and palms (indoors in Seattle) they all succumbed to spider mite infestation.

Every palm I've owned since (all majestys) met the same death.

This year I went all out and made a mini tropical patio. I live in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and need to start bringing in all these outdoor plants. I have seen spider mites on a new white bird of paradise plant, so I KNOW I will be bringing spider mites inside :-(

I will hose them all down first, but imagine some will make it inside.

I used a synthetic pesticide before inside, and it damaged the leaves of thrle schefflera arboricola I was trying to save, so I'm gunshy.

I bought neem oil & Spinosad (Bonide: Captain Jack's Deadbug 0.001% spray bottle). Directions for Spinosad & spider mites are roughly spray every last nook & cranny and reapply every 7-10 days or 3-5 in greenhouses/ open/closed structures.

I'm not sure if I should spray all plants w/ spinosad prior to bringing them inside? There are no instructions about the indoor use of spinosad...?

Like the above poster, I read that predatory mites prefer warm/hot temps & high humidity... versus the dry air that spider mites like.

Raygrogan mentions a plastic curtain from floor to ceiling to keep in the humidity. Has anyone done this? I plan on doing this in my plant room/bedroom to protect everything from the humidity. Maybe I should make a separate post for this...

I do plan on ordering predatory mites when I first notice spider mites, so as to save my bananas, ensetes, and palms. They will of course run off in every direction once they run out of spider mites to eat, but seems like a fair trade to have dead mites all over the house in exchange for Tropicals surviving our long winter!

Hope your mites work out PeteMoss! :-)

PeteMoss

Welp, when the predators came in the mail and I sprinkled them on the leaves, the humidity was 45% all week. Humidity has gone up since then, but all I see is more spider mites and all that crap that was mixed in the shaker of predators everywhere. It was pretty messy, I was expecting holes in the cap like a salt shaker but it was either wide open or closed. They were expensive too so I’m not going to bother again, humidity is going back down.

I found a guy who makes traps. https://www.redbandtraps.com/easy-instructions.html
The catch is you have to hang them over the plants with a string attached to a rod. He also makes a huge point of stating they are flammable, which makes me not want to use them
Since I’m using grow lights. The GE PAR38 LEDs get really hot. This guy also says you have to clean EVERYTHING; floors, walls, carpets, clothes, hands, anything near the plants. I might as well live in a vacuum sealed chamber at that rate - albeit I’m sure he’s right.

Then I found this video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=...&v=ttYJaOe2ArY
Fruit fly traps. Hang them on a fan, blow the fan at the plant, and the vapors from the trap kill the mites. Honestly it’s a wild shot in the dark at this point but it seems easy enough, and apparently yields results. I’m going to try this next, maybe do it a couple times a week just to catch any stragglers.

cincinnana

Here is an article you could get a few takeaways from.
I recommend cannibis forums for some great grow information and indoor grow light recommendations.

At the end of the article there is mention of products which can help including the pest strips mentioned in your post and the pro's and cons.

I know Spinosad works and comes well recommended from growers.....it is somewhat inexpensive and readily available .
https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabi...f-spider-mites

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PeteMoss

I’ve tried a spinosad product already, only really worked for a few days. I don’t want to spray every week. Once they returned the spinosad was pretty useless too.

cincinnana

Sorry you had bad luck with abatement!
Your answer makes NO sense.
You have been given the tools in previous posts to control mites.
You will have to spray every day until your issue is resolved.


Spinosad is a systemic and will control your issue....short term and long term.
First it hits the soil and then the plant and then your mites....
No ifs and or buts.

This product takes a "FEW DAYS" to "form a defense" and it works.

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