Anybody have success using safer insect killing soap for spider mites

J

jonnynobody

Well-Known Member
I've been roughing it hard with spider mites this summer. I wasn't using IPM on my last cycle and it bit me in the ass. I've been on the war path since. I found out there isn't much that tackles the mite eggs then I read about safer brand insect killing soap. It's just potassium salts of fatty acids but it supposedly dries out the eggs and the exoskeleton on the mites ultimately killing them when the soap dries on the leaves. I sprayed the entire nursery heavily today. Tops and bottoms of the leaves to the point of excessive. I sprayed the medium thoroughly and the sides of the pots. I'm rotating spinosad, safer soap, and venerate cg hoping to eliminate the population before they go into flower in 6 weeks. Any growers out there with experience using safer soap or any product that uses potassium salts of fatty acids? I have neem oil too, but the directions of 1.5 tsp/quart on the dyna grow bottle makes the mix way too strong damaging foliage for a few days. I had success using 1tsp/quart with no problems. I still had to add 5ml of dr bronners to get the hot water and neem oil to mix. The dyna grow directions called for a very small amount and I couldn't get the neem to emulsify. I might get neem oil into the rotation along with the others since the 1tsp/quart didn't cause any issues. I think I just got nervous about using it (and it stinks horribly) after the 1.5tsp caused a 2 day droop. I'll give 'er another shot tomorrow at 1tsp/quart and test spray on a couple plants then check back in a few hours. If all is well I'll start running that in the IPM program every 3 days with the other products. Thanks in advance for any tips!
 
Spider mites are arachnids, not insects. Insecticide generally wont eradicate arachnids, and in some cases make the mites worse.

I use Forbid, and Floramine in rotation, but not in flowering, and it takes 70 days to rid the plants of these chemicals.
 
jimihendrix1 said:
Spider mites are arachnids, not insects. Insecticide generally wont eradicate arachnids, and in some cases make the mites worse.

I use Forbid, and Floramine in rotation, but not in flowering, and it takes 70 days to rid the plants of these chemicals.
Click to expand...
I've got forbid, floramite, and avid. I've used them all in rotation and I'll be dammed if I can't get rid of these things. The safer soap claims to be effective on spider mites and their eggs by smothering them when the soap dries. It doesn't have any effect after it dries though. I've hit them so hard with the chemicals I thought I'd incorporate an organic pesticide that's more mechanical in it's effects. I'm not sure what kind of mites these are, but they're tough SOB's. I even recently dunked the all in avid and tetrasan. The tetrasan has no effect on adult mites, but kills eggs and nymphs on contact. I will say since the dunk 4 days ago the plants all look much better. I still see some eggs on a few leaves under a scope, but I assume those are no longer viable after the tetrasan / avid dunk. At least I hope.

Did you buy your floramite, forbid, and avid in the big bottles or did you buy the smaller ones on ebay that people break down and resell? Only reason I ask is because I bought the repackaged ebay bottles which is actually minx2, floramite sc, and oberon 4sc. I wonder if I got some bunk pesticide. It's just bizarre that heavy duty poisons aren't killing them off. Might snag a big bottle of the forbid 4f. Never had a problem with the name brand stuff. Kinda feel like a heel for buying the knock off stuff now.
 
I had a nasty spider mite infection on an outdoor bruce banner grow 2 or so years ago. Cleaning off the webs, blasting the mites off with a stream of water, manually inspecting and squishing any mites/eggs and then spraying with neem oil did the trick for me.
 
friedguy said:
I had a nasty spider mite infection on an outdoor bruce banner grow 2 or so years ago. Cleaning off the webs, blasting the mites off with a stream of water, manually inspecting and squishing any mites/eggs and then spraying with neem oil did the trick for me.
Click to expand...
That neem seems like good stuff. I'll apply it tomorrow with the same amount I mixed up last time. 1tsp/qt and 5ml dr bronner's worked great and didn't cause any drooping. Looks like that's gonna be going into the IPM. Thanks dude!
 
jonnynobody said:
That neem seems like good stuff. I'll apply it tomorrow with the same amount I mixed up last time. 1tsp/qt and 5ml dr bronner's worked great and didn't cause any drooping. Looks like that's gonna be going into the IPM. Thanks dude!
Click to expand...
Add a couple drops of dish soap, works as a surfactant..
 
jonnynobody said:
I've been roughing it hard with spider mites this summer. I wasn't using IPM on my last cycle and it bit me in the ass. I've been on the war path since. I found out there isn't much that tackles the mite eggs then I read about safer brand insect killing soap. It's just potassium salts of fatty acids but it supposedly dries out the eggs and the exoskeleton on the mites ultimately killing them when the soap dries on the leaves. I sprayed the entire nursery heavily today. Tops and bottoms of the leaves to the point of excessive. I sprayed the medium thoroughly and the sides of the pots. I'm rotating spinosad, safer soap, and venerate cg hoping to eliminate the population before they go into flower in 6 weeks. Any growers out there with experience using safer soap or any product that uses potassium salts of fatty acids? I have neem oil too, but the directions of 1.5 tsp/quart on the dyna grow bottle makes the mix way too strong damaging foliage for a few days. I had success using 1tsp/quart with no problems. I still had to add 5ml of dr bronners to get the hot water and neem oil to mix. The dyna grow directions called for a very small amount and I couldn't get the neem to emulsify. I might get neem oil into the rotation along with the others since the 1tsp/quart didn't cause any issues. I think I just got nervous about using it (and it stinks horribly) after the 1.5tsp caused a 2 day droop. I'll give 'er another shot tomorrow at 1tsp/quart and test spray on a couple plants then check back in a few hours. If all is well I'll start running that in the IPM program every 3 days with the other products. Thanks in advance for any tips!
[/QU
100% PYRETHRIN NO MORE BUGS GONE DONE
Click to expand...
 
I'm ordering it now. I kept hearing about pyrethrin but for some reason I kept passing on it. Thanks for the recommendation! I'm trying my best to keep the genetics I've acquired over the last couple years. Gotta wreck these mites into oblivion!
 
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