Anyone tried rapeseed oil emulsion in water for spider-mite and gnats? It is supposed to be for organic growing; sold in Europe as a pump spray. Worked well for me for spider-mites. The oily base smears and suffocates them I believe.
I’ve used several mixes from NEEM Oil to garlic and chili with some soap, a peroxide sugar spray with soap worked as well but the sugar drew ants. They disappeared after a rinsing water only foliar feed.
What I’ve learned is to visit them a few times each day. (I’m retired so thats easy) look closely at the leaves underside and topside. Check any new growth for hideouts. If I find some, I’ll foliar feed after the sun goes down with either NEEM oil or Spinosad. At one point I did a root drench with Spinosad about a month ago. That too showed good results to date.
This morning I found a new pest on my big girl. An Earwig. I flicked his ass off and then researched that. I didn’t know Earwigs eat weed! But, a healthy dusting of DE on the ground surface should help take care of them. I also read wet newspaper attracts them. Put that out at night then collect and discard in the morning.
If you’ve got fungus gnats, take 30 ml of H2O2 and a gallon of water and drench the roots. That'll kill the baby gnats and any flies underground. Plus the added O2 will give your plants a boost.
I haven’t grown since 2004, so I’ve had to play catch up with all this again. And honestly, I never had any real bug issues until now. I’ve grown indoors and out. Outdoor yields are far better IMHO, but, gotta stay pest vigilant. My first grow was back in ‘76. I’ve done tons of reading on this site and Jorge Escalante.
Another thing I’ve done is to insert an air stone in the ground about 8” from the main stems and about 6-8” down and ran an aquarium air pump. I’ll run that a few hours in the morning. Some say it’ll kill the plants but mine are still fine. And I think it did help them as my garden is new this season. Plus, I cultivate the top few inches of soil when it starts to look packed from watering.
I’m looking forward to my first new indoor grow after I harvest this grow. I built a big box with duct insulation, that is a reflective bubble wrap. Used silver PVC tape to close it up. I’ll try growing some auto flower then.