FirstCavApache64
Well-Known Member
Stoner logic is a powerful force in the universe my friend 

Thank you@Sofa King Smoooth read here.
For the past few weeks i've mixed 300 mg citric acid into a liter of water (this concentration is from a study), followed by 5 ml neem oil, and some dried yucca extract. The plants actually seem to like it. For a .05% citric solution, which is what a lot of commercial products go for, you just up it to 500 mg/liter, which is a good starting place for treatment (though you can use much higher doses successfully too). This is a really good weekly ipm spray.
For the past few weeks i've mixed 300 mg citric acid into a liter of water (this concentration is from a study), followed by 5 ml neem oil, and some dried yucca extract. The plants actually seem to like it. For a .05% citric solution, which is what a lot of commercial products go for, you just up it to 500 mg/liter, which is a good starting place for treatment (though you can use much higher doses successfully too). This is a really good weekly ipm spray.
I've never added oil when I use citric acid. I do use oils as a preventative. I'll make a mix of potassium silicate, canola, and a little sesame oil as a foliar to use as a preventative against insects and PM. I prefer sesame oil over neem as it doesn't stink and it's a dual use product since I always have it on hand for cooking. For an active infestation I've just always used straight citric acid mixed with water.
Its a suffocant. Smothers insects and PM spores.What does the vegetable oil do? Does it act as a carrier oil or something? I haven't added that before but I'll try it next time if it helps spread out the love to the little bastards.
You have to repeat treatments every few days to break the adult-larval lifecycle and get all the newly hatched mites.Well last night I sprayed Concern Insecticidal Soap mixed with some Dr Bronners Peopermint soap and looking through the leafs with a microscope all I see is dead spider mites everywhere. I do see eggs so hope the soap kills them too. I had this Consern insecticide soap for a while and never used it. It says it has agricultural oils in it as well. I know these mites are resilient so probably won’t work next time. Trying to stay organic this year.
You have to repeat treatments every few days to break the adult-larval lifecycle and get all the newly hatched mites.
Finally killed the spider mites with Southern AG Conserve with Spinosad. I gave them the Spinosad Shlong balls deep which did the trick. Gonna have to watch in a few days to make sure no eggs bring a next generation.
Where did you find this in Canada? To my knowledge it was on the list of banned insecticides here.
Crap, it says it doesn’t take care of the eggs. Maybe the Dr Bronners Peppermint soap I added with it does. Outdoor is a battle.
I have been battling mites for a few weeks now and it looks like it will require weekly maintenance. I'm pretty much doing what Rob Roy said. I use a sprayer and come at the plants from under the leaves. Then spray with a mix of neem and essential oil mix. I also cover the ground below the plant with DE to help kill what I spray off the plant and to help create a barrier for new mites crawling onto the plant.
If your plants are not in flower , you can spray with a slurry of diatomaceous earth
( food grade ). Kills those f-ers fast ! It has worked every time for me when dealing with arthropods ( bugs with exoskelton). If ya try it, make sure to keep slurry agitated so the suspended solids don't precipitate out in bottom of reservoir and plug off suction hose. I have a 1.5 gallon plastic sprayer ( 12$) . I just constantly shake it up and down while spraying.
If your plants are not in flower , you can spray with a slurry of diatomaceous earth
( food grade ). Kills those f-ers fast ! It has worked every time for me when dealing with arthropods ( bugs with exoskelton). If ya try it, make sure to keep slurry agitated so the suspended solids don't precipitate out in bottom of reservoir and plug off suction hose. I have a 1.5 gallon plastic sprayer ( 12$) . I just constantly shake it up and down while spraying.